Part title from label. This program is the first in a three-part series on peacetime uses of atomic energy. A brief animated film reviews such concepts as neutrons and protons in a nucleus surrounded by electrons. There are 92 kinds of naturally occurring atoms, and changes can only be made to an atom by altering its nucleus. When the nucleus is split, it gives off energy. Mr. Strauss, the chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC), cites President Eisenhower's 1953 "Atoms for Peace" speech to the United Nations in which he suggests a world pool of atomic materials for peaceful uses, such as commercial electrical power. Dr. Hafstad, Director of the Reactor Development Division of AEC, discusses the costs and problems of harnessing atomic power. He points out that although our coal and oil supplies are dwindling and uranium supplies are vast, the cost of generating power from the atom is currently prohibitive. However, he predicts that, within the next five to fifteen years, as nuclear power is developed, its costs will fall.

Dr. Phelps explains that cerebral palsy is an injury to the portion of the brain dealing with the control of muscles for the arms, legs, and speech and generally does not affect one's intelligence. Because the parts of the brain affected (cortex, cerebellum, and basal ganglia) do not regenerate, surrounding brain cells must be trained to carry out the missing functions. This is done through physical therapy. Dr. Phelps describes the activities of therapists at the Children's Rehabilitation Institute working with children on reciprocal exercise patterns and training them on the stabilizer, crutches, and parallel bars. Mr. Schwartz works with children on blowing exercises, speech and auditory therapy, and speech training using a mirror. Children demonstrate other exercises including grasping and releasing blocks, placing pegs in holes as part of a game, practicing dressing skills on a doll, and typing on an electric typewriter. Dr. Phelps offers hope to the afflicted, giving the example of Betty Lou Driver who learned how to walk at the Institute and now as an adult works there, helping other children.

In this last program of the three-part series produced with the cooperation of the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) on peacetime uses of atomic energy, Lynn Poole shows a model of the nation's first commercial nuclear reactor, the Shipping port power plant in Pennsylvania. He lists the products of this nuclear reactor as a result of splitting uranium-235: heat, fissionable materials, fission products, and atomic radiation. Dr. Manov, of the AEC, explains radioactive isotopes such as carbon-14 and why irons or other household appliances can not be atomic powered. He describes the ways radioisotopes can be used in industry for such purposes as checking metal castings for flaws, gauging thicknesses, measuring the wear and life of a cutting tool, tracing oil flow in pipelines, and applying the process of handling dangerous materials to other purposes. A film shows the application of radioisotope tracers to improve milk production in cows, eggshell thickness in chickens, and fertilizer use in plants.

In celebration of the 75th anniversary of Thomas Edison's invention of the electric light bulb, this program deals with the history of electricity and its current use in medicine. A film explores electricity's timeline: sparks created from rubbed amber, William Gilbert's study of magnetism, Benjamin Franklin's demonstration of lightening as electricity, Alessandro Volta's first electric battery, and Thomas Edison's 1879 incandescent electric light. Dr. McKusick explains the limitation of stethoscopes to show the need for spectral phonocardiography, a Bell Labs invention which records three-dimensional heart sounds. To create a spectral phonocardiogram, the doctor places a microphone over the patient's chest to record the heart's sounds on magnetic tape, but only the abnormalities are displayed in the final product. An EKG is also made simultaneously for comparison. Lynn Poole notes that research on guided missiles let to the next method of detecting heart disease, ballistocardiography, which is in its experimental stages.

Dr. Strieby, of American Telephone and Telegraph Co., demonstrates Bell Labs' recent invention of a solar battery, capable of producing sufficient electric voltage from any light source to operate a telephone. However, most telephone services have large power plants and storage batteries, which function when no light is available, so there is no reason to substitute a solar battery. Dr. Strieby next demonstrates a "personalized telephone" prototype ("like Dick Tracey's"), which functions like a mini-FM broadcasting station using transistors activated by a solar battery. This is only experimental and short-range because of the length of antenna required to transmit beyond a few hundred feet. Dr. Strieby then explains how a solar battery is built, using silicon from DuPont that is purified through a diagrammed process. Ultimately, with the addition of arsenic and boron gas, the thin sheets of silicon create a positive/negative juncture that allows light to become electricity.

Dr. Whitehorn briefly discusses the roles of the psychiatrist and the social worker and notes that the psychiatric clinic is like a lab of human nature. Dr. Frank, a psychiatrist, and Ms. Slaughter, a psychiatric social worker, then interact with actors to dramatize three actual cases: a family's conflict, an individual's depression, and an adolescent's problems. They conclude that the problems of living are common and solvable.

Dr. Waring, vice president of the Davison Chemical Co. in Baltimore, MD, defines a catalyst as a substance that when added to a chemical reaction either speeds it up or causes it to take place at a lower temperature. He offers the example of a sugar cube held in a flame, which will not burn unless potash from a cigarette ash is added. Commercial applications of catalysis include petroleum refining, converting distilled crude oil into transportation fuels and other petroleum-based products. Dr. Waring shows a model of the catalyst cracker and describes the cracking process in petroleum refining. An animated film shows what takes place in the reforming part of the process in which the molecular structure of the petroleum is changed to alter its combustion characteristics and thus alleviate knocking in automobile engines. Platinum is the catalyst in the reforming process. Dr. Waring notes that the silica gel developed and patented in 1919 by Johns Hopkins scientist D. Walter A. Patrick is the base for many catalytic materials. Other catalyst include vinyls which are used to make plastics.

On this program about forensic medicine, Dr. Guerin, from the Maryland State Medical Examiner's Office, describes the case of a body found in a burned house and shows photographs of forensic evidence to prove this was not a homicide. By comparing a series of skulls, Dr. Guerin explains how to determine the age of the victim by examining the suture lines and the sex by looking at the nasal ridges and angle. The sex can also be determined by the pelvic bones, and the height can be computed by measurement of long bones such as the femur. Thus, knowledge of anthropology, anatomy, and radiology are necessary for forensic scientists. Dr. Freimuth discusses the chemistry of forensic science and performs chemical tests to determine the presence of arsenic in the death of a child. Dr. Lovitt points out that twenty percent of all Maryland state deaths need to be investigated. This often involves autopsies for courtroom evidence. He gives examples of cases, and he diagrams a congenital aneurysm, which led to hemorrhaging and caused sudden death by natural causes. Dr. Fisher discusses that gunshots are the most common method of homicide and shows how bullets and shotgun blasts leave patterns of damage in the body.

Dr. Witt defines water surface tension and shows examples of "wetted water." His daughter Marilyn performs an experiment floating a steel needle on water until an additional drop of water breaks the surface tension and sinks the needle. Dr. Witt demonstrates how the surface of a glass plate treated with a wetting agent stays clear and unfogged as the water spreads into a thin film, unlike the untreated surface, on which droplets formed spheres that cloud the glass. This technology is used on skin diving masks and windshields of airplanes and cars. Dr. Witt compares "wetted water" and regular water in laundry uses. Wetting agents also allow mixing of oil with water to make stable emulsions for such products as agricultural sprays, paints and dyes, cosmetics, and floor waxes. In addition to synthetic wetting agents, there are also natural ones such as egg yolks. Dr. Witt shows how a warm carbonated beverage, as an unburnable emulsion, can be used as a fire extinguisher to put out small fires.

Lynn Poole shows an artist's rendition of tic douloureux or trigeminal neuralgia, and Dr. Smith describes this pain of the fifth cranial nerve. A sketch of the head shows the three nerve divisions in the face, and an electrical model traces the nerve's pain transmittal to the brain. The causes of this affliction are unknown and the occurrences unpredictable although the painful attacks often occur from eating, talking, or touching the face. This is a disease of advancing years, and Dr. Smith interviews an elderly patient, Mrs. White, who attempts to describe her symptoms until orifacial pain overcomes her. As early as the 1500s treatments included surgery to cut the nerve. This is still performed, and Dr. Smith interviews Mrs. Frank, who received such surgery and now has no sensation of pain at all in one side of her face, as evidenced by the doctor sticking a pin into her cheek. Other remedies now include chemically damaging the nerve by injecting it with alcohol or novocaine, cutting the fiber track.