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On the Cover

September-October 2008
Volume 96, Number 5

On the cover: The past half-century has witnessed incredible advances in the capabil...


FEATURE ARTICLES

Evolution "for the Good of the Group" *

David Sloan Wilson, Edward O. Wilson

It's time for a more discriminating assessment of group selection


Fifty Years of Earth-observation Satellites *

Andrew J. Tatem, Scott J. Goetz, Simon I. Hay

Views from space have led to countless advances on the ground


Water News: Bad, Good and Virtual *

Vaclav Smil

Rational thinking about water helps ensure a clean, plentiful supply


Statins: From Fungus to Pharma

Philip A. Rea

The curiosity of biochemists created a family of cardiovascular drugs


SCIENTISTS’ BOOKSHELF

Two Singular Men

Robert Crease

A review of Einstein and Oppenheimer: The Meaning of Genius, by Silvan S. Schweber. Schweber aims to show that the actions of these two men expanded our notion of what a human being can be and do

See all book reviews for this issue


DEPARTMENTS

MACROSCOPE

Listening to Resveratrol

Could the famous ingredient of red wine herald a new era in medicine?

David M. Kent

COMPUTING SCIENCE

Calculemus!

Celebrating 25 years of celebrating computation

Brian Hayes

ENGINEERING

Scientists as Inventors*

Often considered distinct, engineering and science are frequently difficult to distinguish

Henry Petroski

MARGINALIA

Why Think Up New Molecules?

Adding to the world of known chemical structures is a wonderful mental experiment

Roald Hoffmann

SCIENCE OBSERVER

Of Sunflowers and Citizens

How are bee populations faring in the United States? A citizen science project will help find out

Anna Lena Phillips

A Light Switch on Cells

A chemical makes neurons turn on and off with light beams

Fenella Saunders

In the News

LETTERS TO THE EDITORS

Face the Other Way
Wait, Don't Tell Me
Blowing Smoke
Quantum Light

SIGMA XI TODAY