University of Virginia Library

Scientists Striving To Realize Man's Potential

By JIM MASSEY

The American Association
for the Advancement of
Science held its 138th
"periodical and migratory
meeting" over the Christmas
holidays in Philadelphia.

Thousands of scientists from
all over the country and a
number of scientists from
foreign countries met in five
days of symposia, lectures,
speeches and exhibitions.
Every major field of science
and many minor or obscure
fields found devotees and
interested persons presenting
research reports findings and
analyses on the latest
developments in the field.

Of the many fields and
interests presented at the
meeting, one newcomer which
received a lot of attention was
the area of computer music. At
a computer music symposium,
French physicist Jean-Claude
Risset of the University of
Paris gave a presentation which
differentiated the process of
creating music into its
functional components coming
under greater control by the
musician through the use of
computers.

Another computer "affair"
was held at the University of
Pennsylvania's theatre. The
"Evening of 'Computer'
Theatre and Music" presented
computer works including
films, sound pieces and
dances-light show-music
ensembles.

Tone Poem

One film by Richard Moore
of Bell Telephone Laboratories
in New Jersey was described in
the program as "a brief,
dramatic tone poem for
computer sound. The program
went on, "The expression and
nuances of live performance
are combined with the
virtuosity and flexible memory
of the computer to achieve the
stark emotional impact of
'Requiem'."

Migratory Meeting: Radicalism In Science

In the field of government
policy and the use of science
and technology by society
there were several symposia of
great national import. At one
such symposium entitled
"Social Control of Science and
Technology," Michael S.
Baram from the Department of
Civil Engineering at M.I.T.
suggested a framework in
which the populous, or society,
could gain control over the
growth and usage of
technology. Mr. Baram
presented a graphed systems
analysis of how science and
technology is controlled in
society. He went on to show
how the general population
could gain 'conscious' control
over the future use of Science
and Technology.

The symposium titled "The
Use of Scientific Information
in Policy Making" examined
ways in which public policy
makers could utilize the
knowledge of science when
making decisions. It is felt that
a great many 'harmful' policies
are made out of 'factual' or
'objective' ignorance rather
than out of malice or conscious
inconsideration. It is also
believed that the establishment
of a mechanism in which
policy makers could obtain and
use scientific "facts" would
serve as a revolutionary
development for mankind.

A major emphasis of the
138th Annual AAAS meeting
was on ecology. At a
symposium on "Experimental
Studies of Adaptation to
Environmental Stimulation"
there were presentations such
as the "Behavioral after effects
of unpredictable and
uncontrollable noise" by David
Glass of New York University
and Jerome E. Singer of the
State University of New York.

Universal Variable

Other presentations
concerning man and the
environment included a
presentation by Roger Brittain
of Yale Medical School. Dr.
Brittain stated that "we can
develop the Index for the
Quality of Life" since "the
theoretic and conceptual
foundations for a Universal
Variable" have been developed.
He stated that the Universal
Variable "can be used to
quantify the quality referred to
variously as quality of life,
happiness, or satisfaction".

Anthony J. N. Judge of the
Union of International