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December 1969 (22nd year) - U. K. : 2 -stg - Canada : 40 cents - France: 1.20 F

THE SCULPTURE

OF VIBRATIONS

I



WORLD ART

Punic pendant

This little masterpiece of paste jewellery (actual size shown on right)

is a neck lace pendan t fa sh ioned by a craftsman of ancient Carthage in

the form of a mask whose white face contrasts sharply with the deep blue

tones of the eyes, hair and b ea rd . F ou nd ed by the Phoenicians about

750 B.C., Carthage quickly became the greatest commercial power in the

western Mediterranean, exporting to its overseas trading posts a wealth

of "mass produced" objects which, as we may judge from this pendant,

did not debase the ancient Phoenician tradition of elegant craftsmanship.

Bardo Museum, Tur is. Photo i Lur loubert



Cour ierDECEMBER 1969

22ND YEAR

PUBLISHED IN

THIRTEEN EDITIONS

EnglishJapaneseFrench Italian

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U.S.A.

Published month ly by UNESCO

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an d Cultura l Organizat ion

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The UN ESCO COURIE R is published monthly, except

in August and September when it is bi-monthly (1 1 issues ayear) i n Engl is h, French, Spanish, Russian, German, Arabic,

Japanese, I ta lia n , H in di, Tami l, Hebr ew and Persian. In th e

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The Une sc o Courier is Indexed monthly in Th e Read¬

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tents - Educat ion, Philadelphia, U.S.A.

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Unesco, Place de Fontenoy Paris-7e, France

Editor-in-Chief

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Manag ing Ed it or s

English Edition: Ronald Fenton (Paris)French Edition: Jane Albert Hesse (Paris)Spanish Editio n : Arturo Despouey (Paris)Russian Edition : Georgi Stetsenko (Paris)German Edition: Hans Rieben (Berne)Arabic Edition: Abdel Moneim El Sawi (Cairo)Japanese Edition : Takao Uchida (Tokyo)

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All correspondence should be eddressed to th e Editor-in-Chief

6

10

CYMAT ICS : THE SCULPTURE

OF VIBRATIONS

(I) Patterns of a world

permeated by rhythm

29

13

19

31

32

(II) M us ic made visible

in a film of l iquid

(III) The vast spectrum

of cosmic vibrations

By Hans Jenny .

CYMATIC BALLET

E IGHT PAGES IN FULL CO LO UR

DEATH OF A BR IDGE BY VIBRATION

35

42

QUASARS AND THE BIRTH

OF THE UNIVERSE

By György Marx

THE WEAVING OF AN ENGINEERING

MASTERPIECE: A SPIDER'S ORB WEB

By Bert E. Dugdale

UNESCO NEWSROOM

TREASURES OF WORLD ART

Punic pendant (Tunis ia )

5

Cover photo

Cymatics is a new fie ld o f

research which studies th e effects

o f rhy thm ic v ib ra tions in nature.

It reveals an ever-changing

world of unusua l forms in which

f igures appear, currents and

eddies are se t in motion,

structures take shape and

pu lsa ting pa tt erns materia li ze .

The curious forms shown here

dance and leap u pward s whe n

vibrations ar e transmitted to

a v iscous l iqu id (see also photos

pages 13, 14, 15).

Photo © JC . Stuten , Do rnach ,Switzerland

3





y D r. H ans Jenny

Photos J. Christiaan Stuten

Hans Peter Widmer

Throughout the living and non-living world we find patterns o f recu rrentrhythms and periodic systems in which everything exists in a state of continualvibration, oscillation and pulsation. These rhythmic patterns can be observednot only in the beating of the heart, the c ircu lation of the blood and theinhaling and exhaling of breath ing, but also in the recurrent fo rmation o fcells and tissues, in th e rhythmic movements of th e oceans, th e wave motionof sound and hypersonic vibrations, and in the vast universe extending fromthe cosmic systems of solar systems and galaxies down to the infinitesimalworld o f atomic and nuclear structures. In th e fol lowing article. Dr. Hans

Jenny, a Swiss scientist and artist, describes some of the experiments he hascarried ou t in a long study of these rhythmic vibrations and presents some ofthe extraordinary results

whichthis

newfield

he hastermed "Cymatics"

(from the Greek kyma, wave) already reveals to us. Dr. Jenny believes thatthese experiments will give us new insight into the world of vibrationsterrestial and extra-terrestialand eventual ly serve fie ld s o f research as

diverse as astrophysics and biology.



CYMATICS

1 - Patterns of a world

permeated by rhythmOiUR world is permeated

throughout by waves and vibrations.

When we hear, waves travelling

through the air impinge. on ou r ears.

HANS JENNY w as b orn in Basel, Switzerland,

and studied natural sciences and medicine.

Fo r many year s he has b ee n in medical prac¬tice a t D o rnach , near Basel . He is a natur¬

alist an d p ain te r a nd has undertaken exten¬

sive research into zoological morphology.

The problems of modern physiology and bio¬logy led him to study the phenomena of

experimental periodicity, a field of research

that was extended to inc lude th e effects of

vibration, a new field he has termed "Cyma¬

tics.' Dr. Jenny's a rt ic le r epo rt s on more

recent experim ents carried out since he

publ ished his original study, "Cymatics, the

Structure an d Dynamics of Waves an d Vibra¬

tio ns ," h ig hly illu st ra te d w it h bil ingual Ger¬man-English text, published by Basilius Presse,

Basel, Switzerland, 1967.

When we speak, w e ourselves generate

air waves w ith our larynx. When we

turn on our radios an d televisions,

we are utilizing a waveband.' We talk

about electric waves and we are a ll

fami li ar w ith waves of light. In an

earthquake the whole earth vibrates

and - seismic waves are produced.

There are even whole stars which

pulsate In a regular rhythm.

But it is not only the, world w e live

in that is in a state of v ibration (atomicvibrations are another example) fo r our

body itself is pene trated by vibrations.

Our b lood pulses through tis in waves.

We ca n hear the beat- of the heart.

And above all ou r muscles go into a

state of vibration when we m ove them.

QUARTZ

QUARTET

How cymatic exper iments

visual ize sound is shown in

pho tos le ft. Q uartz sand

strewn on a steel plate Is

"excited" by vibrations from a

crystal oscillator.

Approximately the sameconfiguration is seen in all

four illustrations, but the

pattern becomes more

elaborate as the pitch of the

acoustic tone rises.

Frequencies used here, left

to right and top to bottom,

are: 1,690 hertz ( cy cle s per

second), 2,500, 4,820 and 7,800.

(See also centre colour pages,photo No . 5).



Photo <Q J.O. btuten

BIRTH OF A VORTEX

This photo, w ith its graceful curves and shimmering movements , i s a detail of

a vortex in the course of formation. The pattern of flow of the vortex is clearly

visible because of the use of coloured dyes by the exper imente r

which delineates each current sharply (see colour photo No. 7).

When we flex th e musc les of our

arms and legs, t hey actua lly begin to

vibrate. It is even possible to hear

these musc le sounds and record them

with a telephone. A ll th is means no¬

thing more or le ss than that the many

complicated chemical, energetic, bio¬

electric processes in th e musc le fibres

take place in a series of vibrations.

This raises a problem: What tan¬

g ib le e ffec ts do wave and vibrational

processes produce in a specific mat¬

erial, in a particular milieu? The pur¬

pose of the studies reported here is

to provide an answe r to th is q ue stio n.

Experiments have been devised to

display a whole world of curious phen¬

omena in which figures appear, cur¬

rents and eddies are formed, struc¬

tures take shape, harmonically pulsat¬

ing patterns can be seen, and so

forth.

Our first reaction to t his who le wor ld

of wave phenomena is one of astonish¬

ment; its features e xc ite the wonder

of both the scientif ic investigator and

the artist. In studying al l these phen¬

omena, ho wever, w e are concerned

not only with comp le te d fo rms bu t

also with the ways in w hich they

come into being. Movement is annex¬

ed to form . Thus we may be said to

have the whole phenomenon before

our eyes.

This is someth ing tha t can have a

par tic ula rly p roductiv e e ffe ct on the

mind of the creative artist. Not only

does the realiz ed form appeal to usthrough its beauty, but it also presents 7itself to us as a l iv ing pattern of motion

which is revealed in, say, a heap of

sand. The vibration lays hold of the

CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE



Photos © J.C. Stuten

8

WEAVING

BY SOUND

When l iquids are made to

vibrate, very unusualpatterns result Above, a

cellular pattern, no t unlikethose found in nature.

Right, scale-like structures

(technically know as

im bric ate ). W he n the

materials and frequencies

are ch an ge d th e p atte rn s

change an d we se e

beauti fu l ly s t ructured

arrays , hexagona l,

rectangular and overlapping

patterns In th e form of

honey-combs, networks and

lat t ices. Somet imes th e

texture itself undergoes a

marked change and the

most astound ing

d isp lays resu lt .

CYMAT ICS (Continued)

grains of sand and transports them in

a way determ ined by the arrangement

of the vibrational field.

Those artists in particular who are

interested in kinet ic a rt will f ind here

a doma in of nature in which kinetics

and dynamics have free play until a

configuration emerges. This high¬

lights a very important charac ter is ti c

of w ave an d v ibrat ional processes: on

th e one hand, there is movement an d

an i nterp lay of forces ; on the o ther, the

creation of forms and figures.

But invariably both the kinetic and

th e structural elements are sustained

by the vibrational p ro ce ss. Thus we

are always confronted by th ese three

components: vibration or wave which

is manifested in figures and in dyna¬

mics and kinetics. It is hardly an

exaggeration, then, to speak of a basic

triple phenomenon of vibration.

How are such experiments perform¬ed. The German scientist E. Chladni

(1756-1827) was the first to show how

so lid o bje cts v ib ra te . He scattered

sand on a metal plate, making it

vibrate with a violin bow, so that th e

sand formed a definite pattern of lines

characteristic of th e s ou nd heard . The

vibrat ion transports the sand from spe¬

cific areas called loops into certain

l inear zones. But th e condi t ions of

the experiment could not be selected

at will nor could th e results be seen

as a whole unti l new m ethods were

found.

One of these will be described by

way of example. What are known as

crystal oscillators were used. The lat¬

tice structure of these crystals is de¬

formed when electric im pulses are

applied to them. If a series of such

impulses is applied to the crystal, it

begins to osc illa te and the vibrations

actually become aud ib le . T he se vibra¬

tions can be transmitted to plates,

d iaph ragms, s trings , rods , etc. (photo

page 6 and colour photo number 5).

By means o f th is method conditions

can be freely selected, and accurately

determined: th e number of vibrat ions

pe r second ( fr equency) , the extent of

the vibratory movement (ampli tude) ,

and th e e xa ct point of excitat ion are

al l known with precision. Several

acoustic tones can be experimented

with at one and th e same tim e; the

scope of t he experiment can be extend¬

ed at wil l and, above all, each ex¬

periment is precisely reproducible.

With the aid of such methods, re¬

search can reveal a whole phenomen¬

ology of v ibra tiona l e ffects . The name

"cymatics" was chosen fo r this field

of s tudy (kyma, Greek fo r wave, kyma-

tica, th ings to do with waves).

CONTINUED ON PAGE 10



SPIRALLING

SANDS

Photos right and below show

how vibration produces rotational

effects. Here w e have a steel

plate strewn w ith qu artz sand.

On right we see piles of sand

rotating under vibration. Sand

is flowing river lik e, towa rd the

c en tre p ile , in long, narrow

arms coming from vario us

directions. These fo rms s tr ange ly

recall the rotating, spiralling

masses o bse rve d by telescopes

in nebulae and o ther ga lac ti c

phenomena. Below, tw o

d isc -shaped p il es of sand have

been form ed by the flow of

th e sand s t reams. Each disc is

constant ly rotat ing and has a

nipple of sand like a nucleus

in th e centre.

m

^**ï

* ,. ..¿,«1-

.. .. r*. '"V*'

Photos © J.C. Stuten

* 7



CYMATICS (Continued)

2 - Music made visible

in a film of liquid

|T is possible to generate

v ib ra tions sys tema tically th rough a

continuous series of tones and to

transmit them to any object at will.

Consequently sonorous figures are no t

the only phenomena produced (photos

page 6). Vibrationa l condit ions are

found, called phases, in which the

particles- do not m ig ra te in to stationary

figures but form currents. These cur¬

rents run side by side in opposite dir¬

ections as if in obedience to a law.

The whole v ibra tiona l pattern is nowin motion.

These con tinuous waves also pro¬

voke rotary movement. The sand be

gins to turn round a point. These

rotary processes are continuous. Th e

masses are not ejected. If coloured

grains of sand are used to m ark rotat¬

ing piles, the m ovem ent pattern re¬

vealed is continuous and due entirely

to vibration (photos page 9).

It is interesting to note that all the

phenomena of cymatics have not only

been photographed but, since move¬

ment is invariably involved, also film¬

ed. Still and motion pictures com¬

plement each other as documentat ion.

Just as vibration can be transmitted

to solid particles (sand, powder) it can

also be commun icated to liquids. Once

again we find the whole spectrum of

cymatics. A richly diverse field of

structures appears. Delica te lat tices

a re genera ted. Then hexagonal, im¬

bricated (scale-l ike) and richly curved

patterns (photos pages 8 and 28) ap¬

pear. If the exciting tone Is removed,

al l the formations natural ly vanish.

Currents also occur in liquids. In a

film of liquid, bilaterally symmetrical

pairs of vor texes lik e those d is cove red

in the ear by G eorg von Békésy ro ta te

in con tr ar y d ir ec tions (photo page 7

and colour photo number 7). These

pairs o f vorte xes are formed charac-




MOZART'S 'DON GIOVANNI'

Pattern (left) ¡s a musical sound from the 27th

ba r of the ove rtu re of Mozart's opera "Don G iovanni" .

The sound has been made visible by imp ress ing the

sound vibration patterns on a film of liquid. Not only

the rhythm and volume become visible bu t a lso the figures

which c orre sp ond to the fre quen cy s pe ctrum exc itin g

them. The patterns are extraordinarily comp lex in the

case of orchestral sound. See also Bach p ho to n ext page.

CRESTS OF THE WAVE

Above , suggest ive of gap in g mou th s in some bizarre mask of

Antiquity, these orifices are actually a series of wave crests

(photographed f rom above) produced when a viscous liquidis i rrad iated wi th sound. When pou re d onto a vibrating membrane,

the fluid becomes a f lowing, pulsating mass in which w ave

formations soon appear. Change s in the amplitude and frequency

of vibrations and modifications to the viscosity of th e liquid

produce further strange effects (see photos pages 13, 14, 15).

11



CYMATICS (Continued from page 10)

teristically in the cochlea of the ear

by the action of sound. The vortexes

appearing in the liquid can be made

visible by adding a few drops of

marker dye. They rotate continuously.

Th e louder the tone, the more rap id the

rotation.

Turbulences o r u ns ta ble w a ve s de¬

serve special mention (bottom photo

page 16). In the marginal areas of a

wave f ie ld or w he n tw o trains o f w a ve s

are contiguous, agitated wave for¬

mations appea r whic h are constantly

changing. Vibration causes "turbu¬

lence" in liquid. It is a characteristic

of such t urbu lences tha t t hey sens it ize

a medium (liquid, gas or a flame) to

th e a ctio n of sound.

For example , it is only when a gas

f lame is m ade t ur bu le n t t ha t i t becomes

recep tive to irradiation by sound, i.e.

it is only then that it forms into son¬

orous figures. These turbulences are

important in the design of wind in

struments, e.g. the mouthpieces of

t rumpets .

S ince these experiments enta il the

transmission of v ib rat iona l p rocesses

in conformity with natural laws, it was

a logical step to attempt to visualize

music (photos pages 10 and below).

It is in fact possible with the aid of

diaphragms to make the actual vibra¬

t iona l patterns of music visible in fi lms

of liquid. One and the same vibrat¬

ing diaphragm is used to radiate themusic and also to visualize th e mu sic al

processes in the sonorous figures ap¬

pearing in the liquid . In this w ay, we

se e what we hear an d we hear wha t

we see.

The eye is, of course, unaccustomed

to "seeing Mozart or Bach"; if films

of this visible m usic are show n with¬

ou t sound, it is by no means apparent

that what can be seen is, say, Mozart's

Jupi ter Symphony. It is only when the

mus ic is sw i t ched on that th e a ura l im

pression can be experienced visual ly .

The question whether it is feasible

to visualize the human voice is a

particularly interesting one. A specially

des igned appara tus ca lled the tono-

scope (sound-seer) makes it possible

to p roduce without intermediate agency

the actual vibrational pa tt ern o f a vowel

(see colour photo number 6). The

figures reveal character ist ic features

which reflect the spoken vowel andits frequency spectrum, the pitch of

the vowel, and the in div id ua l v oic e o f

th e spea ke r. If condit ions are con¬

stant, precisely the same form appears.

For dea f-mu tes t his v is ib le speech

is a substitute fo r the normal person's

ability to hea r h imse lf. The deaf-mute

sees what he says. He can practise

producing in the tonoscope the same

forms as those made by persons with

normal hea ring. If he succeeds in

doing so, this means he is producing


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BACH'S

TOCCATA

IN D MINOR

The mus ic al n ote s s hown in tiny

photo below are a sound from

the 28th bar of the famous

Toccata an d Fugue in D minor

(1st movement) fo r the organ

by Johann Sebastian Bach.

Photo left shows the samemusic al no te as revealed by

cymat ics. V ib ra tiona l f ig ur es

re pro du ce a ll music precisely,

bu t if we look at these passa¬

ge s on a s ilen t film , we can

at first make nothing of them,

the eye being unaccustomed to

"seeing" music without the

guidance of the ear. When

th e mus ic is heard simulta¬

neously, the aural impression

quickly becomes a visual one.

MANUAL)

PEDAL

P-

m

^© i .C. Stuten



f*I

FRENZY OF A

CYMATIC BALLET

Photo © H.P. Wldmer

These shapes, leaping and gyrating like dancers in a frenzied ballet, are some of the

dynamic "sculptures" created during a series of experiments that demonstrate the amazinglydiverse effects produced by vibration under certain conditions. In these experiments,a viscous fluid is poured onto a vibrating membrane, producing first one and then a series

of annular waves. By modifying the frequency, and the viscosity of the liquid, a changingworld of new forms is created, some of which are shown on the following page.

13



CYMATIC BALLET (Cont inued)

THE SOUND

AND THE FURY

Sugges ting the storm-tossed waves of

an ocean o r a se a of mo lte n la va .

surging under the Im pact of

volcanic forces, these remarkab le photos

show a laboratory-size s to rm, c rea ted

by v ib ra ting a liquid with the

aid of sound waves. Increasing

the vibrations produced

by an oscillating diaphragm

conjures up iceberg-like waves (right).

When the liq u id is made more fluid

and greater vibrations are used, the w aves

rise still higher, lifting into plates,

pillars and peaks (below left). ' Finally,

the mass o f liq u id , filled with pulsations,

currents and turbulences, flings up

with dynamic force tiny droplets that

form a curtain of flying spume

(below r igh t) . The experiment can be

con tinued until the liquid is completely

transformed into spray.



15



IRON FILINGS AND SMOKE IN HIGH PITCH

Iron filings when vibrated in a magnetic field p roduce t he craggy peak effect

seen above. Oscillation red uc es th e a dh es io n b etw ee n the part ic les, prov id ing

them w it h extr a fr eedom of movement. Filings thus strewn in a magnetic field

subjected t o v ib rat ion fo rm mobile shapes which seeming ly da nce in the vibrational

field. Here, camera has temporarily frozen the dan ce of the Iro n filings. Below,

a downward s tr eam of smoke takes on a fabric-like appearance when irradiated

by high frequency sound. Becom in g turbulent, the gas is sensitized to sound;

structures appear, their form depending on th e sound waves .


the sounds correctly. In the same

way he can learn to pitch hi s voice

right and consciously regulate his flow

of breath when speaking.

To give some idea of the ric hness

and diversity of cymatic effects we will

look at one examp le more closely. If

vibration is applied to lycopodium

powder (spores of th e c lu b moss), the

results are curious and specific. The

particle s o f this powder are very fine

and of even consistency. If a plate

or diaphragm on which the powder has

been uniformly strewn is e xcited by

vibration, a number of circular piles

of powder form (photo below right).

This clumping in circular heaps is

extremely characteristic of cymatic

effects. These piles are in a constant

state of circulation, i.e. the particles

are tra ns po rte d from the inside to the

outside and from the outs ide back to

th e in sid e by the vibration. This cir¬

culation is parti cu lar ly typ ica l of theaction of waves.

If the tone is in tensif ied , wh ich is

perceived by the ear as a crescendo,

the circular heaps gravitate toge the r

and unite in a larger heap, which, how¬

ever, continues to c irc ula te (p ho to

above right and centre spread, colour

photo number 4). If the tone is intens¬

ified still more, the masses are flung

into v ery vio le nt motion. They are

thrown or even hurled out, ye t the

process o f c irc ula tio n s till continues.

A,CTUAL currents ca n also

be produced in ly copodium powder.

The powder rushes along precisely

defined paths (photo page 30). If new

mater ial is cast into such an area of

currents, th e result is not chaos; in¬

stead the freshly added masse s are

immediately assim i la ted in to the sys tem

of the vibrat ional f ie ld. Throughout al l

th e change s and transformations the

dynamics of the figure and the figura¬

tion of the dynamics are preserved.

When these conglobations move,

they do so in a characteristic manner.

They invariably move as a whole, and

if a process is put out, the rest of the

heap creeps after it just like an

amoeba. There- is no crumbling or

d is in te gra tio n. Wheth er the heaps

unite to make larger ones or whether

t hey break up into a number o f smalle r

piles, they in va riably fo rm whole units.

Each of them is participative in the

whole in regard to both form and

process.

This brings us to a particular feature

o f v ib ra tional e ffec ts : they may be said

to exemplify the p rin cip le o f whole¬

ness. They can be regarded as

models of th e doctrine of hol ism: each




CO

ü 7fr. TT\

MIGRATION

TO THE CENTRE

When the spore powder of the club moss

(lycopodium) ¡s spread evenly on a

vibrating diaphragm, it forms a galaxy

of tiny piles (ph oto below ). Each pile

rotates on its o wn a xis and also rotates

as a s in gle b od y lik e the elements of

o ur so la r system. When the vibrations

are increased the piles migrate towards

the centre (photo left) in wh ich the paths

of migration can be seen as streaky

lines. While forming large central pile,

they continue to rotate on the diaphragm.



CYMATICS (Continued from page 16) COLOUR PAGES

single element is a whole and exhibits

un it a ri ness wha teve r th e mutat ions an d

changes to which it is subjected. And

always it is the underlying vibrational

processes that sustain this unity in

diversity. In every part, the whole is

present or at least suggested.

To study vibrational effects in space,

fir st o f all d rops were made to vibrate.

Experiments with mercury showed that

the oscil lat ing drops moved in regular

forms. Systems in ari thmetical series

of 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, etc., appear, so that

it is leg it imate to speak of harmonics

and symmetry. Pulsating drops of

water a ls o re veal th is poly gona l ar¬

rangement with the difference, how¬

ever, that the liquid t ravels regu larly

from th e centre to the per iphe ry and

from th e periphery back to the centre.

It must be imagined, then, that these

vibrations take place roughly in sys¬

tems with 5, 4, and 3 segments. The

pic tures formed are strikingly reminis¬

cent of th e shapes of the flowers of

higher plants. Thus a true harmony

becomes apparent in the series of cy¬

matic processes.

E are taken still further

in to the three-dimensional when soap

bubbles are excited by vibration (colour

photo number 8 and photos page 27).

These reveal a regular pulsation and

might be visualized as "breathing

spheres" The higher the tone produc¬

ing the oscillation, the larger the

number o f pulsating zones.

Curious phenomena result from the

fact that a dh es io n b etw ee n m a te ria ls

and the suppor ting surface of plates

or diaphragms is reduced by vibration.

The partic les o r masses acquire a cer¬

tain f reedom of movemen t as a result

of the reduced adhesion. If, fo r

example, iron filings are placed in a

magnetic field on a vibrating diaphragm,

adhesion between the filings and the

surface Is reduced and they become

to some extent mobile. They formfigurines which appear to dance in the

magnetic field and by their motion

reveal its density and configuration

(top ph oto page 16).

Changes in the state of matter are

also strangely in fluenced by vibration.

Fo r instance, if a blob of hot, liquid

kaolin paste is allowed to cool while

being vibrated, it does no t solidify in

a uniform mass but is so twisted and

churned that cur ious branch-like struc¬

tures are fo rmed wh ich are due simp¬

ly and s ole ly to vib ra tio n.

The experiment results in a whole

array o f s tru ctu red elements which

eventually solid ify (colour photo

number one).


1. KAOLIN CAKE

Curious configurations occur when a material is vibrated while itis changing from liquid to solid . Here a blob of heated kaolinpaste forms a ribbed cake-like structure as It cools and solidifies.The ribbed pattern pulsates and pushes currents of plastic kaolinup the sides and down through the centre of the "cake". As thekaolin grows rigid, branch-like formations begin to appear on theouter ribs of th e vibrat ing mass.

2. THE RHYTHM OF INDIA INK

These flowing whorls and meander ing currents, made by drops

of red emulsion p laced in a solution o f bla ck In dia in k, show a

periodic process in which no outside vibration Is used. Theemulsion slowly d if fu ses i nto the Ink with a periodic, rhythmic

to and fro movement, creating a pattern of thick serpentine

spurts and delicate fo rmati ons tha t vanish like wisps of mist. It

must be imagined that everything is not only f lowing, but

ac tua ll y f lowing in patterns and rhythms.

mm

3 . PHANTOM POTTER

This perfectly shaped d ou ble rin g is no t a f inished design In

porce lain turned on a potter's wheel. It is a "fluid figure" formed

when h ig hl y v is cous liq u id Is vibrated on a d ia ph ragm . It s s ta tic

appearence is d ecep tiv e. Th e entire structure Is in movement ,

constantly ro tating, w ith m ateria l flowing to the centre

and back again, the whole- generated and sustained" entirely

by vibration. (Other shapes created in this exper iment a re s hown

on pages 11, 13, 14 an d 15.)

4. LANDSCAPE IN THE ROUND

This dusty, petrified looking landscape,recalling photos of the moon's sur face , Iscomposed of spores of th e club moss

( ly copodi um powder ) se t in motion byvibrat ion. Each circular mound of f ine

powder, both large and sm all, is rota¬ting on its ow n axis an d th e whole sur¬

face Is in Itself rotating and pulsating.Patterns change according to the fre¬quency of vibration. Increasing it cancrea te "sand storms" or unite tiny mounds

into a single large one, as seen In photos

on page 17 .

5. THE SOUND OF COPPER

Inspired by the research of Ernst Chladnl , the 18th century Ger¬man physicist and musician, who first demonstrated the modes ofvibration of solid objects, Hans Jenny, using more sophisticated

techniques, has assembled a collection of " sonorous" f igu res.

Sound pattern shown here was created on a steel plate strewn with

copper filings, and corresponds to a frequency of 2,200 cyclespe r second.

6. VOWEL 'O'

The vowel "O " produces this vibrational pattern when spokeninto the tonoscope, or sound-seer, an apparatus des igned tovisualize the basic components of human speech. Using thetonoscope, deaf and dumb persons can familiarize themselveswith normal pat terns of speech and practise producing the samesound forms.

7 . SOUND PATTERNS IN THE EAR

In these vortex patterns we see a vibrational model of the

hydrodynamlc behaviour of the cochlea, (the conical spiral tubewhere hearing t akes p lace In the In ne r ear, and where vortexes

are formed by the action of ¿ound). Vortexes, made visible by

adding marker dye to liquid, are rotat ing continuously In opposite

directions. Th e louder tone, th e m ore rap id t he rotat ion .



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BUBBLE DANCE

Some strange things can

happen to an ordinary

soap bubble when it is

made to vibrate on a

diaphragm. One can almost

say that it starts to "brea the"

as rhythmic pulsat ions

gather strength inside its surface.

The original sphere beg ins

to change shape. Photo

right shows an early

stage of pulsation,becoming more complicated,

below, as vibrations increase.

Pulsations occur in

regular zones.

Colour photo, opposite,

show s w hole soap

bubble, resembling a lovely

crystal wine-glass, in

full oscillation. They sh ow h ow

three-dimensional s ha pe s a re

structured by vibration.

Phot09 © J.C. Stuten



DOES SOME UNIVERSAL LAW

GOVERN FORMS IN NATURE?

The forms and configurations result ing from experiments in varyingthe pitch of vibration o fte n bear so strong a resemblance withstructural pat te rns found in nature, be it in plant or animal life

or the world of minerals, that one is tempted to see here some

f undamenta l law govern ing the creation of all forms In our universe.

The perfect honeycomb structure, left, was obtained by vibratinga liquid with high frequency sound waves. The sculptured formresembling a growing bud or coral formation, below, was creat¬

ed by varying the f requency of v ibra tion of a v iscous l iqu id . The

fishbone pat te rn , bot tom right, was made by sound vibrations

in a film of glycerine. Cowrie shell or bean . shape, bottom left,

was produced when a paste-like substance was made to vibrate.

Photos © H P. Widmer



o.

I


Nature is p ermeated by periodic and rhythmic processes In

many of which no actual vibration is involved. Circles,

left, known as "Liesegang rings", demonstrate one well

known periodic process in the field of chemical reactions.

When p ota ss ium b ic hromate is c ombin ed w ith silver nitrate

it forms silver Chromate in a remarkable, way: concentratingthe silver Chromate in a series of concentr ic r ings proceedingfrom the centre to the periphery in ever large r circles.

3 - The vast spectrum

of cosmic vibrations

iHE examples we have

given will afford some idea of the

w id e fie ld of research opened up by

vibrational effects. By scrutinizingthese curious structures, figures, flows

and movemen ts , we widen ou r range

of vision. We are alerted to manyth ings which had hitherto gone un¬

noticed. Suddenly we rea lize to what

extent nature is permea ted by rhythms

and periodicities.

It will be recalled that periodicity is

cha racter is tic o f organic cell tissue.

The elements of organisms are repeat¬ed as fibre networks, as space lattices,

and quite literally as woven tissues

with an infinite diversity. The rhythms

of these forms are apparent to the

naked eye. The leaf patterns of plantsar e an example. But in both the

optical and th e e le ctro n m icro scope

the law of repetition still prevails.

In everyday life we meet w ith o th er

examples of rhythm, seriality and

periodicity. Every water jet, every

water surface, every drop of water

re veals comp lexes o f a cymatic nature.

Who le oceans of wave tra ins, wave

fields and wave crests appear in cloud

formations. The smoke rising from a

chim ne y fo rm s vortices and turbu¬

lences in a periodic manner. Wave

formation, turbulence, pulsation and

circulation are to be found throughoutthe fields of hydrodynamics (colour

pho to numbe r 2) and aerodynamics.

By seeing all these phenomena as

an integrated whole the observer

comes to develop what is really an

intuitive faculty fo r rhythmic and perio¬

dic things. He begins to appreciate the

cymatic style o f nature. This applies

w ith p articu la r fo rc e to the creative

artist. Numerous contacts with archi¬

tects, painters, graphic and industrial

designers have shown that fo r them

cymatics canno t be merely a matter

of copying sonorous f igures or adopt¬

ing them purely as'. decoration.

A .productive c on fro nta tio n w ith

cymatics lies rather in th is : le t us sup¬

pose that someone is working with

geometrical shapes, say with squares

o r c irc le s. Usin g th ese e lements he

constructs his designs. But the forms

he is handling are finished and com¬

plete: the nascent e lemen t is a bse nt.Ye t he must be aware that everything

has its origin and genesis.

Now th is genera tive p rocess is onethat he can experience particularly wellin th e fie ld of waves an d vibrat ions.

On seeing a sonorous figure take

shape, one cannot help bu t say: the

c rea ti ve process is just exac tly where

"nothing" can be seen, and the poin ts

whither the part icles of sand and

powder are carried are the very places

where there is no movement . The

figure must take shape ou t of its

environment; bound up w ith th e finish¬

ed form is the circumambient spacecreating it. With each thing shaped

goes the experience of th at w hich

shape s it; with each thing fash ioned,

of that which fash ions it. In th is way

the space round things becomes vital¬ized fo r the sculptor, the architect and

the painter. The rig id fo rm is seen

in term s of th at which gave it b irth .

But th e converse case is also i l lum¬

inated by the study of cymatic pro¬

cesses. Le t us suppose someone's

interest is focused on kinetics, on

moving elements and the interplay of

forces. Then he is confronted by the

problem of how a configuration canemerge from such a mobile system.How is a dynam ic proce ss re lated to

form, to a specific figure? Here aga in ,

thinking of the problem in terms of

v ib ra tio n p ro vid es the answer, fo r

however g reat the changes and trans¬fo rmations , p recis e figurai aspects

prevail in the v ib ra tiona l f ie ld . Even

turbulences, fo r al l their instability,

have a formative, repetitive element.

Hence wave phenomena and v ibra¬

t iona l e ffec ts form a kind of totality

(colour pho to numbe r 3, and photos

pages 11, 13, 14 and 15). They throw

an explanatory light on the processof format ion as much as on that

which ultimately takes shape; theyi l luminate movemen t as wel l as th e

stationary form. And here again it isa question of looking behind these

fixed forms to see wha t genera tive

process leads to them . Th e obvious

procedure is to find out what stages

precede the figured shapes and toscrutinize them closely. And this

brings us to the signif icance of cyma¬tic phenomena.

First of al l it must be said that mere

similarity between natu ra l phenomena

and the results of experiments do not

warrant th e conc lus ion that there is

any essential identity. Undoubtedly

many wave e ffe cts lo ok like various

natural phenomena. But in te rp re ta¬

tion and analogizing lead nowhere;

they m iss th e h ea rt of t he ma tter .

Wha t is involved here is this. The

observation o f vibrations an d waves

yields a whole series o f specif ic and

particular categories of phenomena.

It also shows th at the se d iv ers e ele¬

ments appear in a vibrational systemas a whole . In one and th e same

vibrational system we f ind s tructura l,

pulsating, and dynamic-kinetic fea¬

tures, etc. Thus we can say that

when dealing with vibrational systems,

. there will appear in them, appropriatelytransformed, the cymatic effects

we have observed in ou r experiments.

Exper imen ts thus provide us with

con ceptu al mode ls which can stimul¬

ate re search . Needless to say, eachfield must be understood in its ow n

terms. However, experience with

cymatics tutors the in tu it ive facu lty

in such a way that attention is drawn

to many in ter re lated facts which would

previously have gone unheeded . Thu s

while it must be firm ly re ite ra ted that

all interpretation is pointless, it must

be borne in mind that in actual f ields

o f experience the effects o f natural

c yma tic s must be apparent.

Le t us take the example of astro¬physics. There can be no doubt that

in this f ie ld spec if ic v ib ra tional e ffects

must appear on th e lines we have

indicated. A compilation of cymatic QQphenomena embraces a whole range £jof features and relationships fo rwhich appropriate verification must be

discoverable in astronomy, whether






DEATH OF A BRIDGE

BY VIBRATION

SJtm

7-1

Like a violin string vibrated by a bow, a suspension b ridge s trung

between its high towers is vibrated by winds. Soldiers crossing a

bridge in column always break step to prevent the bridge f rom "entering

into vibration" as the second prong of a tuning fork does when the

first prong is struck. Vibrations can reach the point whe re the y setup strains and stresses powerful enough to bring a bridge c rash ing

down. These spectacular photos show in sequence the disastrous

effects of the Tacoma bridge in vibration (State of Washington, U.S.A.),

when its main span collapsed on November 7, 1940. (1) A 70 km.

(45 mph) wind sets the bridge vibrating, causing it to twist and sway.

Twisting effect worsened Swhen a suspension cable came loose.

(2 3) As v ibrational forces i ncrease , roadway is twisted and wrenched

upwards (abou t 35 degrees f rom the horizontal) as shown by automobile

being tilted first one way then the other. (4/5) Vibrations have built

up to a critical pitch, tear ing away th e who le centre span. Below, the

main span has disappeared; only a jag ge d section of side w all remains.

Another spec tacular example is Ven ice, whe re vibrations from w aves

and tidal currents during many centuries and more recently from

ocean-going ships and power boats have inf li cted grievous damageon the city's ancient buildings and monuments.

a I

fl

li-l.r

Photos r F.B. Farquharson, Eng ineer ing Exper iment Station,

University of Wash in gt on , S ea tt le , U .S .A .



by György Marx

QUASARS

AND THE BIRTH

OF THE UN IVERSE

Text copyright © Reproduction prohibited

LOOKING upwards on a

clear night, we see myriads of stars,

thousands upon thousands of them

twinkling in the dark sky. The bright¬est sta rs are visible to the naked

eye up to some thousands of light-

years away. With the aid of tele¬

scopes they can be distinguished at

d is tances thousands of t imes grea te r,

up to some millions of light-years.

At a greater dis tance sti ll , individual

stars can no longer be distinguished,

although they can be seen as galaxies,

similar to our own of which th e sun

is part. These gala xie s c omp ris e

thousands and hundreds of thousands

of millions of stars. The tota l lig ht

emitted by such galaxies can berecorded up to distances of some

thousands of millions of l ight-years.

The light we reg ister on a photo¬

graphic plate began its journey at a

tim e whe n life had barely commenced

on earth .

An d yet we can probe In th is w ay

only a minute portio n o f the universe.

We should have to p enetra te much

further into the depths of space andt ime to discover th e st ructure and th e

history of the universe. The heavenly

bodies, s tars and galaxies we can seenow began to form more than ten

thousand mi llion years ago. It would

therefore be necessary to go back at

least ten thousand m illion years into

the past in order to understand the

h is to ry o f the genesis of matter.

Before Copernicus, man had a

simple picture of the univ ers e. Its

2

GYORGY MARX is professor of theoret¬

ical p hy sic s a t the Un iversi ty o f Budapest

and chie f edit or of the Hungarian scien¬

tific publication "Fizikai Szemle" (Physics

Review). For h is s tud ies on the quantum

theory of particles he was awarded the .

Hungar ian Kossuth Prize in 1955. Thisarticle Is condensed from a ' series of

six talks recorded by the author fo r the

International Un iversi ty o f the Air.

c en tre w as th e earth, t he natural focus

for th e condensat i on of matter.

Copernicus removed the terrestrial

globe from this privileged position.

The Neapolit an ph ilosopher Gior¬

dano Bruno, an admirer of Copernicus

and friend of Galileo, had already

conce ived th e not ion of an infinite

number of worlds al l of equivalent

importance. From then on the

un iverse was re pre se nte d as being

full of h ea ve nly b od ie s distributed

uniformly in space and time and of

homogeneous density , in the same

way that the molecu le s of gas aredistributed in a storage tank.

.A t first th e stars and our sun were

taken as being the molecules of this

cosmic gas. But, following the work

of th e U.S. astronomer, Edwin Hubble,

the galaxies those islands of matter

con ta in ing thousands of millions ofstars have b ecome th e m ole cu le s of

cosmology.

However, things are no t quite so

simple . Galile o taught that the samelaws of physics are applicable in the

heavens as on earth. If we attempt

to apply the laws of universal

gravitation to a gas of infinite extent,

like that in which the galaxies aremolecules, a simple calculation shows

that th is gas could no t be in a state

of equilibrium. E ither the force of

attraction will prevail or the cosmic

repulsion will predominate. A gas

formed of galaxies must of necessity

either expand or contract.

In 1926 observations made by

H ub ble s ho we d that th e universe is

receding. The further into the dep ths

of space we look the faster are the

galaxies we can see receding from us.All these observations have con¬

firmed Hubb le 's law that th e speed of

recession of galaxies is proportionalto their distance from us.

Galaxies at a distance of a thousand

million light-years have a recession

speed of 30,000 kilometres per second,

that is a tenth of the speed of

ligh t. Those that are twice as fa r

away two thousand million light-

years a re re cedin g from us twice asfast, and so on . The universe is no t

a static, in va ria ble fo rma tio n. It

unfolds be fore us a picture that

changes with time.

Living in an evolving universe we

canno t bu t specu la te as to wha t to ok

place in the past and what is to happen

in the future. How long will this

recession, this expansion of the

u nive rse con tinu e? If it is to c ont in ue

indefinitely the galaxies will end up at

such v as t d is ta nc es one f rom th e

o th er th at the light em itted from one

galaxy will no longer be able to reach

even those galaxies that at one time

were closest. Is our own galaxy , the

Milky Way, destined then to float like

a solitary island in the v oid ?

s>UPPOSE that we, as it

were, run the film backwards towards

the past. We should then see the

galaxies getting closer to one another,

and it can be deduced that about te n

thousand m illio n years ago all the

matter of the universe was very highlycondensed. Expansion must have

taken place from an extremely dense

state and have begun in a manner

similar to an explosion.

Many astronomers , relying on the

Friedman calculations, have adopted

this hypothesis of an original state in

which matter was very dense and haveattempted to deduce from it, by

calculation, the v ario us c on ditio ns

observable in the universe as it now

is . Others have had some reserva¬

tions about this, po in ting ou t that a

chain of deduction going so fa r back

is at the mercy of the slightest cir¬cumstance that might have been over¬l ooked.

In the midst of this sea of specula¬

tion, a first point of reference became



t.

Quaiar 3-C-9 *.

8.000 MILLION LIGHT YEARS

Photo © National Geographic Society

Palomar Univers i ty , Cal i fornia

available with the discovery In 1965-1966 of rad io waves coming from the

depths of space.

In the range of metric waves and

above, we can distinguish radio

emissions from galaxies and various

extra-terrestrial bodies. In th e milli-

met ri c wave range, emiss ions or ig ina te

from our atmosphere and the iono¬

sphere. But in the intermediate, centi-

metric range th ere was silence.

In probing th is sile nt range more

closely weak thermal radiation was

discovered. This incoherent radiation

does not originate from knownheavenly bod ie s nor from a particular

sector of the sky. It ¡s a background

noise that fills th e e n tire u n iv e rs e in

a homogeneous manner and Is identi¬ca l In all directions. It corresponds

to a temperature of 3 degrees

absolute, that is to say 270 degrees

below zero centigrade (1).

This background radia tion is appar¬ent as a weak r ad io nois e, b ut w hen

it is c on sid ere d th at it is present

uniformly throughout the universe its

importance becomes evident. It con¬

tains a thousand million t imes as many

photons as there are atoms in theuniverse and the ene rgy density ofth e radiat ion is a hundred thousand

times g reate r than that of the light

com ing from al l the stars.

If we make th e d ed uc tio n that in

the past the univ erse occup ied a

smaller and smaller volume of space,

the further we go back in time, we

find greater and greater in tens ities o f

radiation and higher and' higher

radiation tem peratures. Since the

tempera tu re today is three degrees

absolu te , then five thousand million

years ago it must have been six

degrees absolute, and thirty degreesabsolute 7,000 mi lli on years ago.

MESSAGES 8,000 MILLION YEARS OLD

Six years ago, a lively new branch of astronomy was born with the publication in theMarch 1963 issue of the English journal Nature of fo ur papers by Australian and American

scientists reporting the discovery of myster ious ce les tial ob jects, now known as quasarsor QSOs (quasi-stellar obje ct s) . S in ce that date ou r knowledge of quasars has grown

s tead ily . Above le ft, Quasa r 3-C-9 (arrowed) a tiny luminous do t in space visible through,

a powerful t ele scope. Its light, reaching earth after 8,000 million years (a t a speed of

300,000 km . a s ec ond), is h elp in g scien tis ts t o r econst ru ct cosm ic events as old as the

birth of our own galaxy. Comparative distances shown in drawings above and below help

us to v isualize the awe-inspiring dimensions of the universe.

(1) Absolute zero is approximately minus

273 degrees C.


Nebula of Orion.Solar system

i i

1,000 LIGHT-YEARS

3

it- ''! ..."

Andromeda, near es t g a la x y to ou r own

i

'>-

Our galaxy .*"

2 MILLION LIGHT-YEARS

5

4 '

c

'ûtij'-V--'' .i¿"' '

Our galaxyi i

i -t

100.000 LIGHT-YEARS

>.

1 * , * ' X 1 »

' ' / s m

* ' * . ., / r \

/ 5

* / x

1 Á ' »

' * * ' -*. ' N ' *

* * 3 - * * \ '

' #" i'*.

Range of cosmic observation with the most

powerful photographic telescopes (continuous l ine)

an d with radiotélescopes (dotted line)



QUASARS (Continued)

There is only one possible ex¬

planation for such a large number ofphotons in space. They were produc¬ed in th e hea rt of matte r tha t is highly

condensed and extremely hot, just as

it must have been 10,000 mi ll ion years

ago when the universe began to

expand.

From th is s ta rtin g point, with the

radiat ion spreading over a greater and

greater volume, the temperature

diminishes. At th re e degree s abso¬lute, radiation today bears witness

that the starting point fo r the expan¬sion of the universe was a special

state of matter with th e temperature

doubtless exceeding a billion degrees

and with r ad ia tion p redom inating ove r

atomic matter (1).

A<ICCORD ING to Jacob Zel-

dovitch's calculat ions, during the first

second of expansion the temperature

dropped to ten thousand million de¬

grees, and, at the end of the first mi¬nute, to some millions o f degrees . At

this point m atter began to d om ina te

with th e formation of th e first atomic

nuclei. During the first ten million

years the temperature dropped to four

thousand degrees and, in the heart of

the ionised plasma, neutral atoms, that

is to say a toms having their full com¬plement of peripheral electrons, were

able to form.

After that, vast clouds of gas were

able to develop, each of them forming

the basis of a galaxy. Gradually the

universe took on the aspec t that we

know to da y and we move from therealms of misty speculat ion to those of

scientif ic research based on observa¬

tion.

Natu ra lly, th e re sid ua l ra dia tio n at

three degrees absolute gives only a

confused p ic tu re o f the birth o f atoms

and galaxies without providing anydetai ls. The informat ion that can be

drawn from th e present state of atomic

matter gives a no less distorted pic¬ture.

Heavy elements are being formed

continuously in the universe of today.

It is, then, almost imposs ib le to deduce

from ou r present knowledge the origi¬na l p ro po rtio n o f the elements and,

hence, the density and temperature

conditions prevail ing at the beginn ing.

This is w hy astronom ers w ould find it

of in e stim a b le v alu e if direct undis-

torted evidence, p rovid ing specific

information about the initial phase of

t he unive rse, were to be discovered.

In fact we should need beacons

visible a t eno rmous distances, a billion

times brighter than the stars and a

hundred times brighter than thegalaxies, to find our way far enough

into the depths of space and tim e tobe able to discover there th e structure

of o u r u n iv ers e.

Now it is precisely such beacons

that a stro nome rs b elie ve were dis¬

covered dur ing the early years of thisdecade. These stars have been

named quasars, a word fo rmed from

the contraction of the p hra se "quasi-

stellar". In fact they are galaxies of

a particular kind which were at firstmistaken for stars.

Quasar 3-C-9, which has been iden¬

tified both optically and by radio-

telescope, has a light spectrum whoserays are displaced 215 per cent

towards the longer wave lengths. If,

as is generally accepted, th is "red-

shift", as it is c alle d, is due to the

velocity of recession, and if this

velocity is proportional to distance

(in o th er word s, if our u niverse is

expanding), this redshift corresponds

to a recession ve loc ity o f 240,000 kilo¬

metres per second and to a distance

of eight thousand mill ion light-years.

The aston ish ing thing is that these

stars em it enough light or radiation

energy to be discernible at such

distances. Their o utp ut o f energy canbe est imated at m ore than a billion

times the light of the sun.

Beyond th is d is ta nc e the objects

are too pale fo r it to be possib le to

measure their redshift and our opt ical

telescopes can probe no further. Bu t

eight thousand m illion light-years

indicates that the light from Quasar

3-C-9 has been travelling fo r that

length of time. To look at this

quasar- is, therefore, to look eight

thousand million years into the past,

that is to say, to cover about 80 per

cent of the history of ou r universe.

I

(1) In this text "Bil l ion" is used In th e

Engli sh sense to mean a million million.

though at present

eight thousand million light-years

appears to be th e extreme limit fo r

optical observation, radio-astronomy

ca n take us further. In fact, radio

sources of the same type as quasars

and weaker than 3-C-9 have been

detected by radiotélescopes. If we

assume that a ll these radio sources

have the same absolute intens ity, their

apparent intensity allows us to estimate

the range of our radiotélescopes asbeing nine thousand m illio n lig ht-

years. This range is largely exceeded

by the new giant radiotélescope sited

in a natural bow l at Arecibo, Puerto

R ico (See "Galax ies Caught in a Steel

Mesh," "Unesco Courier", Jan. 1966).

It is expected that the new radio-

telescope will be able to record

emissions from rad io galaxies and qua¬sars s itu ate d a t d is ta nc es of te n to

twelve thousand mil lion l ight-years. This

means that it will be possible, so

to sp ea k, to listen to a direct broad¬

cast of the beginnings of the universe.

This poss ib ilit y, wh ich just a few

years ago would have been consid¬

ered fantastic, has become a reality

thanks to the extraord inary intens ity

of th e qua sa rs' output both of light

and rad ia tion . The ir rad io em iss ion

is th e resul t of one o r severa l

exp losions wh ich, at the same t ime,

heated the centra l nucleus in such

a manner that it could shine like a

million suns fo r a m illio n y ea rs or

longer. Radio emission from theradio galaxies is due to an explosion

of a similar kind, but perhaps less

intense.

These beacons in space can be

used as triangulation points fromwhich to map the entire stellar field

in space and in time. This is not just

a hope fo r the fa r o ff fu tu re . The

map-making venture has already begunand th e re su lts o bta in ed are o f

enormous interest.

w H AT can we assume about

the behav io ur o f quasars throughout

time? During the hun dred thousand

years t ha t followed the first flash, ra¬diat ion must have been of constant

intensity. From then on the strength

of the radiation began to dec rease ex¬

ponentially. A million years after this

spark-off the power o f ra dia tio n was

a lre ad y only a thousandth of what

it had been at th e start, and after te n

million years it had again diminished

a thousand times. At th is po int the

quasar fades to the exte nt th at it

is no longer discernible. No quasars

have been detected whose age hasbeen assessed at m ore than a few

million years.

The ir d is ta n ce and their distribution

in space can be calculated by their

apparent intensity. It then becomes

noticeable that their density in space

is more or less homogeneous within

the limits of one to two million light-

years. Beyond this distance the

number of quasars appears to increase

in al l directions. Their density

doubles (Tver a spher ical laye r witha radius of some thousands of millions

of lig ht-y ea rs . Beyond that it dimin¬

ishes again strongly and, at the radio

horizon, nine th ou sand m illio n lig ht-

years away, the density is only a

fiftieth of that observed in th e close

range.

In rea lity, this arrangement in space

expresses evolution in time, the

quasars being observed at distances

that correspond to the date of their

existence. If quasars seem to usto be more num ero us a t a distance

of some t housands o f millions o f

l ight-years, this is because in that

d ista nt perio d o f time their eruptions

were more frequent.

If we look fur ther still, w e se e

scarcely any quasars , despite the fact

that our radiotélescopes are now

powerful enough to detect radio

sources even further away. This isbecause we are reaching back into

an era preceding the first quasars.

If we can liken quasars to the

nuclei of galaxies burning themselves






SECOND STAGE

ENG INEERING MASTERP IECE (Continued)

An innate sense o f geometr ical precision

6

the spider had worked, alongside my

family's log cabin, one of several

inhabi ted by nature- lov ing vacationers

in summer. About two metres (6 ft.)

f rom th e corner of the cab in was arocky knoll, with a small bush sprout¬

ing ou t of a crevice in the rock. A

branch of a larger plant, a hazel bush,reached over the knoll toward the

cabin . Between th e cabin and th e

knoll grew a small patch of wild irises,

daisies, asters, and other wild wood¬

land flowers in their season.

It is p ro bable th at the protection

p rovided by the ove rhanging eaves of

the cabin, the presence of the protrud¬

ing corner logs, the pa thway between

the cab in and th e wild f lower bed,

and the stone s teps lead ing up to the

rocky knoll al l combine d to p ro du ce

an id ea l lo ca tion fo r an orb-weaving

spider to set up housekeeping.

Many times , over a span of several

years, I had seen o rb webs suspended

almost vertically in th is exact location,

and I had wa tched numerous spiders

of several species carrying on various

stages of web const ruction there

indeed, I had often walked into these

webs while fe tch in g firewood.

It is also probable that on that morn¬

ing the f avourab le a ir cur ren ts around

the cabin, and the prospect that insects

attracted by the flowers would fly

head-on into the hang ing web, werebonus in du cemen ts th at caused one

Micrathena graci lis, an orb-weavingspider, to start spinning its silken lines.

Of a species reported to be widely.

distributed in North Americ a, it was

grayish in colour, about 6 mm. (1/4 in.)in length, and its abdomen was

armed with d is tinc tive spines as well

as the more conventional pairs ofappendages called spinnerets. It is

through these organs that spiders

excrete threa ds o f silky material.

The entire p rocess took about tw o

an d one-hal f hours and consisted of

four stages, which can be describedas follows:

First Stage: Placing structural sup¬

porting lines to provide a triangular-

shaped f ramework fo r the web , whic h

would itself be roughly 15 cm. (6 in.)

in d iamete r ( drawing I shows the

scene when first observed, and the

establ ishment of the web centre).

Second Stage: Comple ting a systemof radial l ines to co nnec t th e web

centre with the surrounding framework

(drawings 2 to 4).

Third Stage: Building a temporary

scaf fo ld ing spiral , extending from the

web centre to the outer frame (draw¬

ing 5).

Fourth Stage: Installing the final

viscid spiral webb ing and removal o f

the scaf fo ld ing (drawing 6).

S TAGE ONE : When I first observed

the web, it already had the three main

supporting lines, with crosslines C-D

and E-F in place (drawing 1), thus com¬pleting the polygonal, outer web fram¬

ing, BCDEFA (except fo r a crossline

between A and B, which was not

p laced until later),.

The spider had also reinforced each

main structural line by traversing it

from time to time, add in g a new strand

on ea ch passage . These strands fann¬

ed out at the anchorage points toprovide multiple attachments (a com¬

mon human practice when anc ho rin g

the cables of a la rge suspension

bridge).

The spider now proceeded to estab¬

lish th e web centre (d rawin g 1). First,

it attached a free-running line at point

1 on AF ; then, moving through pointF down to ED, it a tta ch ed th e other

end at point 2. A quick movement

of the spider's spinnerets fas tened

the line sufficiently well.

Now it moved up th is line and,

approximately midway between 1 and

2, attached one end of another l ine.

Again sp in nin g o ut a line as it went,

the sp id er carried it down to 2 and

th en a lo ng DC to line CB, where the

other end was attached at point 3.

This time the line was pulled taut

before it w as a tta ch ed . It was this

pull that b rought radial lines 1, 2 and

3 to th e positions shown on drawing 1.

The conjunction of these first three

radia is determ ined the web centre,

which was then stabilized by the plac¬

ing of radiais 4, 5 and 6.

The1 web f rame, with the in itia l

radiais 1 through 6, was not in a com¬

ple te ly vert ica l plane; it was inclined

about 15 degrees o ff vert ical, w ith the

upper p art le an ing away from me.

I was no t sure on which s ide the



THIRD STAGE FOURTH STAGE

Spider has constructed a spiral

scaffolding, laid anticlockwise from

the centre, which will be removed in

stage 4. Lines marked "X " are partialradiais added to facilitate scaffold

construction. When the spider reached

the outer end of radial 14, it reversed

direction and made a fu ll c ircuit to

comple te the scaffold spi ra l at radial 1 1 .

Scaffold completed, the weaver now

installs the sticky s pira l w e b that will

serve to catch p re y. T h e web, this time

laid clockwise starting from the

outside, has an average diameter of

17 cm . (six and a half in c hes ). S p ide r

then cuts a hole at centre of web,

giving itself access to either side. It

then waits for vibrations, the tell-tale

sign that a victim ha s been t rapped.

spider would ope ra te , b ut inasmuch as

viewing was most convenient wi th my

back to the sun, all my observationsand sketches of the web were made

with the sp ider working from the others ide. This was fortunate. As the

weaving proceeded, my position

a ffo rded c lose -ups of the weaver's

use of abdomen, legs, mandibles, and

spinnerets.

Having now established a web

centre the spider proceeded to the

second stage of const ruc tion.

STAGE TWO (drawings 2 to 4): A

complete system of radial lines joining

the centre p oin t to the severa l enclos¬

ing framework lines was now pu t

into place.

The method o f installing the addi¬tional rad ia is was like that for th e

initial radiais, e xc ep t th at each new

ra dia l w a s first at tached to th e cent re

and then carried to a se le c ted lo ca tio n

on the e nclo sin g fram e. The spiderw as adept at holding a hind leg high

and keeping the freerunning line from

becoming entangled with existing lines.The fact that the spider was workingon th e unders ide of th e off-vertical

web many have helped, as gravity

wou ld te nd to draw its body and the

free line away from the web plane.

If the reader will run his eyes over

the radiais in their numerical sequence,

sta rtin g w ith th e th re e in itia l lines, he

must be impressed by the fact that

never was a new rad ial pla ced adja¬

cent to one just laid, b ut alw ays at

a distance from it, so as to continually

equaliz e the tens ions on the system

and thereby maintain the location of

th e web centre. Otherwise, because

of the elasticity of the fibres, the

cen tr e wou ld have constantly sh if ted

to new points, and the polygona l formof th e f ramewo r k wou ld have assumed

ever changing shapes and distortions.

Drawings 1 to 3 s how the structural

frame as straight lines. This was not

actually the case. As each new radial

was a tta ch ed to a frame line, the

t en sio n p la ced upon that lin e cau sed,

it to deflect to a more curved line.

Fo r convenience in f ie ld ske tching,

I kept the straight-line form fo r the

frame, until all the radiais were placed.

When radiais 20 and 21 were plac¬

ed , there was as ye t no cross member

from A to B. The spider, after plac¬

ing 21, went back down it w ith ou t

hesitancy, up 20 to A, then returned

the same way with a running line thatbecame crossline AB and was attach¬

ed to radial 6 at their intersection

point. The full polygonal frame,

ABCDEF, was now complete, and

other radiais could be attached to AB .

It is o f in te rest to note that during

th is selective method of locating the

radiais, in only one in sta nc e was a

new one anchored too near an existing

radial, and that was 22, adjacent to

radial 2. In a few cases there was

too much s pa ce b etw ee n ra dia is . In

each case the spider later filled the

gaps with part ia l rad ia is .

That an apparent ly del iberate method

was used by the spider to maintain

the approximate web shape estab¬

lished by the first six radiais is sug¬

gested when the next eight radiais

are studied (drawing 2).

Lines 8, 10, and 13 are well dispers¬

ed be tween po in ts A and F, and radiais

7, 11, and 14 are similarly spaced

between poin ts B and C. Further

evidence of deliberate planning at this


37



A SPIDER THAT

SIGNS ITS NAME

The Argiope, a tiny spider ( rig ht) found widely

in Europe, is easy to spot because of its

b right yellow abdomen crossed w ith black

stripes. It has also the unique characteristic

of signing its name to its web with a zig-zagband o f silk f ixed between tw o ra dia l lines.

NEW SKINS FOR OLD

This greatly enlarged pho to of a spider's leg in the process

of moulting ( be low) r ecalls the delicate brush strokes of a

classical Chinese i nk d raw ing . Old claws bein g shed with

the skin (to p o f p ho to ) a re being replaced by new ones. Spiders

shed th eir o ute r skin severa l t imes wh ile growing.

ENG INEER ING MASTERP IECE (Continued)

Ready for occupancy

stage is seen in the p la cing of num¬

bers 15 through 21.

Again, in drawing 3, one sees thatt ens ions on the cent re of the web

remain balanced by the spider throughits c ho ic e of r ad ia l lo c a tio n s for l ines

22 through 33. With so many radiais

now in place, further care in spacing

would no t have been necessary, ye tthe weaver cont inued its care fu l selec¬

tio n o f lo ca tions as radiais 34 through

44 (drawing 4) were added.

STAGE THREE: With all full-length

radiais in place, the weaver proceeded

with the n ex t item of construction, th e

s ca ffo ld ing, wh ic h would be removed

after serv ing its purpose. It consistedof a spiral starting from the centre andcontinuing to the outer perim eter of

the web (draw ing 5).

The first seven circuits of the spira l

were spaced very closely, about .8 mm .

to 2.4 mm. (1 /32" to 3 /32") apart. Thenext four or five were spaced 6.3 mm.

to 8 mm. (1/4" to 5/16") apart, and

9.5 mm. (3/8") apart. To maintain an

even spacing the spider kept a foot

on the preceding circuit as it hurriedaround the web.

Several interesting examples of

what appeared to be decision makingoccur red dur ing this stage. At a few

places w here radiais were too fa r

apart and the spider would have to

s tre tc h to re ach th e next one, it dis¬

continued the spiral and installed a





SPIDER 'S DOMAIN

IN A

DIVING BELL

Photos © Holmè9-Lebel

Numerous spiders are found on the

surfaces of ponds and qu ie t s tr eams,

bu t the only one th at liv es all its

life un de r w ate r is the Europeanwater spider (A rgyone ta aquati ca ).

This ingenious spider builds a rough

f ramework fo r its bell-shaped under¬

water home b y attaching a few

threads to the s tems of water plants.

Then, rising upwards, it co lle c ts a ir

on its abdomen and rea r legs by

projecting them through the surface

of the water (above right). Carrying

this a ir bubble to Its building site,

it places it whe re th e silken cables

will hold ¡t prisoner. The spider

repeats the operation until it ha s

collected about one cubic centimetre

of air (above left), and then com¬

pletes the nest b y wea vin g a silken

covering around the bubble. To this

home it brings water bugs and other

prey (photo left) and here too it

lays its eggs and raises a family.

Baby w ater spiders (photo right)

are c omple te ly tra ns pa re nt b efo re

they moult fo r the f irst t ime.



ENG INEER ING MASTERP IECE (Cont inued from page 39)

determine, or stabilize, a plane. Also,

the triangle is the basic form used inc on stru ctio n to secure stability and

equilibrium.

The division of th e web -weavin g

process into four separate steps

closely ref lects s imi la r procedures in

the cons truc tion o f a building:

Laying the foundation.

Placing the structural framework.

Building the scaffolding fo r en¬

closing the structure.

P re pa rin g the place fo r occu¬pancy, and removing the scaffolding.

After construction, the s pid er w ill

continue to have engineering prob¬

lems, but now under th e headin g of

"Repairs and Maintenance".

It was hard no t to think in human

terms as well as strictly engineering

terms when contemplating th e e vents

at this place. These questions occur¬red to me:

Why was it that so many webshad been constructed a t this same

lo ca tio n, th e various spiders ta king

advantage of the same existing cabin

logs, tree branches, protruding rocks,

etc., to build above the little wild

garden? Are spide rs able to stand of f

fa r enough and in some way survey

all the attributes of a p ossib le w eb

site?

Having selected a site, can the

spider then determine which of several

logs, branches, etc.,would

be most

suitable fo r anchorages?

Can a spider, having established

a line from the end of a certain log

to a b ra nch , sa y six feet distant, then

use some dec is ion -making process

tha t e lim inates severa l a lte rnate pos¬

sibilities in favour of centering the

web directly above th e pathway, where

i nsec t traffic will be heav ies t?

T hese and many other questions are

unanswered, as fa r as I have been

able to d is cove r. I myself have no

answe rs but it is my belief, based on

many years of observation, that scores

of spiders, of various species, havebuilt webs at th is site in a manner

that suggests that the answer to thesequestions could be "yes".

At least, I can say that the same

structural problems had been faced byi nnumerab le bu ilders , and all of them

had been solved in the sam e compe¬

tent manner.

SPINNING LESSONS FOR THE SCIENTIST

The web building spider can be a unique laboratory animal that may helpscientists to investigate many aspects of physiological, behavioral and psychologicalr esearch, say three scientists who have made extensive studies of spiders at work

on their webs. Their conclusions are published in a short and easy-to-read little

book, "A Spider's Web, P roblems of Regulatory Biology" (1).

Their study reveals many interesting and little-known facets of the spider's habitsand working methods. Spiders produce with amazing speed large amounts of silk

wh ich t hey daily spin into a we b o f spec if ic design. The authors d iscuss the anatomy,

physiology and histology of the silk glands, as well as the composition of the silkitself.

The web is of u tmost importance in the life of the spider, and its d es ig n haspresumab ly evo lved through some select ive process. The authors p oin t o ut that

the spider nervous system is programmed to achieve construction of a we b through

the spreading of silk. The specific nature of th e web enab le s it to be characterized,

and thus computational methods fo r describing it in mathematical or geomet rical

terms can be drawn up.

The au thors sugges t that the deta iled geometr ic patterns of webs are important

fo r proper mating by providing a clear and unambiguous signal fo r an approaching

male. They also note that spiders are able to catch and process flies on strange

webs as efficiently as on their own.

The scientists s tud ied the many d if fe rences tha t occur in web patterns resul ting

from natural processes such as aging, growth and weight changes in spiders, as

well as others in du ced b y "manipulating" spiders through the use of drugs and by

other means, and they describe the effects of drugs on web wea vin g b ehav io ur.

S in ce s pid ers b uild web s fre qu en tly , it is possib le to have a spider in "normal"

cond it ion cons truc t a web, th en make some a lterat ion to the spider and compare

the resulting web with the n ormal or standard from the same animal.

(1) By P.N. Witt, CF. Reed and D.B. Peakall. Springer-Ver lag , Berl in ; He ide lberg ,

New York, 1968, 107 pp .

QUASARS AND THE BIRTH OF THE UNIVERSE (Continued from page 34)

ou t and aging rapidly, the date that

they flare d up must be related to

the b irth o f the galaxies The quasars

must be contemporary with the birth

of the galaxies or have followed at

a lim ite d inte rva l of time. Theytherefore si tuate in t ime th e

birth of the galaxies which inturn denotes a critical state of th e

matter of the universe, already con¬

s iderab ly cooled down after the initial

e xp lo sio n. T herm al turbulence must

already have reduced sufficiently

to allow gravitational forces to

accumulate th e vast mass of th e

proto-galaxies, that is, the galaxies

in the process of condensation.

From these observations it seems

to follow that the period in which

quasars flared up reached its cul¬

mination eight to nine thousandmillion years ago. It is unlikelythat m ore than nine thousand million

years ago th ere were many quasa rs .

We are living in a comparatively

calm period of the development of

the universe, at a time when matter

has long been gathered together in

galaxies or stars. But with ou r

r ad io té lescopes we can survey the

past and reach back to an earl ier

stage in the life of the univ erse to

an epoch in which thermal flux and

not the accumulation of matter was

the dominant factor. We are on the

point of h avin g a cc es s to the very

dawn of th e wor ld at a t ime when,

perhaps, there were no stars and all

that existed was amorphous ma tte r.

The initial results of this investiga¬

tion are still fa r from p re cise . The

given facts of time and distance willhave to be checked an d verified. This

will be the task of larger telescopes

that are today planned or under

construction. The r esults they supplywill enable astronomers and as tro¬

physicists to re-constitute the historyof our universe.

The first r ad io té lescope was built

scarcely a quarter of a century ago

and the first optical telescope three

centuries ago. Man has existed on

earth fo r a million years and life fo r

a thousand million years. The sun,

the earth and the planets are six

to seven thousand million years old

and th e gala xy of which we are part

goes back eight to nine thousand

million years . The expansion of the

universe, which ca n still be observed

today, may have begun ten to twelve

thousand m illio n yea rs ago. But the

further back we go into the pastth e more uncertain become the events

that marked the prehistory of theuniverse.

It is no t so long since scientists

began their enquir y in to the past of

man and of th e earth . To avoid

straying in the labyrinths of specula¬

tion or losing their way in th e m istsof space and tim e, they now have

as guides t he quasa rs , those beacons

whose light and radio sig na ls tra ve ltowards us across thousands of

millions of years.

41



0 El sa

ILO awarded

Nobel Peace Prize

The N ob el P ea ce P riz e for 1969 has been

awarded to the International Labour Orga¬

nization, wh ic h th is y ea r c ele bra te s its 50th

ann iv er sa ry ( see the "Unesco Courier",July 1969) . In making the award th e Nobel

committee commended the 110 as an orga¬nization which has worked to create stable

social relations and thus contributed to

safeguarding world peace, and noted the

ILO 's impor tant work in the fie ld of tech¬

nical a ss is ta nc e to develop ing countr ies .

The ILO is the third U.'N. b od y to receive

t he award . The U.N. Children's Fund (1965)

and the Office of the U.N. High Commis¬

sioner fo r Refugees (1955) were previously

honoured.

Unesco Indian

translations honoured

Special editions are being prepared of

two outstanding Indian n ovels recently

published in English fo r the Unesco Liter¬

ature Translations Programme, by Allen

and Unwin in U .K. and Indiana University

Press in U.S.A. Pather Panchali by Bib-

hutibhushan Banerj i will be the first of over

130 volumes published in English in the

Unesco. Collection to appear in a special

book club edition (Folio S ocie ty o f Great

Britain). The Gift of a Cow (Godaan ) by

Premchand will be th e first book in th e

collection to be published in Braille (Natio¬

nal Library fo r the Blind, London).

'Prospects in Education'

Unesco recently publ ished the first issue

of "Prospects in Education", a new quar¬

terly which aims to bring to educators,

educational institutions and teachers articles

an d in format ion from worldwide sources

and to give teachers especially in pri¬

mary schools an insight into educational

problems and their solutions in other coun¬

tr ie s. Annual subscription: $3.50 or 21/-stg.Subscribers will r ec e iv e t he first s ix i ssues

(1969-70) free of charge, and their sub¬

scription will cover Nos 7-11 (1971). Order

fr om Unesco natio na l distributors (P. 43).

Developing Asia's

book industry

A centre fo r the promotion of book

publishing in Asia has been se t up in Tokyo

(Japan) by th e J apanese Publishers' Asso¬

ciation with aid from the Japanese National

Commission fo r Unesco. It will carry ou t

research on publish ing technology, prov ide

training courses fo r the industry and report

new trends in Asian publ ish ing. Unesco is

contributing $36,000 to p rovide courses fo r

trainees from 18 countries.

Hazards o f food poison ing

The danger o f fo od poisoning is every¬

where increasing, no t only from food-borne

d iseases but a ls o through chemical contam¬

inants that find their way into food

through m ishandling, re po rts the World

Health Organization. Mass production and

distribution of food and the growth of

international trade and travel al l contribute

to the dange r.

Dial-a-lesson Classrooms

Teachers in Ottawa, Canada, wil l be able

to dia l-a- lesson under an experimental pro¬

ject in four schools. Each of the schools'

110 c lass rooms will be c on ne cte d to a

v ideo l ib ra ry , and teachers will be able to

choose recorded p rogrammes by telephone

to be p laye d ba ck over a coaxial cable

network an d received on classroom TV .

IVAN KOTLYAREVSKY

P oe t L au re ate of the Ukraine

(1769-1838)

This year's bi-centenary of the birth of Ivan Kotlyarevsky,

"Poet Laureate of the Ukraine," was marked by celebrations

throughout the Soviet Union, inc lud ing spec ia l ceremonies

in th e Bo lsho i Theatr e, Moscow, in September.

Ivan Kotlyarevsky was the leading figure in the literary revival of the Ukrainian

cultural renaissance th at to ok place early in the 19th century- He w ro te th e first

Uk ra in ian musical drama, "N ata lk a o f Poltava" an d his translations of La Fon¬

taine's Fables in to U k ra in ia n an d o f G reek an d Latin l i terature into Russian are

still widely read. But th e work which brought him the greatest fame and established

him as th e fo un de r o f U kra in ia n literature is his poem, "The Aene id T ransposed ."

This vigorous, sparklingly witty poem is in no sense a parody of Verg il's master¬

piece. Borrowing only the story outline, Kotlyarevsky produced a brilliant and

original work whose purpose was to challenge Tsarist despotism at a time when

the v ery surviva l of the Ukrainian language and culture was at stake. In it s verses,

th e g ods on Olympus, the T ro jan, Carthaginian and Latin peoples speak, act, dress,

eat and qua rre l lik e Ukra in ia ns at the close of the 18th century. The author's

style, his humour and philosophical irony have led many to compare him with Rabe¬

lais, Swift, Ariosto and Anatole France.

Kotlyarevsky shook of f the shackles of 18th century classic ism, raised a verna¬

cular language to th e rank of a literary one and int roduced Ukra in ian l iterature intoRussia 's cultural life . H is "Aeneid" is so rich in Ukrainian folk wisdom an d turns

of speech that few have attempted to translate it, although it well deserves to be

read In every country.

BOOKSHELF

Deser t Travel ler

(The Life of Jean Louis Burckhardt)

By Katherine Sim

Victor Gollancz Ltd., London, 1969

(60/-).

Scribes an d Scholars

(A Guide to the Transmission

of Greek and Latin Literature)

By LD . Reynolds and N.G. Wilson

Oxford Univers ity Press, London,1968 (15/-).

Writing in French from Senegalto Cameroon

Selected by A.C. B rench

Three Crowns L ib ra ry

Oxford Univers ity Press, London,

1967 (10/6).

Language Today

(A Survey of Current LinguisticThought)

By Mario Pel and William

F. Marquardt, Katherine Le Mee,

Don F. Nilsen

Funk and Wagnalls, New York, 1967

($5.95).

M EuropeBy Jasper H. Stembridge and DavidParnwell

The New World Wide Geographies,

Second Series, Oxford Univers ityPress, 1968 (12/6).

Human R ights and Fundamenta l

Freedoms in Your CommunityBy Stanley I. Stuber

Associated Press, N ew York, 1968

(Cloth: $3.95; paperback: 95 a) .

The Complete Poems

of Michelangelo

Trans la ted by Joseph Tusiani

(Unesco 's Trans la tions Series)

Pete r Owen Ltd., London, 1969

(38/-).

Ocean exploration decade

A long-term and expanded programme of

oceanic research, which would comprehend

the proposed International Decade of

Ocean Exploration, was recently adopted

by the Intergovernmental Océanographie

Commiss ion meeti ng at Unesco headquar¬

ters in Paris. It comprises some 50 projects

covering the whole spectrum of oceano¬

grap hy from the study of the earth' s c rus t

under the ocean basins an d research on

th e ocean as th e "boi ler" fo r th e world's

weather system to ways of doubling or

even quadruplin g the p re sent annual salt¬

water fish catch of nearly 60 mil li on tons .

Flashes...

Seven ty per cent of Soviet doctors are

women, w ho se numbe rs re ach ed 438,000

la st y ea r c ompa re d w ith 96,000 in 1940.

Traffic congestion in Great Br ita in , which

has nearly 60 vehicles fo r every mile of

road, is increasing more rapidly than in

an y o ther ma jo r country, according to the

British Road Federation.

By 1975 the world's nuclear power sta¬

tions are likely to number 300 with a total

genera ti ng capac it y of 150,000 megawattsas against 20,000 today.

One out of every seven persons in the

world is a cit izen of India. India's popu¬

lation (over 520 m illion last year) grow s

annually by 13 million.

ce

o



UNESCO COURIER INDEX 1969

January

CAN WE KEEP OUR PLANET HABITABLE? (M. Bât isse ) The biosphere

(R. Dubos). A look at the animal world (J. Dorst). Man against

nature (F. Fraser Darlin g). W a te r p ollu tio n. Unesco's programme

(1969-1970). Art treasures (30) At ease beneath a tree (U.S.S.R.).

February

CIVILIZATIONS OF CENTRAL A SIA A ND TH E H IMALAYAS . Kushan

Civilization (B . Gafurov). Himalayan ar t (M . S in gh ). Philippine folk

ballet. Khorassan earthquake, Iran (R. Keating). Art treasures (31)

Young E trus can (Italy).March

NEW FOOD REVOLUT ION (G . Gregory). India's progress in food

production. A lg ae in ste ad of steak. Nurse ri es o f the sea (W. Ma rx ).

Forms of n atu re (A . Feininger). Synthetic cuisine (A . Nesmeyanov

and V. Belikov). Communications on the moon (G. Phélizon). Arttreasures (32) Nas re din th e sage (Turkey).

April

YOUTH 1969. Youth in fe rment ( spec ia l Unesco study). Angry

g en era tio n (M . Hicter). Youth and society (A . Gorbovsky). Youth

in developing, socialist, and weste rn c oun tr ie s (E. Naraghi). Art

treasures (33) Legend of ancient Persia.

May

ARTS AND MAN (d'Arcy Haym an). The crafts (K . Chattopadhyay).

Art of African pulleys (F. N 'D ia ye ). U te ns ils as works of ar t

(V . Fabritsky and I. Shmelyov). N ew shapes and curving rhythms.

Popular im age ry from Brazil. Art treasures (34) From Mexico's

a nc ie nt p as t.

June

GLAC IE RS ON THE MOVE (G. Avsyuk and V. Kotlyakov). New

world of the oceans (D. Behrm an). Alaskan earthquake. Under¬

standing Oriental music (Trän Van Khé). Art treasures (35) Goddesson a silver cauldron (Denmark).

July

FOR 1,500 MILLION WORKERS. I nt erna ti ona l Labou r Organ iza ti on

50th anniversary (G.F. Pompei). World emplo yment programme (D.A.

Morse). 'Participation' (ILO study). Safety and health on the job.

Labour re la t ions today (J. de Givry). The working woman (P. Sartin).

In ternat iona l migra t ion of workers (P. Kuin ). Emp lo ymen t or exile

(S. Parmar). Art treasures (36) Water-carrying centaur (Hungary).

August-September

UNESCO COURIER ANTHOLOGY. Earthlings in the space age

(Lord R i tch ie-Calder ). Antonio Arango (G . Nannetti). Saving our

vanish ing forests (K.H. Oedekoven). Th e menace of 'extinct' volcanoes

(H . Taz ie ff ). N in th centur y Sa le rno science school (R. Luzzato). Ruins of

Nem ru d D ag h. Antarctica (G . Wendt). Hie roglyphs o f Easter Island

(A. Métraux). Pierre Loti at Èaster Island. Galapagos islands: laboratoryof evolut ion (J. Dorst) . Heri tage of the 'Bounty' (H. Shapiro). Buddhist

culture (A . de S ilv a). C ha lle ng e o f th e Spaceship (A.C. C la rke ). F ir st

steps in space (A. Leonov). Art o f Mex ic o. V ern ac ula r languages in

changing Africa (P. Diagne). Po ll ut ion o f th e O ce an s (N . Gorsky ). Ou r

poisoned planet. 700 million i l l iterates (R . Maheu). Avicenna (C . Abous-

souan). Nuclear weapons and world sanity (L. Pauling). Ants and men(Sir James Gray). Canaletto's pa in tings he lped rebu ild Warsaw (J. Hrynie-

wiecki) . Pictures in our heads (5. Klineberg). Art of decoratingou rse lves . Cent re of the map (M.G .S . H odgs on ). New science of

ar t conservation (H.J. P le nd erle ith ). G rowin g w orld w ate r shortage

(M. Bâ ti sse ). Rousseau father of anthropology. (C . Lévi-Strauss). Art

of writing. Africa rediscovered (B . Davidson). Ancient art of Japan

(S. Noma). Racism in South Africa (L. Nkosi). Camel facts and fables(B. and K. Schmidt-Nielsen). Royal highway of the Incas (J. Carrera

Andrade). Don Quixo te o f the radio (D . Behrman). Peking man inthe apothecary's s hop (G .H .R . von Koenigswald). Stones also die

(R. Sneyers). Art t reasures : funerary mask (Nubia) .

October

GANDHI (R. Rao). Landmarks in his life (O . Lacombe). Heritage

of non-violence (R. Habachi). Martin Lu the r K ing. Th e wa y of Bapu

(H. Kab ir ). C ommen ta ry on Gandhiji (K. Jaspe rs ). Gandhi on stu¬dents and polit ics (M.S. Adiseshiah). Gandhi on education. Art

treasures (37) Puzzling masterpiece (Czechoslovak ia) .November

MONGOLIA (K. Facknitz and L. Kostikov). Erasmus (J.C. Margolin).

U.N. and Mongolia. New light on civilization in Ir an (P .P . Delougaz

and H.J. Kantor). Men die earl ier (B . Ur lan is) . Three-d imens iona l

history class (P. Almasy). Art treasures (38) Viking god (Sweden).

December

SCULPTURE OF VIBRATIONS (H . Jenny). Death of a bridge by

vibration. Quasars (G. Marx). Spider engineers: the b uild in g of a

web step by step (B . Dugdale). Art treasures (39) Pun ic pendant

(Tunisia).

WHERE TO RENEW YOUR SUBSCRIPTION

and order other Unesco publ icat ions

Order from an y bookseller, or write direct to

th e National Distributor in your country. (See list

below ; names of distributors in countries not

l isted will be suppl ied on request . ) Paymen t is

made in th e national currency ; the ra tes quotedare for an annual subscription to THE UNESCO

COURIER in a ny o ne la ng ua ge .

AFGHANISTAN. Panuzai, Press Department, Royal

Afghan Ministry o f Edu ca tio n, K ab ul . AUSTRALIA.

Publications : Educational S upplies P ty Ltd, P.O.

Box 33, Brookvale. 2 100 NSW ; Periodicals:

Dominie Pty. Limited, Box 33, Post O f fi ce , B r oo k -

vale 2100 NSW Sub-agent United Nations As¬

sociat ion of Austra l ia, Victor ian D iv is ion , 4th

F lo or , A s kew House, 36 4 Lonsdale St., Melbourne

(Victoria), 3000. ($ 2.75). AUSTRIA . Verlag GeorgFromme & C*., Spengergasse 3 9, V ie nn a V (AS 82)

BELGIUM. A ll publicat ions: Editions "Labor" , 3 42 , ru e

Royale, Brussels, 3. Presses Universitaires de Bruxelles,

42 , a v. P aul Héger , Bruxelles S. NV Standaard-We-

tenschappeliike Uitgeveri j Be lg iële i 147 , Antwerp, I. Fo r

th e Unesco Courier (1 70 FB) and ar t slides (488 FB) only:

Jean de Lannoy, 112, ru e du Trône, Brussels S. CC P

3380.00. BURMA . Trade Corporat ion N- ( 9) , 5 50-

55 2 Merchant Street, Rangoon. CANADA. Queen's

P r in te r, O tt awa , On t. ( $ 4 .00 ) . CEYLON. Lake House

Bookshop, S i r Ch i ttampa lan Gardiner Mawata, P.O.B. 244,

Colombo, 2. (Rs 12.50) -CHINA. Wor ld Book Co .

Ltd., 99 Chungking South Rd., Section 1, Taipeh,

Ta iwan (Fo rmosa ). CYPRUS. "MAM", Archbishop

M aka rio s 3 rd Avenue, P.O. Bo x 1722 , Nicosia.

CZECHOSLOVAK IA . S.N.T.L., Spalena 51 , Prague 1

(permanent display); Zahranicni l i teratura 1 1 Soukemcka

Prague 1. DENMARK . E jnar Munksgaar d, Ltd.,

6, Norregade, 1165, Copenhagen K. (Dan. Kr . 19.00).ETHIOPIA. National Commission for Unesco P.O.

Bo x 2996, Addis Ababa. FINLAND. Akateeminen

Kirjakauppa, 2 Keskuskatu, Helsinki. (Fmk. 11.90).

FRANCE . L ib ra ir ie de I'Unesco, Place d e F on te no y,Paris-7«. C.C.P. 1 25 98 -4 8. ( 12 F). GERMANY . A ll

publications: R. Oldenbourg Verlag, Rosenheimerstrasse

145,8 Munich, 80. Forthe Unesco Kurier (German ed only)

Bahrenfelder-Chaussee 1 60 , Hamburg-Bahrenfeld, C.C.P.

276650 (DM 12). GHANA. Methodist Book Depot

Ltd., Atlantic House, Commercia l St reet , POB 100, Cape

Coast. GREAT BRITA IN . See Un it ed K in gdom .

GREECE. Librairie H . Kauf fmann , 28, rue d u S ta de ,

Athens; Librairie Elef theroudakis, Nikkis 4, Athens .

HONG-KONG. Swindon Book Co.. 13-15 Lock Road,

Kowloon . HUNGARY. Akademia i Konyvesbolt.

Vic i u. 22 , Budapest V ; A.K.V. Könyvti rosok Boltia,

Népkoztàrsasig utja 16 , B ud ape st VI. ICELAND.

Snaebjorn Jonsson & Co., H.F.. Hafnarstraeti 9, Reykjavik.

INDIA. Orient Longmans L td ., N ic o l Road, Ballard.

Es ta te, Bombay 1 ; 1 7 Chlttaranjan Avenue, Calcutta 1 3 ;

36a, Mount Road, Madras 2; 3/5 Asaf A li Road, Ne w

Delhi 1 ; Sub-Depots: Oxford Book & Stationery Co .

1 7 Park Stree t , Ca lcu tta 1 6 and Sc ind ia House , New Del¬

hi : Indian National Commission for Unesco, att. Th e Libra¬

rian, Ministry of Educat ion, "C" Wing, Room N * 214,

Shastn Bhawan, New Delhi 1 .(Rs . 13 .50 ). I NDONE¬

SIA. Indira P. T ., D )l. Dr. Sam Ratulangie 37 , D ja ka rt a .

IRAN. Iranian Nat ional Commission fo r Unesco, 1/154

Avenue Rooseve lt , B.P. 1 533, Teheran. IRAQ. McKen¬

zie^ Bookshop, AI - Rashid Street, Baghdad ; University

Bookstore, University of Baghdad, P .O . Box 75 , Baghdad.IRELAND.The National Press,2,Well ington Road, Balls-

bridge, Dubl in, 4. ISRAEL. Emanuel Brown, formerly

Blums tein 's Books to res , 35 Allenby R oad a nd 48 Nahlat

Benjamin Street, Tel-Aviv IL. 1 2.50. JAMAICA. Sang-

ster's Book S to re s L td ., P .O .B ox 3 66 , 10 1 Water Lane,

Kingston. JAPAN. Maruzen Co. Ltd., P .O . B ox 5050,

Tokyo Internat ional 1 00-31. JORDAN. Joseph I. Bahous& Co., Dar-ul-Kutub, Salt Road. P.O.B. 6 6, Amman .

KENYA. E.S.A. Bookshop, P .O . B ox 30167 , Na ir o bi .

KOREA. Korean National Commission for Unesco,

P.O. Bo x Cent ra l 6 4, Seoul. KUWAIT. Th e Kuwa i t

Bookshop Co., Ltd., P.O . Box 2942 , Kuwa it . LIBERIA.

Cole an d Yancy Bookshops Ltd., P.O. Bo x x286.

Monrovia. LIBYA. Agency for D e ve lo pm e nt o f

Publication & Distribution, P.O. Bo x 261, Tripoli.

LUXEMBURG. Librair ie Paul Brück, 2 2 , G ra n d-Ru e ,

Luxemburg (F.L. 1 70). Federal Publica¬

tions Sdn Bhd., Balai Benta, 31 Jalan Riong , Kua la Lum¬

pur. MALTA. Sapienza's Library, 26 Kingsway, Valletta.

MAURITIUS. Nalanda C ompa ny L td ., 3 0, B ou rb on

Street, Port Louis. MONACO. Br it ish L ibra ry , 30 ,

Bid. de s Mo ulin s, M o nt e C a rlo . NETHERLANDS.

N. V. Martinus Nijhof f , Lange Voorhout , 9, The Hague ,(fl. 10). NETHERLANDS ANTILLES . G. C.T. Va n Dorp & Co . (Ned Ant.) N.V., Wil lemstad, Cura¬

çao. N.A. (N A fl 5 .2 5). NEW ZEALAND. Govern¬

ment Print ing Office, Government Bookshops a t : Ru tl and

St ree t , P.O. Bo x 5344 , Auck land ; 13 0 Oxford Terrace,

P.O. Bo x 1721 , Chr is tchu rch ; Alma Street, P.O. B ox 8 57

Hamil ton ; Princes St ree t , P. O . B ox 1 1 04 , Duned in ; Mul -

grave Street, Private Bag, Well ington. ($ 2.15) NOR

WAY. A ll publications: A.S. Bokhjornet, Akersgt 41-Os lo

1. Fo r Unesco Courier only: A.S. Narvesens Li t teratur-

Jeneste, Bo x 61 25 ,O s lo 6. PAKISTAN. Th e West-Pak

Pub li sh ing Co . Ltd., U ne sc o P ub lic atio n H ou se , P .O .

Bo x 37 4 G P.O., Lahore; Showrooms: Urdu Bazar , Lahore,

and 57-58 Murree H ighway, G/6- 1, Is lamabad. Pakistan

Publ ications Bookshop, Sarwar Road.Rawalpindi ; Panbagh,

Dacca. PHILIPPINES. T he M ode rn B ook C o., 928.

Rizal Avenue, P.O. Box632, Manila. - POLAND . A ll publi¬

cations: ORWN PA N Palac Kultury, iNauki , Warsaw

Fo r th e Unesco Cour ier only : RUCr l , ul . Wronia, 23 ,

Warsaw 10. PORTUGAL. D ia s & Andrade Lda.Livrana

Portugal, rua de Carmo 70, Lisbon. PUERTO R ICO .

Spanish English Publ ic at io n s, E le an or R oo se ve lt 115 .

Apar tado 1912, Hato Rey. SINGAPORE. Federal Pu¬

blications Sdn Bhd ., T imes House, River Va l ley Road . Sin¬

gapore 9. SOUTHERN RHODES IA . Textbook Sales

(PVT) L td ., 6 7 U nio n A ve nu e, S alis bu ry . SUDAN.

A I B as hir B oo ks ho p, P. O. Bo x 1 11 8. K h art ou m .SW ED EN . A ll publications : A/ B CE . F r it zes Kung l.

Hovbokhandel , F redsga tan 2 , Bo x 16356, 10 3 27 Stock¬

holm 16. For the Unesco Courier : Svenska FN .

Forbundet, Vasagatan 1 5-IV 1 01 23 Stockholm 1

Postgiro 18 46 92 (Kr. 18 ) SWITZERLAND .A ll publications: Europa Verlag, 5 Rämistrasse,

Zurich. Librairie Payot, rue Grenus 6, 1211,

Geneva 11 , C.C.P. 1-236. "Courier" only : Georges

Losmaz, 1, ru e des Vieux-Grenadiers, Geneva . C .C .P .

12-4811. (Fr. S. 12). TANZANIA. Dar-es-Salaam

Bookshop, P.O.B. 9030 Dar-es-Salaam. THAILAND.

Suksapan Pan it , Mansion 9, Rajdamnern Avenue, Bangkok.

(37.50 baht). TURKEY . Librairie Hachet te, 469 Is tik la l

Caddesi, Beyoglu, Istanbul. UGANDA . Uganda Book¬

shop , P.O. Bo x 1 45, Kampala. -SOUTH AFR ICA .

Al l publications: Van Schaik's Books to re (Pt y) . Ltd.,

Libri Bu il di ng , Church S tr eet , P .O . B ox 724 , P ret or ia .

Fo r th e Unesco Cour ier (single copies) on ly : Cent ra l

News Agency P.O. Bo x 1033, Johannesburg.

UNITED ARAB REPUBLIC (EGYPT). Librairie

Kasr El Nil, 38 , ru e Kasr El Nil, Cairo. Sub/agent:

La Renaissance d'Egypte, 9 Sh. Adly-Pasha, Cairo.

U N IT ED K IN G DOM . H .M . S ta ti one ry O ff ic e, P.O.Bo x 569, London, S.E.I., an d Government Bookshops

in London, Edi nbur gh , Cardiff, Belfast, Manchester,

Birmingham and Bris to l. (20/ -) . UNITED STATES .

Unesco Publications Center, P .O . B ox 433, New York ,

N.Y. 10016 ($ 5). U.S.S.R. Mezhdunarodnaja Kniga,

Moscow. G-200. YUGOSLAVIA. Jugoslovenska

Knjiga ,Terazije, 27 , Be lgrade ; Drzavna Za luzba Sloven ije ,

Mestni Trg. 26 , L jub l jana .



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