Prehistoric Man and his Story

Symbolism in prehistoric man.

The aptitude for symbolization, characteristic of man, is revealed not only in artistic representations and funerary practices. It is exhibited by every manifestation of human activity or representation of natural phenomena that assumes or refers to a meaning. We can recognize functional symbolism (tool-making, habitative or food technology), social symbolism, (language and social communication...

Man and his spaceships

The resiliency and adaptive ability of microbial life in real time on Earth relies heavily upon horizontal gene transfer. Based on that knowledge, how likely is earth based microbial life to colonize extraterrestrial targets such as Mars? To address this question, we consider manned and unmanned space exploration, the resident microbiota that is likely to inhabit those vehicles, the adaptive po...

Editor's Note/Man, the Story-Telling Animal

Man and His Future

The subject matter of this Ciba symposium departs from the usual specialized, esoteric topics of these meetings. Bringing together such noted scientists as Sir Julian Huxley, Joshua Lederberg, Albert Szent-Gy6rgi, and J. B. S. Haldane, this conference discusses the future of mankind as seen through the eyes of people actively engaged in biological research. These men don the philosopher's hat a...

Leonhard Euler His Life, The Man, and His Work

On the occasion of the 300th anniversary of Euler’s birth (on April 15), an attempt is made to bring Euler’s genius to the attention of a broad segment of the educated public. The three stations of his life—Basel, St. Petersburg, and Berlin—are sketched and the principal works identified in more or less chronological order. To convey a flavor of his work and its impact on modern science, a sele...