Letters
Omnibus Language Proposal
Most physical scientists, particularlygraduate students, need
the "diction-ary-hunt" knowledge of two or threeforeign languages,
despite the contraryopinions and high costs cited by Nich-ols and
Everson (Letters, 23 June). Ihave a suggestion that may seem
bi-zarre at first; it is based on commentsmade by Fritz Zwicky at a
symposiumon Modern Methodology at Caltechrecently. Briefly, Zwicky
feels that lan-guages can best be taught several at atime, as in
his native Switzerland. Heclaims that in this manner,
similaritiesand differences would stand out andbe more easily
remembered by stu-dents. Several of us urged him to pre-pare a
textbook so that his idea couldbe tried, possibly in a special
coursefor graduate students in the sciences.No one seems to have
given much
thought to a course in "scientific lan-guages," say, German,
Russian, French,Italian and Spanish. A graduate stu-dent usually
has had 2 years in oneof these so that the comparative as-pects of
grammar would not be toodifficult. As Zwicky points out,
scien-tific terminology tends to be the samein most languages, and
the student spe-cializing in physics, for instance, is inany case
helped by equations and dia-grams. The purpose of such a
coursewould be to give a student confidencein finding and reading
articles in for-eign journals about his own thesis top-ic, without
spending the time to learntwo or three languages thoroughly.
Thelinguists will undoubtedly object tosuch shallow treatment, but
they maybe reassured that regular languagecourses will still be
needed for otherpurposes, and that the five-languagecourse may
reduce the bored fringeof disinterested students in regular
lan-guage classes. The major problem iswho can teach such a course?
(otherthan Zwicky)!
THORNTON PAGEDepartment of Astronomy, WesleyanUniversity,
Middletown, Connecticut
22 SEPTEMBER 1967
Methanol: A New Fuel?
"Energy needs versus environmentalpollution: a reconciliation?"
(16 June,p. 1448) by Leon Green, Jr., proposeda system of energy
generation basedupon the use of ammonia as a fuel.The general
thesis developed is attrac-tive in that it provides for
conversionof fossil fuels into a chemical fuel insuch a way that
waste products canbe readily controlled and contained atthe point
of release. On the other hand,I think that Green's suggestions
wouldhave been much more practical if hehad given consideration to
the produc-tion of methanol rather than ammonia.The chemical
process used to con-
vert fuel gas, petroleum fractions, oreven coal to methanol is
essentiallythe same as the process used for pro-duction of ammonia.
In both, theoriginal raw material is converted toa mixture of
carbon monoxide andhydrogen which is then further proc-essed to
produce the desired final prod-uct. The efficiency of conversion
isapproximately the same in both cases,and a substantial fraction
of the car-bon originally present in the fossil fueldisappears from
the system as carbondioxide. In the case of ammonia, allof the
carbon is separated in this man-ner; with methanol, about
two-thirdsis removed.The cost of erected facilities for the
production of ammonia or methanolare roughly comparable. Once
verylarge plants are designed for produc-ing methanol, the relative
simplicitypossible in handling the product ascompared with the
requirements forliquifying and pressurizing the am-monia product
will probably result inan advantage in the overall investmentcost.
Methanol can be stored at atmo-spheric pressure under all normal
con-ditions and can be readily shipped bypipeline, by normal tank
car, or tanktruck. Because of its very low freezingpoint and low
viscosity, it can be usedeasily for all conventional fuel
require-ments.
It is interesting to note that, withsome adjustment to the
carburetor,methanol can be used as a fuel inordinary internal
combustion engines.It is a completely clean fuel requiringno
additives, lead, or other constitu-ents which tend to aggravate
atmo-spheric pollution problems. Of course,it would be essential
that the internalcombustion engine be adjusted proper-ly to avoid
formation of oxygenatedhydrocarbon compounds in the exhaustgases.Of
even more interest is the possi-
bility of utilizing methanol directly asa fuel for a direct
conversion fuel cell.Substantial work in this direction hasbeen
carried out at Institut Francaisdu Petrole where demonstration
cellshave already been built and operatedfor many thousands of
hours. Use ofmethanol in this manner would per-mit a ready
transition from hydrocar-bon fuels inside of city areas with
agradual replacement of internal com-bustion engines by electric
motorspowered by fuel cells.
Production of methanol could betaken over completely by large
energycompanies currently refining petroleumand distributing
hydrocarbon fuels. Theinvestment required to produce enoughmethanol
to replace all existing fuelswould certainly be extremely high,
butmay not be out of proportion to thatrequired for producing
low-sulfur con-ventional fuels such as is being re-quired by
legislation currently beingenacted throughout the country.
RONALD G. MINETCompagnia Tecnica Industrie PetroliS.p.A.,
Piazzale G. Douhet 31 (EUR),Rome, Italy
Computer Science
Professors of computer science areoften asked: "Is there such a
thing ascomputer science, and if there is, whatis it?" The
questions have a simpleanswer:Wherever there are phenomena,
there
can be a science to describe and ex-plain those phenomena. Thus,
the sim-plest (and correct) answer to "Whatis botany?" is, "Botany
is the studyof plants." And zoology is the studyof animals,
astronomy the study ofstars, and so on. Phenomena
breedsciences.
There are computers. Ergo, computerscience is the study of
computers. Thephenomena surrounding computers are
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at price
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varied. comiplex. r-ich. It r-emiains onlyto 'answer the
objections posed bymany skeptics.
Objctionul I Only natUral phienomi-ena breed sceiences, bLut
COMPuterS arie
artficial. henice are whatever thev aremaeo e. hience obey no
inarale
laws, hence cantnot be described andexplained. Anuswoer. The
objection ispatently false, sinice computerIMs andccompulLter,
pr-ograms are beingy desci- bedand expl'ained dailly. 2. Thie
obj'ectioniW~ould eqully11N ruLle ouit of' scienice largeportions
of' orgaYnic chemistry (SubI-sti-tuIte "slkI''ones" f'or
"comlpuIter-S"' phr S-iCS (SubStituIte "SuIpercondcLItisT its "
for"ComputerMS"). and even zoology (Subh-Stituite 'hbrdcor-n'f'or
1.comIputer-s').The objectionl Wsould Certaints ruLeI
ouItnmahematics, buIt in ansv esvcnt ItS StatuSaIS a na'tural
science is 'idis ertc
0bjecclio/n 2. The termi "comlpuIter,is niot ssell dLefinled,
an1d its mleanling,sv Il cha'tnce swith ness desvelopments.henice
COmIpulter science dloes niot hasve
a eli defined subject mlatter. Atmi o'r.The phenomena of' all
sciences Change05 er tlime: the proCeSS Of ulnder-staind-inc1
aSSuIreS tha'It thlis Will be the caise.1Astronoms dlid niot
or-icinally 1CInLudeItheC StudsI Of Interstellar _gases;
pbhysicsdId no0t linclue radioactiv its'; p55\chol-ogs' didl- not
inICILude the Study of' ani-mal behavior. Ma-thematics ssL1-as
locedefined ats the "science of' quanltits.
()bjeeCtoll 3. ( omIpuIter Scienice is thecStuIds Of algorithms
or- procrams),nt4c0mpuIteirs. Anuswcir. hoss inc(-dieleper InSIght
thIIanI thesc are- someIc-timeis ci edlitedi \sith. the f'ounIderS
Ofthe chilef pirofesslional1 orgranization for-computeiIM scienice
niamied 'It the Asso-
Ini the dieftinition ,. 'COMPuterS mean1CWS''Ising
OIIcomputersI-the ha;Id s are,
theirl PrograImis or' algori-thms, andic allthat goes ssith
themi. C omputeItl sci-enice is the StudsIN Of thle
phenomenCIasurrounIlding ComlpuIterS. "'0ComputerSp1 ILI alg'O
th1IIns" "lisVing III)Lcoptes."o;- si I'npls-)I "Co0I-)nputeiIs"
all1 coi'C to0the Same11 th inc--the same pheleollme'.
O()ciuim10i 4. ( om pute; S, like the;-ii nIlciI "-.
areincIIStruLIMen1tS. n1Ot phe-no01meni InlStrumenICItS lead as stO
their-Li-sci SL ences:1), the behasviois of' '1ust; L0inenits areC
subsumled as special topicsinl othie; scienices (not alws ass the
uiser-s-cien1ces-electi on mlicroscopv belon csto pb1%sscs. nlot
biologs%,. Au so cr. Thec
Icoi'nputCet is Sueh a nosvel and cami-p-)IC\1iis',tiI-umenICit
thiat Its b-)ehasRrIn isSubLImeSIIld undicer no othici science-,
itss'tulds doeS no0t leatd as~ to Lusc;sc
enices, but to furither Stuidy of comi-puLters. Hence, the
com1puiter is notjulSt an instrumient buIt a phenomienonas well,
requirinig description and ex-planation.
ObjeCCtionl 5. Com11puter- scienice is a1branich of electr-onics
(or mlathemnatics,psychologv, and so f-or-th), Atiis s'er. TostudIL
VC0IIcomputes, onie mayv needt tostmidIV somie or ,ill of these.
P3heniomienadiefinie the focuIS Of a1 SCience, not itsbouIndaries.
Many of the phenomenaof' comIputer-s are a,,lso phenomena of'some
other- sciencee. The existence of'hiochemistry dienies nieither the
exis-fenice of biologyv nor- of chemistry. BLut:ill of' the
phenomena Of computerSarie no0t Sub_Sume1d undicer ains onec
exist-in, science.
Objection 6. ComIpLitCerS belong1 toenliniieerina, not science.
Ati,swoer. Thevbelong to bioth, like electricity (phy s-ics and
electrical engineering) or plants(botany antd agricultuIre). Tlime
swill tellwshat prof essionial specialization is dle-sir:ible
betwveen analysis anid synthesis,aind betwveen the purie StudyI Of
COm1-puLterS andic their applicationl.
Com11pUter sclientists ~ivlll of teil jolinhiandls s ith
colleaigueS f'romi other- dis-cipl ines in commiioni endeasvor.
Mostly,comp1-Uter scienitists sw Il tid lIvin 0comipulters ssvitlh
the same plassion thatothers hasve studied plants, Stars. cIla-cier
s, dvestutifs, :indc magnmetisi'n:an55vith the same conifidience
thLat initelli-genit, persistent CuriositsVs\il Ie lldi-tciresting(
and LIpla Suseful knossledg,e.
NLLEN Ni1sWriLAt AN J. PLRIS
Hi RBE RT A. SIoNIO61,tac/ahir School of hit/u
s,tria/'Ad/mili-str/atiO/i. C aricegic Insltitute of
s/sa_v1tiia / U213
"The Big Trouible iwithScientific Writing
WhenI I see :irii1CleS, :is I freCquenItiVdJo theseci(asvs. e
xhoi tine( a ut1 horS toci cater Simplicity an11d cIa"ri
t(1vthilink of the fiist little Scientific niote
I ss ote. \\ hen I ss as lan kidelistic grad-HtiCt sWitdt. 5
iote It ,isS11VsimplsaddHi CCtlV aS COuIld. It beCgan1. he
b)igrot1ible \\ ith difi LISIOIi CILoud Chambers)CP
is loss rladiatitoni ecsistancci and it ssenlt
thoughlt it needeId a Wlitle oressoikScirctly I dlid niot agree,
so I decidedto attempt to make it inito aI parods of,
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