Scientific American Magazine 1971-09-01

Philip Morrison

The role of reconnaissance satellites in the arms race

Books

Martin Gardner

The plaiting of Plato's polyhedrons and the asymmetrical yin-yang-lee

Mathematical Games

Science and the Citizen: September 1971

C. L. Stong

A carbon dioxide laser is constructed by a high school student in California

The Amateur Scientist

The Authors

Articles from the <em>Scientific American</em> archive

50 and 100 Years Ago: September 1971

Bibliography

Letters to the Editors, September 1971

M. King Hubbert

They are solar energy (current and stored), the tides, the earth's heat, fission fuels and possibly fusion fuels. From the standpoint of human history the epoch of the fossil fuels will be quite brief

The Energy Resources of The Earth

Milton Katz

It is only recently that men have begun to consider how they can reconcile human needs for energy with the finiteness of the earth. Such a reconciliation will engage all the institutions of society

Decision-making in the Production of Power

Roy A. Rappaport

The invention of agriculture gave mankind a more abundant source of solar energy. The energetics of a primitive agricultural system are examined in new Guinea, with a moral for modern agriculturists

The Flew of Energy in an Agricultural Society

Myron Tribus

Edward C. McIrvine

The flow of energy in human societies is regulated by the tiny fraction of the energy that is used for the flow of information. Energy and information are also related at a much deeper level

Energy and Information

William B. Kemp

Early man obtained food and fuel from the wild plants and animals of his environment. How the energy from such sources is channeled is investigated in a community of modern Eskimos on Baffin Island

The Flow of Energy in a Hunting Society

Chauncey Starr

Man's expanding need for energy creates difficult economic, social and environmental problems. The solutions call for sensible choices of technological alternatives by the market and political process

Energy and Pernor

Earl Cook

The U. S., with 6 percent of the world's population, uses 35 percent of the world's energy. In the long run the limiting factor in high levels of energy consumption will be the disposal of the waste heat

The Flow of Energy in an Industrial Society

Freeman J. Dyson

The energy flows on the earth are embedded in the energy flows in the universe. A delicate balance among gravitation, nuclear reactions and radiation keep the energy from flowing too fast

Energy in the Universe

Claude M. Summers

The efficiency of home furnaces, steam turbines, automobile engines and light bulbs all help to fix the demand for energy. A major need is a kind of energy source that does not add to the earth's heat load

The Conversion of Energy

David M. Gates

The solar energy that falls on the earth warms the surface and is ultimately radiated back into space. The tiny fraction of it that is absorbed by photosynthetic plants maintains all living matter

The Flow of Energy in the Biosphere

Daniel B. Luten

The human uses of energy are reflected in patterns on the land. The prospecting, recovery, movement and ultimate use of energy resources are governed by the ratio of the benefit to the cost