The Sculpture of Vibrations

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

THE SCULPTUREOF VIBRATIONS

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WORLD ART

Punic pendantThis little masterpiece of paste jewellery (actual size shown on right)is a neck lace pendan t fa s h io ned by a craftsman of ancient Carthage inthe form of a mask whose white face contrasts sharply with the deep bluetones of the eyes, hair and b ea rd . F ou nd ed by the Phoenicians about750 B.C., Carthage quickly became the greatest commercial power in thewestern Mediterranean, exporting to its overseas trading posts a wealthof "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


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Cour ierDECEMBER 196922ND YEAR

PUBLISHED INTHIRTEEN EDITIONS

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CYMAT ICS : THE SCULPTUREOF VIBRATIONS(I) Patterns of a world

permeated by rhythm

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(II) M usic made visiblein a film of l iquid

(III) The vast spectrumof cosmic vibrations

By Hans Jenny .

CYMATIC BALLET

EIGHT PAGES IN FU LL C OLO UR

DEATH OF A BR IDGE BY VIBRATION

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QUASARS AND THE BIRTHOF THE UNIVERSEBy Gyrgy MarxTHE WEAVING OF AN ENGINEERINGMASTERPIECE: A SPIDER'S ORB WEBBy Bert E. Dugdale

UNESCO NEWSROOM

TREASURES OF WORLD ARTPunic pendant (Tun is ia )

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Cover photoCymatics is a new fie ld o fresearch which studies th e effectso f rhyt hm ic v ib ra tions in nature.It reveals an ever-changingworld of unusua l forms in whichf igures appear, currents andeddies are se t in motion,structures take shape andpu lsa ti ng pa tt erns materialize.The curious forms shown hered an ce and leap u pward s whe nvibrations are transmitted toa viscous liquid (see also photospages 13, 14 , 15).Photo JC . Stu ten , Dornach ,Switzerland

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CYMATICS

THE SCULPTUREOF VIBRATIONS

This photo show s neither a duckno r a swan about to plunge. It ison e of th e extraordinary patternssculpted by high-frequency sound. It wasproduced by placing a plastic mass ina magnetic field and subjecting it tovibration. The masses form sculpturalshapes reflecting the characteristics ofth e magne ti c field.Photo J.C. Stu ten , Dornach, Switzerland


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D r. H ans JennyPhotos J. Christiaan Stuten

Hans Peter Widmer

Throughout the liv ing 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 observedno t only in the beating of the heart, the circulation of the blood and theinhaling and exhaling of breathing, but also in the recur rent fo rmation o fcells and t issues, 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. HansJenny, 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 which th is new field he has termed "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 asdiverse as astrophysics and bio logy.


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CYMATICS

1 - Patterns of a worldpermeated by rhythmOiUR world is permeated

throughout by waves and vibrations.When we hear, waves travellingthrough the air impinge. on our ears.

HANS JENNY was b orn in B as el, Switzerland,and studied natural sciences and medicine.Fo r many year s he has be en in medical practice a t Dorn ac h, n ea r B as el. He is a na tu ralist an d painter an d has undertaken extensive research in to zoological morphology.The problems of modern physiology and biology led him to study the phenomena ofexperimental periodicity, a field of researchth at w as e xte nd ed to inc lude th e effects ofvibration, a new field he ha s termed "Cymatics.' Dr. Jenny's a rt ic le r epo rt s on morerecent experim ents carried out since hepubli sh ed h is original study, "Cymatics, theStructure and Dynam ic s of Wav es a nd Vibratio ns ," h ig hly illu stra te d w ith b ilin gu al German-English text, published by Basilius Presse,Basel, Sw i tzer land, 1967.

When we speak, we ourse lves generateair waves w ith our larynx. When weturn on our radios an d televisions,we are utilizing a waveband.' We talkabout electric waves and we are a llfamiliar with waves of light. In anearthquake the whole earth vibratesand - seismic waves are produced.There are even whole stars whichpulsate In a regular rhythm.Bu t it is not only the, w orld w e livein that is in a state of vibration (atomic

vibrations are another example) fo r ourbody itself is penetrated by v ibrations.Our b lood pulses through tis in waves.We ca n hear the beat- of the heart.And above all our muscles go into astate of vibration when we move them.

QUARTZQUARTETHow cymati c exper imentsvisual ize sound is shown inpho to s le ft. Q ua rtz sandstrewn on a steel plate Is"excited" by vibrations from ac rys ta l o scill at or .Approximately the sameconfiguration is seen in al lfour illustrations, but thep atte rn b ec om es moreelaborate as the pitch of theacoustic tone rises.Frequencies used here, leftto right and top to bottom,are: 1,690 hertz (cycles pe rsecond), 2,500, 4,820 and 7,800.(See also centre colour pages,photo No . 5) .


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Photos J.C. Stuten

WEAVINGBY SOUNDWhen l iquids are made tovibrate, very unusualpatterns resu l t Above, acellular patte rn , n ot u nlik ethose found in nature.Right, scale-like structures(technically know asimbricate). When th ematerials and frequenciesare ch an ge d th e p atte rn schange and we se ebeauti fu l ly s t ructuredarrays, hexagonal,rectangular and overlappingpatterns In the fo rm o fhoney-combs, ne tworks andlat t ices. S om e tim e s th etexture itself undergoes amarked change and themost astoundingd isp lays resu lt .

CYMAT ICS (Continued)grains of sand and transports them ina way dete rm ined by the arrangemento f the vibrational field.Those artists in particular who are

interested in kinetic art will find herea doma in of nature in which kineticsand dynamics have free play until aconfiguration emerges. This highlights a very important characteristicof w ave an d vibrational processes: onth e on e h an d, there is movement an dan interplay of for ces; on the o ther , thecreation of forms and figures.

But invariably both the kinetic andth e structural e lements ar e sustainedby the vibrational pro cess. Thus weare always confronted by th ese threecomponents: vibration or wave whichis manifested in figures and in dynamics and kinetics. It is hardly anexaggeration, then, to speak of a basictriple phenomenon of vibration.

How are such experiments performed. The Ge rman scientist E. Chladni(1756-1827) was the first to show howsolid o bje cts v ib ra te . He scatteredsand on a metal plate , makin g itv ib ra te w it h a violin bow, so that thesand formed a definite pattern of linescharacteristic of th e s ou nd heard . Thevibration transports the sand from specific areas called loo ps into certainl inear zones. But th e condi t ions o fthe experimen t could not be selectedat will nor could th e results be seenas a whole until new m ethods werefound.One of these will be described by

way of example. What are known ascrystal oscillators were used. The lattice structure of these crystals is deformed when electric impulses areapplied to them. If a series of suchimpulses is applied to the crystal, itbegins to osc illa te and the vibrationsactually become aud ib le . Th ese vibrations can be tra nsm itte d to plates,d iaph ragms , s tr ings, rods, etc. (photopage 6 and colour photo number 5).By means of this method conditions

can be freely selected, and accuratelydetermined: th e number of vibrat ionspe r second (frequency), the extent o fthe vibratory movement (amplitude),and the exact poin t o f e xc ita tio n areall known with precision. Severalacoustic tones can be experimentedwith at one and the same tim e; thescope of the exper iment can be extended at will and, above all, each experiment is precisely reproducible.

With the aid of such methods, research can reveal a whole phenomeno logy of v ib ra tional effects. The name"cymatics" was chosen fo r th is fie ldof study (kyma, Greek fo r wave, kyma-tica, things to do with waves).

CONTINUED ON PAGE 10


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SPIRALLINGSANDSPhotos right and below showhow vibration produces rotationaleffects. Here we have a steelplate s tr ewn w ith qua rtz sand.On right we see piles of sandrotating under vibration. Sandis flo win g riv er lik e, towa rd thec en tre p ile , in long, narrowarms coming from variousdirections. These f orms s tr angelyrecall the rotating, spirallingmasses observed by telescopesin nebulae and other galacticphenomena. Below, tw od isc -shaped p iles of sand havebeen formed by the flow ofthe sand s trea ms. Each disc isconstant ly rotat ing and has anipple of sand like a nucleusin the centre.

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CYMATICS (Continued)2 - Music made visiblein a film of liquid

|T is possible to generatev ibrat ions systematically through acontinuous series of tones and totransmit them to any object at will.Consequently sonorous figures are no tthe only phenomena produced (photospage 6). Vibra tiona l condi tions arefound, called phases, in which theparticles- do not m ig ra te in to stationaryfigures bu t form currents. These currents run side by side in opposite directions as if in obedience to a l aw.The whole v ibrat ional pattern is nowin motion.

These con tinuous waves also provoke rotary movement. The sand be

gins to turn round a point. Theserotary processes are continuous. Themasses are not ejected. If colouredgrains of sand are used to m ark rotating p ile s, the movement patte rn revealed is continuous and due entirelyto vibration (photos page 9).It is interesting to note that all the

phenomena of cymatics have not onlybeen photographed but, since movement is invariably involved, also filmed. Still and motion pictures complement each other as documentation.

Just as vibration can be transmittedto solid particles (sand, powder) it canalso be commun ic ated to liq uid s. Once

again we find the whole spectrum ofcymatics. A richly diverse field ofstructures appears. De lica te la tti cesa re genera ted. Then hexagonal, imbricated (scale- like) and richly curvedpatterns (photos pages 8 and 28) appear. If th e exc itin g tone Is removed,al l the formations natural ly vanish.

Currents also occur in l iquids. In afilm of liquid, bilaterally symmetricalpairs of vo rt exes li ke those d iscove redin the ear by Georg von Bksy rotatein contrary d irect ions (photo page 7and colour photo number 7). Thesepairs o f vorte xes are fo rmed cha rac-



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MOZART'S 'DON GIOVANNI'Pattern (left) s a musical sound from the 27thba r of the ove rtu re of Mozart's opera "Don G iovanni" .The sound has been made visible by imp ress ing thesound vibration patterns on a film of liqu id. N ot onlythe rhythm and volume become visible bu t a ls o th e figureswhich correspond to the f requency spectrum excitingthem. The patterns are extraordinarily complex in thecase of orchestral sound. Se e also B ach photo next page.

CRESTS OF THE WAVEAbove , suggest ive of gaping mouths in some b iz ar re mask ofAntiquity, these orifices are actually a series of wave crests( pho tographed f rom above) p roduced when a viscous liquidis i rradiated wi th sound. When poured on to a vibrating membrane,the fluid becomes a f lowing, pulsating mass in which waveformations soon appear. Changes in the amplitude and f requencyo f vibrations an d modi fi cat ions to the viscosity of the liquidproduce further strange effects (see photos pages 13, 14, 15).

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CYMATICS (Continued from p ag e 1 0)teristically in the cochlea of the earby the action of sound. The vortexesappearing in the liquid can be madevisible by adding a few drops ofmarker dye. They rotate continuously.The louder the tone, the more rapid therotation.

Turbulences o r u ns ta ble w a ve s deserve specia l mention (bottom photopage 16). In the marginal areas of awave field o r w he n tw o trains o f w av esare contiguous, agi ta ted wave formations appea r which are constantlychanging. Vibration causes "turbulence" in liquid. It is a characteristicof such turbulences that they sensitizea medium (liquid, gas or a flame) toth e a ctio n o f sound.

Fo r example, it is only when a gasf lame is m ad e tu rbu len t tha t it becomesreceptive to irradiation by sound, i.e.it is only then that it form s into sonorous figures. These turbulences areimportant in the design of wind in

struments, e.g. the mouthpie ces o ft rumpets .

Since th ese expe rimen ts e ntail th etransmission of v ib ra ti ona l p rocessesin conformity wi th natural laws, it wasa logical step to a ttemp t to visualizemusic (photos pages 10 and below).It is in fact possible with the aid ofd iaphragms to make the actual vibrational patterns of music visible in filmsof liquid. One and the same vibrating diaphragm is used to rad iate themusic and also to visualize th e mu sic alprocesses in the sonorous figures appearing in the liquid . In this way, wese e w hat w e hear and we hear wha twe see.

The eye is, of course, unaccustomedto "see ing Mozart or B ach"; if filmso f this visible m usic are show n withou t sound, it is by no means apparentthat what can be seen is, say, Mozart'sJupiter Symphony. It is only when themus ic is sw i t ched on that th e a ura l im

pression can be experienced visual ly.The question whe ther it is feasible

to visualize the human voice is aparticularly interesting one. A speciallydesigned apparatus called the tono-scope (sound-seer) makes it possibleto produce without intermediate agencythe actua l vibrational pattern of a vowel(see colour photo num ber 6). Thefigures reveal characteristic featureswhich reflect the spoken vow el andits frequency spectrum, the pitch ofth e vowel, and the ind ividua l vo ice ofthe speaker. If conditions are constant, precisely the same form appears.

Fo r deaf-mutes th is v is ib le speechis a substitute fo r the normal person'sability to hea r h imse lf. The deaf-mutesees what he says. He can practiseproducing in the tonoscope the sameforms as those made by persons withnormal hea ring. If he succeeds indoing so, this means he is producing


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BACH'STOCCATAIN D MINORThe musical notes shown in tinyphoto below are a sound fromthe 28th bar of the famousToccata and Fugue in D minor(1st movement) fo r the organby Johann Sebastian Bach.Photo left shows the samemus ic al n ote as revealed bycymatics. Vibrational figuresreproduce all m usic precisely,bu t if we look at these passage s on a silent fi lm, we canat first make nothing of them,th e e ye bein g una cc us tomed to"seeing" music without theguidance of the ear. Whenth e music is heard s imultaneously, the aural impressionquickly becomes a visual one.

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f* IFRENZY OF ACYMATIC BALLET

Photo H.P. Wldmer

These shapes, leaping and gyrat ing l ike dancers in a frenzied ballet, are some of thedynamic "sculptures" created during a series of experiments that demonstrate the amazinglydiverse effects produced by vibration under certain condi tions. In these experiments,a viscous fluid is poured onto a vibrating membrane, producing first one and then a seriesof 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.

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CYMATIC BALLET (Cont inued)

THE SOUNDAND THE FURYSuggesting the storm-tossed waves ofan ocean or a sea of mo lte n la va .surging under the Im pact ofvo lcanic forces, th ese remarkab le pho to sshow a laboratory-size storm, createdby vibrating a liq uid w it h theaid of sound waves. In cre as in gthe vibrations producedby an oscillating diaphragmconjures up iceberg- like waves (right).Whe n th e liq u id is made more fluidand greater v ibrat ions are used, the wav esrise still higher, lifting into plates,pillars and peaks (below left ). ' Finally,the mass o f l iq u id , filled wi th pu lsa ti ons ,currents and turbulences, flings upwith dynamic force tiny drop le ts tha tform a curtain of flying spume(be low r ight ). The experiment ca n becontinued unt il the liquid is completelytransformed into spray.


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IRON FILINGS AND SMOKE IN HIGH PITCHIron filings when vibrated in a magnetic field produce the craggy peak effectseen above. Oscillation reduces the adhesion between th e par tic les, provid ingthem with ex tr a f reedom of movement. F ilin gs thu s s tre wn in a magnetic fieldsubjected t o v ib ra ti on form mob ile shapes which seemingly dance in the vibrationalfield. Here, camera has temporar ily f rozen the da nce of th e Iron filings. Below,a downward stream of smoke takes on a fabric-like appea rance when irradiatedby high frequency sound. Becoming turbulent, the gas is sensitized to sound;st ructures appear , their form depending on the sound waves .

CYMATICS (Continued from page 12)the sounds correctly. In the sameway he can learn to pitch his voiceright and consciously regulate his flowof breath when speaking.To give some idea of the r ichness

and diversity of cymatic effects we willlook at one example more closely. Ifvibration is applied to lycopodiumpowder (spores of th e c lu b moss), theresults are curious and specific. Theparticle s o f th is powde r are very fineand of even consistency. If a plateor diaphragm on which the powder hasbeen uniformly strewn is excited byvibration, a number of circular pilesof powder form (p ho to be low rig ht).This clumping in circular heaps is

extremely characteristic of cymaticeffects. These p ile s a re in a constantstate of circulation, i.e. the pa rtic lesare transported from the insid e to theouts ide and from the outs ide back tothe inside by the vibration. This circulation is part icu lar ly typ ica l of theaction of waves.

If th e tone is in tensif ied , wh ich isperceived by the ear as a crescendo,the circular heaps gravitate togetherand unite in a larger heap, which, however, continues to c ir cu la te ( photoabove right and centre spread, colourpho to number 4). If the tone i s in tensified s till more, the masses are flunginto very v io le nt motion. They arethrown or even hurled out, ye t theprocess o f c ir cu la tion s till continues.

A,CTUAL currents ca n alsobe produced in lycopodium powder.The powder rushes along preciselydefined paths (photo page 30). If newmater ia l is cast in to such an area ofcurrents, th e result is not chaos; instead the freshly added masses areimmediately assimi lated into the systemof the v ib ra tional f ie ld . Th roughout al lthe ch ange s and transformations thedynamics of the figure and the figuration of the dynamics are preserved.W hen these conglobations move,

they do so in a characterist ic manner.They invariably move as a whole, andif a process is pu t out, the rest of theheap creeps after it just like anamoeba. There- is no crumbling ord is in te gra tio n. Whe th er the heapsunite to make larger ones or whetherthey break up into a number o f smalle rpiles, they invariab ly form whole units.Each of them is participative in thewhole in regard to both form andprocess.

This brings us to a particular featureo f v ib ra tional e ffec ts : they may be saidto exemplify the p rincip le o f wholeness. They can be regarded asmode ls of th e doctrine of hol ism: each



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MIGRATIONTO THE CENTREWhen the spore powder of the club moss(lycopodium) s spread evenly on avibrating diaphragm, it forms a galaxyof tiny piles (photo below). Each pilerotates on its o wn a xis and also rotatesas a single body like the e lemen ts ofou r solar system. When the vibrationsare increased the piles migrate towardsthe centre (photo left) in wh ich the pathsof migration can be seen as streakylines. While forming large central pile,they continue to rotate on the diaphragm.


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CYMATICS (Continued f rom page 16) COLOUR PAGESsingle element is a whole and exhibitsunitar iness whatever t he mu ta ti ons andchanges to which it is subjected. Andalways it is the underly ing vibrationalprocesses that sustain this unity indiversity. In every part, the whole ispresent or at least suggested.To study vibrational effects in space,

first of all d rops were made to vibrate.Experiments with mercury showed thatthe oscil lat ing drops moved in regularforms. Systems in arithmet ical seriesof 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, etc., appea r, so thatit is legitimate to speak of harmonicsand symmetry. Pulsa ting drops ofwater als o rev eal th is poly gona l arrangement with the difference, however, tha t th e liq uid tra ve ls re gu la rlyfrom th e centre to t he pe riphery andfrom the periphery back to the cen tre .

It mus t be imagined, then, that thesevibrations take place roughly in systems with 5, 4, and 3 segments. Thepictures formed are strikingly reminiscent of the shapes of the flowe rs o fhigher plants. Thus a true harmonybecomes apparent in the series of cymatic processes.

E are taken stil l furtherinto the three-dimensional when soapbubbles are excited by vibration (colourphoto number 8 and photos page 27).These reveal a regular pulsation andmight be visualized as "breathingspheres" The higher the tone producing the oscillation, the larger thenumber of pulsating zones.Curious phenomena result from the

fact that a dh es io n b etw e en mater ia lsand the support ing surface of platesor diaphragms is reduced by vibration.The parti cles o r masses acquire a certa in fr ee dom of movemen t as a resultof th e reduced adhesion. If, fo rexample, iron fi l ings are placed in amagnetic field on a vibrating diaphragm,adhesion between the filings and thesurface Is reduced and they becometo some extent mobile. They formfigurines which appear to dance in themagnetic field and by their motionreveal its density and configuration(top photo page 16).Changes in th e s ta te of matter are

a lso strangely inf luenced by vibration.For in stance , if a blob of hot, l iquidkaolin paste is allowed to cool whilebeing vibrated, it does no t solidify ina uniform mass but is so twisted andchurned that cur ious branch-like structures are f ormed wh ich are due simply and sole ly to v ib ra tio n.The experiment results in a whole

array o f s tru ctu re d elements whicheventually solidify (colour photonumber one).


1 . KAOLIN CAKECurious configurations occur when a material is vibrated while itis chang ing from liquid to solid. Here a blob of heated kaolinpaste forms a r ibbed cake- like structure as It cools and solidifies.The r ibbed pat tern 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 vibrating mass.

2. THE RHYTHM OF INDIA INKThese flowing whorls and meandering currents, made by dropsof red emuls ion p laced in a solution of black India in k, s how aperiodic process in which no outside vibration Is used. Theemulsion slowly diffuses into the Ink with a periodic, rhythmicto and fro movement, creating a pattern of th ick serpentinespurts and delicate formations that vanish like wisps of mist. Itmust be imagined t ha t eve ry th ing is no t only flowing, bu tactua lly f lowing in patterns and rhythms.

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3 . PHANTOM POTTERThis perfectly shaped double ring is no t a f inished design Inporce la in t urned on a potter's wheel. It is a "fluid f igure" formedwhen highly viscous liquid Is vibrated on a d iaphragm. I ts staticappearence is d ec ep tiv e. The entire structure Is in movement,constantly ro ta tin g, w ith material flowing to the centreand back again, the whole- generated and sustained" entirelyby vibration. (Other shapes created in this experiment a re s ho wnon pages 11, 13, 14 an d 15.)

4. LANDSCAPE IN THE ROUNDThis dusty, petrified looking landscape,recalling photos of the moon 's surface, Iscomposed of spores of the club m oss( lycopod ium powder) se t in motion byvibration. Each ci rcu lar mound of finepowder, bo th la rge and small, is rotating on its ow n axis an d th e whole surface Is in Itself rotating and pulsating.Patterns change according to the frequency of vibration. Increasing it canc rea te " sand storms" or unite tiny moundsinto a single large one, as seen In photoson page 17.

5. THE SOUND OF COPPERInspired by the re sea rch of Ernst Chladnl, the 18th century German physicist and musician , who first demonstrated the modes ofvibration of solid objects, Hans Jenny, u sin g more sophisticatedtechniques, has assembled a collection of "sonorous" f igures .Sound pattern shown here was created on a steel plate s trewn withcopper filings, and corresponds to a frequency of 2,200 cyclesper s ec ond.

6. VOWEL 'O'The vowel "O" produces this v ibrational pattern when spokeninto the tonoscope, or sound-seer, an apparatus desig ned tovisualize the basic components of human speech. Using thetonoscope, deaf and dumb persons can familiarize themselveswith norma l patte rns of speech and practise producing the samesound forms.

7. SOUND PATTERNS IN THE EARIn these vortex patterns we see a vibrational model of thehydrodynamlc behaviour of the cochlea, (the conical spiral tubewhere hearing ta ke s p la ce In the In ner ear, and where vo rtexesare form ed by the action of ound). Vortexes, made visible byadding marker dye to liquid, are rotating continuously In oppositedirections. The louder tone, th e more ra pid th e r ota tio n.


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BUBBLE DANCESome strange things canhappen to an ordinarysoap bubble w hen it ismade to vibrate on adiaphragm. One can almostsay that it starts to "brea the"as rhythmic pulsat ionsgath er s tre ng th in sid e its surface.The original spher e beg insto change shape. Photor ight shows an earlystage of pulsation,becoming more complicated,below, as vibrations increase.Pulsations occur inregular zones.Colour photo, opposi te,show s w hole soapbubble, resembling a lovelycrystal wine-glass, infull oscillation. They sh ow howthree-dimensional shapes arestructured by vibration.

Phot09 J.C. Stuten


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DOES SOME UNIVERSAL LAWGOVERN FORMS IN NATURE?The forms and configurations result ing from experiments in varyingthe pitch of vibration often bear so strong a resemblance withs truc tu ra l pat te rns found in nature, be it in plant or animal lifeor the world of minerals, that one is tempte d to see here somefundamenta l law governing the creation of al l forms In ou r universe.The perfect honeycomb structure, lef t, was obtained by vibratinga liq uid w ith high frequency sound waves . The sculptured formresembling a growing bud or coral formation, below, was created by varying the f requency of v ib ra tion o f a v iscous l iquid. Thefishbone pattern, bot tom right, was made by sound vibrationsin a film of glycerine. Cowrie shell or bean . shape, bottom left,was produced when a paste-l ike substance wa s made to vibrate.

Photos H P. Widmer


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o.I

CYMATICS (Continued from page 18)

Nature is p ermea ted b y periodic and rhythmic processes Inmany of which no actual vibration is in vo lved . C irc le s,left, known as "Liesegang rings", demonstrate one wellknown periodic process in the field of chemical reactions.When p ota ss ium b ic hroma te is combined with silver nitrateit forms silver Chromate in a remarkable, way: concentratingthe silver Chromate in a series of concent ric r ings proceedingfrom the cen tre to the periphery in eve r large r c ircles .

3 - The vast spectrumof cosmic vibrations

iHE examples we havegiven will afford some idea of thew ide fie ld of research opened up byvibrational effects. By scrutinizingthese curious structures, figures, f lowsand movements, we widen our rangeof vision. We are alerted to manyth ings which had hitherto gone unnoticed. Suddenly we realiz e to whatextent nature is permeated by rhy thmsand periodicities.

It will be recalled that periodicity ischarac te ris tic o f organic cell tissue.The elements of organisms are repeated as fibre networks, as space lattices,and quite literally as woven tissueswith an infinite diversity. The rhythmsof these forms are apparent to thenaked eye. The lea f patterns of plantsare an example. But in both theoptical and the e lect ron m ic roscopethe law of repetition still prevails.

In everyday life we meet w ith o th erexamples of rhythm, seriality andperiodicity. Every water jet, everywater surface, every drop of waterreveals complexes of a cymatic nature.Who le oceans of w ave tra ins, wavefields and wave crests appear in cloudformations. The smoke r is ing f rom achim ney fo rm s vortices and turbulences in a periodic manner. Wavefo rma tion , tu rbu lence , pulsation andcirculation are to be found throughoutthe fields o f h yd rodynamics (colourpho to numbe r 2) and aerodynamics.

By seeing all these phenomena asan in te gra te d who le the observercomes to develop what is really anin tu i tive faculty fo r rhythmic and periodic things . He beg ins to appreciate thecymatic s ty le of nature. This applieswith pa rt icu la r force to the creativeartist. Numerous contacts with architects, painters, graphic and industrialdesigners have shown that fo r themcyma tics canno t be merely a matterof copying sonorous f igures or adopting them purely as'. decoration.A .productive con fro nta tio n w ith

cymatics lies rather in th is : le t us suppose that someone is work in g w ithgeometrical shapes, s ay with squares

o r c irc le s. Using these elements heconstructs his designs. But the formshe is handling are finished and complete: the nascen t e lement is absent.Yet he must be aware tha t everythinghas its origin and genesis.

Now th is genera tive p ro cess is onethat he can experience particularly wellin th e fie ld o f waves an d v ibrat ions.On seeing a sonorous figure takeshape, one cannot help bu t say: thecreative process is just exac tl y where"nothing" can be seen, and th e poin tswhither the particles of sand andpowder are carried are the very placeswhere there is no movemen t . Thefigure must take shape out of itsenvironment; bound up w ith th e finished form is the circumambient spacecreating it. With each thing shapedgoes the experience of that whichshapes it; with each thing fashioned,of that wh ich fash ions it. In this wayth e sp ace ro und things becomes vitalized fo r the sculptor, the architect andthe painter. The rig id fo rm is seenin terms of that which gave it birth.B ut the converse case is also i l lum

inated by the study of cymatic processes. Le t us suppose someone'sinterest is focused on kinetics, onmoving elements and the interplay offorces. Then he is confronted by theproblem of how a configuration canemerge from such a mobile system.How is a d ynam ic p ro ce ss re la te d toform, to a specific figure? Here again ,thinking of the problem in terms ofv ib ra tio n p ro vid es the answer, fo rhoweve r g reat the changes and transformations, precise figurai aspectsprevail in th e v ib ra tiona l f ie ld . Eventurbulences, fo r al l their instability,have a formative, repetitive element.

Hence wave phenomena and v ib rat iona l e ffec ts form a kind of totality(colour pho to numbe r 3, and photospages 11, 13, 14 and 15). They throwan explanatory l ight on the processof format ion as much as on thatwhich ultimately takes shape; theyi l luminate movemen t as wel l as th estationary form. And here again it isa question of looking behind these

fixed forms to see what genera tiveprocess leads to them . The obviousprocedure is to find out what stagesp rece de the figured shapes and toscrutinize them closely. And thisbrings us to the significance of cymatic phenomena.

First o f al l it m ust be said that meresimilarity between natu ra l phenomenaand the results of experiments do notwarrant th e conc lus ion that there isany essential id entity. U nd ou bte dlymany wave effects look like variousnatural phenomena. But interpretation and analogizing lead nowhere;they m iss the h ea rt of the ma tter .Wha t is involved here is this. The

observat ion of vibrations an d wavesyields a whole ser ies of specif ic andparticular categories of phenomena.It also shows that these diverse elements appear in a vibrational systemas a whole . In one and th e samevibrational system we find structural,pulsating, and dynamic-kinetic features, etc. Thus we can say thatwhen dealing with v ibrational systems,

. there will appear in them, appropriatelytransformed, the cymatic effectswe have observed in our experiments.Experiments thus provide us with

conceptua l mode ls which ca n stim ulate research. Needless to say, eachfield must be understood in its ow nterms. However, experience withcymatics tutors the intuitive facultyin such a way th at attention is drawnto many interre la ted fac ts which wouldpreviously have gone unheeded. Thuswh ile it must be firmly reiterated thatall interpretation is poin tless , it mustbe borne in mind that in actual fieldsof experience the effects o f naturalcymatics must be apparent.Le t us take the example of astrophysics. There can be no doubt thatin this f ie ld specif ic v ib rat iona l effects

must appear on th e lines we haveindicated. A compilation of cymatic QQphenomena embraces a whole range jof features and relationships fo rwhich appropriate verification must bediscoverable in astronomy, whether

CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE


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CYMATICS (Continued)planetary, solar , or galactic. Fromt his po in t of view it is self-evident thatin the vast energy processes of thecosmos, oscillating and vibrating systems must become manifest in conglo-bations, rotations, pulsations, circulatio ns , in te rf er en ces , vo rte xes , etc.

In th is co nne xion, fo r instance,experiments have been made in whichmateria ls react ing to magnetic influences have been o bserved u nd er th eaction o f v ib ra tio n in the m agn eticfield (photo page 4). Thus in magneto-hydrodynamics remarkab le elementsappear w hich ow e their characterentirely to vibration. In both structuraland dynam ic re spec ts these magne to -hydrodynamic events are characterizedby vibration. It would be leg it imate tospeak of magnetocymatics. What hasto be done is to find co rrespond ingphenomena in cosm ic magnetic fie lds.

It is certainly not our in tent ion toencroach on th e p re se rv es of astronomers and astrophysicists. Our onlypurpose is to report on the resultsof this or that series of experiments.How the corresponding patterns takeshape in the cosmos can only bedetermined by research in that particular field.

Biology might a lso be adduced asa further example of the way in whichconceptual models can be abstractedand serve fo r r esea rch purposes. Inparticular, cymatic research can penetrate into the very heart of the biological field. The phenomena reportedin th is study are all macroscopic.However, it has proved possible todemonstrate cymatic effects in themicroscopic dimension, i.e. it is possible to apply the cym atic method inal l its va ria tions to cell processes.

These current investiga tions openthe way no t only to observing cellp rocesses w ith respect to their rhythmic and oscillatory characteristics bu talso, and more import an tly , t o studying the in fluence of v ib ra tion and itseffects on healthy and s ic k tis su esand on normal and degenerate ce lls .That th e carc inoma tous (cance r) process should loom large in the fie ld o fstudy fol lows inevitably from its verynature.

The task confront ing us, then, is toinduce specific vibrational effects incellular events and to scrutinize th e

* structural an d fu nc tio na l re su lts w ithrespect to cell division, cell respiration, tissue growth, etc. selectively.

In this way the models and basicphenomena of exper imenta l physicsare brought into conjunct ion wi th ideasof vibration as a cosmogenic elementwhich Rudo lf S te iner , inspired by hisresearch in the sphere of th e mindand sp ir it , formula ted 60 years agoregarding astrophysics and biology.The work summarily repor ted hereis in full swing. One series of experi

ments is fol lowed by another. It liesin the character of the subject thateach expe riment poin ts the way tothe next; the investigator is led by

ml

ci

Natu re from one stage of study toano ther. A nd on the way he observesa number of periodic phenomenawhich are no t produced by vibrationin th e strict sense of th e word.In th is connexion w e m ight single

out r hy thm ic chemical precipitations,the so-called L ie segang rin gs (photopage 29) rhythmic crystal lizat ion, rhyt hm ic p rocesses in collo idal solut ions,the periodic formation of semi-permeable membranes, etc. Thus thereis evidence that periodicity is alsoactive in the field of chemica l reactions. (It m ight be intimated that thisline of research is bringing us closeto the problems of catalysis).Where do al l these experiments

lead? What significance can theyhave fo r human life in general? 0uiteapart from al l the many practicalapplications adumbra ted by these studies, one aspect is paramount: theyteach us Lo observe the world in sucha way that our experience of it iss timu la te d, e nric hed and deepened.But b esid es its r ichness , t hi s experie nc e e na ble s the scientist and th eartist, the investigator and the designer, and thus basica lly every /nan, todevelop his own essential being andpersonality.

These tw o photos (aboveand left), are not onlyinteresting graphically inthemselves, but s how a mostextraordinary phenomenonof ou r vibrating whirlinguniverse. In each photogranulated subs tances

quartz sand above,lycopodium left havebeen made to vibrate on asteel p late. Note especia llythe arrows showing smallro un d a te as an d s t reams ofpar ticles rotat ing andflowing in clockwise andcounterclockwise directions.Vibrated at 8,500 cyclesp/sec, the lycopodium formtinto movi ng s tr eams.Vibrated at a higherfrequency, 12,460 cyclesp/sec, the quartz sandmoves in to ro un d heapsthat rotate. The reasonfo r the contrary rotationsand flow is no t preciselyk now n, b ut th e currentswould seem to be movingas if in obedience to alaw of physics.


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DEATH OF A BRIDGEBY VIBRATION

SJtm

7-1

Like a violin string vibrated by a bow, a suspens ion b ridge strungbetween its high towers is vibrated by winds. Sold ie rs c ross ing abridge in column always break step to prevent the bridge f rom "enteringinto vibration" as the second p rong of a tuning fork does when thefirst prong is struck. Vibrations can reach the point whe re th ey se tup strains and s tresses powerful enough to bring a b ridge crash ingdown. These spectacular p ho to s sh ow in sequence the disastrouseffects of the Tacoma bridge in vibration (Sta te o f Wash ington, 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 vibrat iona l forces inc rease, roadway is twisted and wrenchedupwards (abou t 35 degrees from the horizontal) as shown by automobilebeing tilted first one way then the other. (4/5) Vibrations have builtup to a critical pitch, tearing away the whole centre span. Below, themain span has d isappeared; on ly a jagged sec tion o f side wall remains.Ano the r spec tacula r example is Ven ice, where vibrations fro m wavesand tidal currents during many centuries and more recently fromocean-going ships and power boats have inflicted grievous damageon the city's anc ient bu ildings and monuments.

a I

fl

li-l.r

Photos r F.B. Farquharson, Engineering Exper iment Station,University of Wash in gt on , Seat tle , U .S .A .


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by Gyrgy Marx

QUASARSAND THE BIRTHOF THE UN IVERSEText copyright Reproduction prohibited

L OOKING upwards on aclear night, we see myriads of stars,thousands upon thousands of themtwinkling in the dark sky. The brightest s ta rs are visible to the nakedeye up to some thousands of light-years away. With the aid of telesco pe s th ey can be distinguished atdistances thousands of t imes g reate r,up to some millions of light-years.At a greater distance sti ll , indiv idual

stars can no longer be distinguished,although they can be seen as galaxies,similar to our own of which th e sunis part. These galaxies comprisethousands and hundreds of thousandsof millions of stars. The to ta l lig htemitted by such galaxies can berecorded up to d ista nc es of somethousands of millions of light-years.The l ight we register on a photographic plate began its journey at atime when life had barely commencedon ear th .An d yet we can probe In this w ay

only a minute portion of the un ive rse .W e should have to penetra te muchfurther into th e depth s of space andt ime to discover th e structure and th ehistory o f th e universe. Th e heavenlybodies , s tars and galaxies we can seenow began to form more than tenthousand mi ll ion years ago. It wouldtherefore be necessary to go back atle as t te n thousand milli on yea rs intothe past in order to under stand thehistory of the genesis of matter.Before Copernicus, man had a

simple picture of the u niv ers e. Its

2GYORGY MARX is professor of theoretica l phys ics at the Un ive rs it y o f Budapestand chief editor of the Hungarian scientific publication "Fiz ika i Szemle" (PhysicsReview). For his studies on th e quant umtheory of particles he was awa rd ed the .Hunga rian Kossu th Prize in 1955. Thisarticle Is condensed from a ' series ofsi x talks recorded by the author fo r theInternational Un ive rs it y o f the Air.

centre w as the earth, the natural focusfor th e condensat ion of matter .Copernicus rem oved the terrestrialglobe from this privileged position.The Neapolitan philosopher Gior

dano Bruno , an admirer of Copernicusan d friend of Galileo, had alreadyconce ived th e notion of an infinitenumber of w orlds al l of equivalentimportance. From then on theu niv ers e was represented as beingfull of hea venly b od ie s distributeduniformly in space and time and ofhomogeneous densit y, in the sameway that th e molecu le s of gas aredistributed in a sto rage tank..A t f i rst th e s ta rs and our sun were

taken as being the molecules of thiscosmic gas. But, following the workof the U.S. astronomer, Edwin Hubble,the gala xies th ose islands of mattercon ta in ing thousands of millions ofstars have b ec om e th e m o le cu le s ofcosmology.

However, things are no t quite sosimple. Galileo t augh t tha t the samelaws of physics are applicable in theheavens as on earth. If we attem ptto apply the laws of universalgrav itat ion to a gas of infinite extent,like that in which the galaxies aremolecules, a s imple ca lcu la tion showsth at th is gas could no t be in a stateof equilibrium . Either the force ofattraction will prevail or the cosmicrepulsion will predominate. A gasformed of galaxies must of necessityeither expand or contract.

In 1926 observations made byHubble showed that th e universe isreceding. The further in to the d epth sof space we look the faster are thegalaxies we can see receding from us.All these observations have confirmed Hubble's law that th e speed ofrecession of galaxies is proportionalto their distance from us.Galaxies at a distance of a thousand

million l ight-years have a recessionspeed of 30,000 kilometres pe r second,

that is a tenth of the speed ofl ight. Those that are twice as fa raway two thousand m illion lig ht-years are receding from us twice asfast, and so on . Th e universe is no ta static, invariable formation. Itunfold s b efo re us a picture thatchanges with time.Living in an evolving universe we

cannot but speculate as to wha t to okplace in the past and what is to happenin the future. How long will thisrecession, this expansion of theu nive rs e con tinu e? If it is to continueindefinitely the galaxies will end up atsuch v as t d is ta nc es one from th eo th er th at the l ight em it ted f rom onegalaxy will no longer be able to reacheven those galaxies that at one timewere closest. Is ou r own galaxy , theMilky Way, destined then to float likea solitary island in the void?

s>UPPOSE that we, as itwere, run th e film backwards towardsthe past. We should then see thegalaxies get ting closer to one another,and it ca n be deduced that about te nthousand m illion years ago all thematter of the universe was very highlycondensed. Expansion must havetaken place from an extremely densestate and have begun in a mannersimilar to an explosion.Many astronomers, relying on the

Friedman calculations, have adoptedth is hypothes is of an original state inwhich matter was very dense and haveattempted to deduce from it, bycalculation, the v ario us c on ditio nsobservable in the universe as it nowis . Othe rs have had some reservations about this, pointing out that achain of deduction going so fa r backis at the mercy of the slightest circumstance that might have been overlooked.In the midst of this sea of specula

tion, a first point o f reference became


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t.

Quaiar 3-C-9 *.8.000 MILLION LIGHT YEARS

Photo National Geographic SocietyPalomar Universi ty, California

availab le wi th the discovery In 1965-1966 of radio w aves com in g from thedepths of space.In the range of metric waves andabove, we can distinguish radio

emissions from galaxies and variousextra-terrestrial bodies. In th e milli-metr ic wave range, emissions originatefrom ou r atmosphere and the ionosphere. But in the intermediate, centi-metric range there was silence.

In pro bing th is silen t range morec los ely w ea k thermal radiation wasdiscovered. This incoherent radiationdoes not originate from knownheavenly bod ie s n or from a particularsector of the sky. It s a backgroundnoise that fills th e e ntire u niv ers e ina homogeneous manner and Is identica l In all directions. It correspondsto a temperature of 3 degreesabsolute, that is to say 270 degreesbelow zero centigrade (1).This backg round radiation is apparent as a weak radio noise, but when

it is c on sid ere d th at it is presentuniformly throughout the universe itsimportance becomes evident. It contains a thousand million t imes as manyphotons as there are atoms in theuniverse and the energy density ofth e radiat ion is a h un dre d th ou sa ndtimes greater than that of the lightcoming from all the stars.If we make th e deduc t ion that in

the past the univer se occup ied asmaller and smaller vo lume of space,the further we go back in time, wefind greater and greater intensit ies ofradiation and higher and' higherradiation tem peratures. S ince thetempera tu re today is th re e deg reesabsolu te , then fiv e tho usa nd m illio nyears ago it must have been sixdegrees absolute, and thirty degreesabsolute 7,000 mil li on years ago.

MESSAGES 8,000 MILLION YEARS OLDSix years ago, a lively new b ranch of astronomy was born with the publication in theMarch 1963 issue of the English journa l Nature o f four papers by Australian and Americanscientists reporting the discovery of mysterious celestial objects, now known as quasarsor QSOs (quasi-stellar obje cts ). S in ce that date our knowledge of quasars has growns tead ily . Above le ft , Quasa r 3-C-9 (arrowed) a tiny luminous do t in space vis ib le through,a powerful te le scope. Its light, reaching earth after 8,000 million years (a t a speed of300,000 km . a s ec ond), is h elp in g scient is ts t o r econst ru ct cosm ic events as old as thebirth of our own galaxy . Comparative distances shown in drawings above and below helpus to v isualize the awe-inspiring dimensions of the universe.

(1) Absolute zero i s app roximately minus273 degrees C.CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE

Nebula of Orion.Solar system

i i

1,000 LIGHT-YEARS3

it- ''! ..."

Andromeda, neare st g a la x y to ou r own

i

'>-

Our ga laxy .*"

2 MILLION LIGHT-YEARS5

4 '

c

'tij'-V--'' .i"' 'O u r g ala xy

i ii -t100.000 LIGHT-YEARS

>.

1 * , * ' X 1 ' ' / s m

* ' * . ., / r \/ 5

* / x1 ' ' * * ' -*. ' N ' *

* * 3 - * * \ '' #" i'*.

Range of cosmic observation with the mostpowerful photographic telescopes (continuous l ine)an d with radiotlescopes (dotted line)


34/44

QUASARS (Continued)There is only one possible explanation for such a large number ofphotons in space. They were produced in the heart of matter that is highly

condensed and extremely hot, just asit must have been 10,000 mi ll ion yearsago when the universe began toexpand.From this starting point, with theradiat ion spreading over a greater and

greater volume, the temperaturediminishes. At th ree deg rees absolute, radia tion today bears witnessthat the starting point fo r the expansion of the universe was a specialstate of matter with th e temperaturedoubtless exceeding a billion degreesand with r ad ia tion p redom ina ting overatomic matter (1).

A


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THE WEAVING OF ANENGINEERING MASTERPIECE-A SPIDER'S ORB WEBA step-by-step analysis by a structural engineerof the extraordinary way a spider builds its webby Bert E. Dugda le Text copyright Reproduction prohibited

E,_,ARLY one morning inAugus t o f 1942, at Fayson Lakes, NewJersey, an opportunity came to methat I had w atched for, but missed,

BERT E. DUGDALE is a retired Amer ican structural engineer. H is interest inspiders began as a child. Later, in hisprofessional life he was struck by thesimilarities between the problems facedby a sp ide r bu il ding a web and thosethat confront construction engineers. Thisled him to undertake the painstakingobservation of the a ct ua l weav in g of aweb. His art ic le o rigina ll y appeared in" Na tu ra l H is to ry ", the journal of theAmerican Museum of Natural History,N ew Yo rk, in March 1969.

fo r many years. A spider had justcompleted p lac ing the structural supporting lines fo r a web . Rea liz in g thatth is w as my opportunity to study thestep-by-step construction of a spiderweb, I hurriedly assembled my drawing board and paper, my pencils, anda six-foot ru le , so that I c ou ld r ec or das carefully as possible the steps tocom pletion. M y chair was plac ed sothat I was about an a rm 's leng th fromth e weaver as I watched it.

As the spider a dde d new e lem entsto the web, I added correspondingnew lines to my ske tch, a lo ng withnoting the order in which the lineswere being made. The spider keptme busy indeed, and I had little time

to ponder the engineering significanceof what it was doing. After both ofus were through with our work, weeach went a bo ut o ur own affairs. Thesketch eventually ended up in myfiling cabinet at home.Twenty -th ree yea rs later, in the

course o f shiftin g papers, I found itagain, and i t fascinated me. I beganp lo ttin g th e stages of the spider'swork on different sheets of paper,and only then, as step-by-step I tracedwhat it had been doing, did I beginto realize the full s ign if icance of thepattern it had followed a patternco rrespond ing to a detailed blueprintthat left little to chance .D rawing b elo w left shows where

- CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE

FOUR STAGESIN THE WEAVINGOF A WEBNature's most expertspinners an d weavers,spiders spread theirsilken nets w here theyare m ost l ikely toensnare flying insectsand other prey. Onthese pages, an engineerdescribes the methodicalfour -stage workplanfollowed by a spider asit wove a web in hisgarden, noting eachoperation step by step.Sketch on right showsth e g ard en s ite whe respider anchored its webto a log cabin, a hazelbush and a rock plant.

Drawings byth e author


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SECOND STAGE

ENG INEERING MASTERP IECE (Continued)

An innate sense of geometr ica l precision

6

the spider had worked, a longs ide myfamily's log cabin, one of severalinhabited by nature-loving vacationersin summer. About two metres (6 ft.)from th e corner of the cabin was arocky knoll, with a sma ll b ush sprouting out of a crevice in the rock. Abranch of a larger plant, a hazel bush,reached over the knoll toward thecabin. Between th e cabin and th eknoll grew a small patch of wild irises,daisies, asters, and other wild woodland flowers in their season .

It is p ro bable th at the protectionp rovided by the ove rhanging eaves ofthe cabin, t he p resence of the protruding corner logs, the pathway betweenthe cabin and th e wild f lower bed,and the sto ne steps leading up to therocky knoll al l com bined to producean ideal location fo r an orb-weavingspider to se t up housekeeping.

Many t imes, over a span of severalyears, I had seen o rb web s suspendedalmost vertically in th is exact location,and I had watched numerous spidersof several species carrying on variousstages of web cons truc tion thereindeed, I had often walked into thesewebs while fetching firewood.

It is also probable that on that morning the favourable air currents aroundthe cab in , and the prospect that insectsa ttra cte d by the flowers would flyhead-on into the hanging web, werebonus in du cemen ts th at caused oneMicrathena grac ili s, an orb-weavingsp ider, to start spinning its silken lines.

Of a species reported to be widely.

distr ibuted in North Americ a, it wasgrayish in colour, about 6 mm. (1/4 in.)in length, and its abdomen wasarmed with d is ti nc ti ve spines as wellas th e more conventional pairs ofappendages cal led sp innerets. It isthrough these organs tha t sp id ersexc re te t hreads of silk y material.The ent ir e p rocess took about tw o

and one-ha l f hours and consisted o ffour stages, which can be describedas follows:First S tage: Placing structural supporting lines to provide a triangular-

shaped f ramework fo r the web , whic hwould itself be roughly 15 cm. (6 in.)in d iamete r (d rawing I shows thescene when f i rst observed, an d theestablishment of the web centre).Second Stage: Complet ing a system

of radial l ines to connec t the webcen tre w ith the surrounding fr amework(drawings 2 to 4).Third Stage: B uilding a temporaryscaffolding sp iral , extending from the

web c en tre to the outer frame (drawing 5).Fourth Stage: Installing the final

v is cid spira l webbing and remova l o fthe scaffolding (drawing 6).

STAGE ONE: When I first observedthe web, it already had the three mainsupporting lines, with crosslines C-Dand E-F in place (drawing 1), thus comp le ting the polygona l, outer web framing, BCDEFA (except fo r a crosslinebetween A an d B, which was no tp la ced until la te r),.

The spider had also reinforced eachmain structural line by traversing itfrom time to time, add ing a new strandon each passage. These strands fanned ou t at the anchorage points top rovide mu ltip le attachments (a comm on human practice when ancho rin gthe cables of a la rge suspens ionbridge).The spider now p roceeded to estab

lish th e web centre (d rawin g 1). First,it attached a free-running line at point1 on AF ; then, moving t hrough poin tF down to ED , it a tta ch ed th e otherend at point 2. A quick movementof the spider's sp innerets fastenedthe line sufficiently well.

Now it moved up this line and,approximately midway between 1 and2, attached one end of another line.Again spinn ing ou t a line as it went,the spid er carried it down to 2 andth en a long DC to line CB , where theother end was attached at point 3.This tim e the line was pulled tautbefore it was a tta ch ed . It was this

pull t ha t b rought radia l lines 1, 2 and3 to the posit ions shown on drawing 1.The con junc tion o f these first threer ad ia is d ete rm in ed the web centre,which was then stabilized by the placing of radiais 4, 5 and 6.The1 web f rame, with th e initial

radiais 1 through 6, was not in a comp le te ly vert ica l plane; it was inclinedabout 15 degrees o ff ver tical, w ith theupper part le an ing away from me.

I was not sure on wh ich side th e


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THIRD STAGE FOURTH STAGE

Sp ide r has constructed a spiralscaffolding, laid anticlockwise fromthe centre, which will be removed instage 4. L in es m a rk ed "X " are partialradiais added to facilitate scaffoldconstruction. When the spider reachedthe outer end of radial 14, it reverseddirection and made a fu ll c ircuit tocomplete the scaffold spiral at radial 1 1 .

Scaffold completed, the weaver nowinstal ls the sticky s pira l w e b that willserve to catch p re y. T h e web, this timelaid clockwise starting from theoutside, has an average diameter of17 cm . (s ix and a half in c he s ). S p id e rthen cuts a hole at centre of web,giving itself access to either side. Itthen waits for vibrations, the tell-talesign that a victim ha s been t rapped.

sp ider would operate, bu t inasmuch asviewing was most convenient with myback to the sun, all my observationsand sketches of the web were madewith the sp ider working from the otherside. This was fortunate. As theweaving proceeded, my positionafforded close-ups of the weaver'suse of abdomen, legs, mandibles, andspinnerets.Having now established a web

centre the spider proceeded to thesecond stage of construction.STAGE TWO (draw ings 2 to 4): Acomplete system of rad ia l l ines joining

the cen tre po in t to t he severa l enclosing framework lines was now pu tinto place.The method of insta lli ng the addi

tional radiais was like that for th einitial ra dia is , e xcep t that each newr ad ia l w a s first a tta ch ed to th e centreand then carried to a se le c ted l oca ti onon the enclosing frame. The spiderw as adept at holding a hind leg highand keeping the freerunning line frombecoming entangled with existing lines.The fa ct th at the spider was workingon th e unders ide of th e off-vertical

web many have helped, as gravitywould tend to draw its body and thefree line away from the web plane.If the reader will run his eyes overthe radiais in their numerical sequence,

s ta rt ing w ith th e th re e in itia l lines, hemust be impressed by the fact thatn ev er was a new radia l p la ced adjacent to one just laid, bu t always ata dis tance f rom it, so as to continuallyequalize the tens ions on th e systemand thereby main ta in th e location ofth e web centre. Otherwise, becauseof the elasticity of the fibres, thecen tre wou ld have constantly sh if tedto new points , and the polygonal formo f th e f ramework would have assumedever changing shapes and distortions.Drawings 1 to 3 s how the structural

frame as straight lines. This was notactually the case. As each new radialwas attached to a frame line, thetension placed upon th at line caused,it to def lect to a more curved l ine.For convenience in fie ld ske tching,I kept the straight-line form fo r theframe, until all the radiais were placed.When radia is 20 and 21 were placed , there was as ye t no cross member

from A to B. The spider, after placing 21, went back down it withouthesitancy, up 20 to A, then returnedthe same way w ith a running line thatbecame crossline AB and was attached to radial 6 a t their intersectionpoint. The full polygonal frame,ABCDEF, was now complete, andother radiais could be attached to AB .It is of interest to note that during

this selective method of locating theradiais, in only one instance was anew one anchored to o n ea r an existingradial, and that was 22, adjacent toradial 2. In a few cases there wasto o much s pa ce b etw ee n ra dia is . Ineach case the s pid er la te r fille d thegaps with partial radiais.That an apparently del iberate method

was used by the sp id er to maintainthe approximate web shape established by the first six radiais is suggested when the next eight radiaisare studied (drawing 2).

Lines 8, 10, and 13 are well dispersed be tween po in ts A and F, and radiais7, 11, and 14 are similarly spacedbe tween p oin ts B and C. Furtherevidence of deliberate planning at this

CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE

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A SPIDER THATSIGNS ITS NAMEThe Argiope, a tiny spider (r ig ht) fo und widelyin Europe, is easy to sp ot because of itsb right yellow abdomen crossed with blackstripes. It has also the unique characteristicof signing its name to its w eb with a zig-zagband o f silk f ixed between tw o ra dia l l ines.

NEW SKINS FOR OLDThis greatly enlarged pho to of a spider's leg in the processof moulting (be low) recal ls the delicate brush strokes of aclassical Chinese ink drawing. Old claws being shed withthe skin (top o f p ho to) a re being replaced by new ones. Spidersshed their outer skin severa l tim e s while g rowin g.

ENG INEERING MASTERPIECE (Continued)

Ready for occupancystage is seen in th e p la cing of numbers 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 ra d ia l lo c a ti on s for l ines22 through 33. With so many radiaisnow in place, further care in spacingwould no t have been necessary, ye tthe weaver cont inued its careful selection of locations as radiais 34 through44 (drawing 4) were added.STAGE THREE: With all full-length

radiais in p lace , the weaver proceededwith the nex t item of construction, th esca ffo ld in g, wh ich would be removedafter serv ing its purpose. It consistedof a spiral starting from the centre andcontinuing to the ou te r p erim eter o fthe web (draw ing 5).

The first seven circuits of th e spir alwere spaced very closely, about .8 mm .to 2.4 mm. (1 /3 2" to 3 /32") apart. Thenext four or five were spaced 6.3 mm.to 8 mm. (1/4" to 5/16") apart, and9.5 mm. (3/8") apart. To maintain aneven spacing the spider kept a footon the preceding circuit as it hurriedaround the web.

Several interesting examples ofwhat appeared to be decision makingoccurred during this stage. At a fewplaces w he re rad ia is were to o fa rapart and th e spider would have tos tre tc h to rea ch th e next one, it discontinued the spiral and installed a


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COUTURIREFROMSINGAPOREUsing one of its clawsas a needle, thisSingapore Spider( right ) sti tches togetherl eaves for its nes t .A " ch am e le on " of th espide r wo rld , it canchange colour accordingto its surroundings.Inconspicuous on a leaf,it pat ient ly wai ts fo r itsunsuspect ing prey.

removal o f sca ffo ld ingpartial rad ia l long enough to reach theouter frame, and held in place byexist ing scaffo ld ing. The partia l radiaisare marked X on drawing 5.Aga in , when the spider had run thescaffold line to the ou te r end of radial

14 on what could have been th e lastlap, it immediately reversed direction,and made a full c i rcui t, terminating thesca ffo ld lin e where radial 11 joinedth e outer f rame.

It is at this po in t that the spiderbegan the final stage of constructionspinning the v is cid , o r s tic ky , webbing, while simultaneously removing

the scaffolding. The purpose of thestickiness, of course, is to trap preyfo r the spider. The viscid fi lamentsare so effective that insects, onceenmeshed, seldom escape. Thespider , wh ich itself may be botheredby the adhesive, exhibits much dexterity in running about the web withoutgetting into trouble.When constructing the web, it can

exude e ith er d ry o r' v is cid fibre. Thedry is used fo r all purposes exceptcatching v ic tims . In the first threestages of cons truc tion , every f ilamentwas of the dry, non-sticky type. Iknow this because I repeatedly testedth e lines for adhes iveness .Howeve r, t he filaments may vary in

makeup. The spinnerets of the spidercan be control led to produce eitherround, dry lines, each comprising abundle of several strands held together

as a unit, or a f la t te r , r ibbon li ke line.Sometimes the dry line may have asuccession o f s tic ky beads. Bu t thisis a special case. Observers havefound that there is a viscid layer onsuch a f i lament when it is emit ted , bu tth e la ye r then forms a succession ofbeads .S TA GE FOU R: We have seen that

the spider terminated the scaffold spiralat radial 11, after having reverseddirection a t rad ia l 14 the previous t imearound. Whether planned or not, thisreversa l served a useful purpose, fo rwithout a second's hesitancy theweaver proceeded to spin the viscidsp iral, th is time sta rtin g from theouts id e, in ste ad of from th e centre(drawing 6).Durin g th is fin al phase of construc

tion, the spider had better footing thanpreviously; it could step on the dryscaffolding lines as well as the rad ia is .This does not mean that th e viscidspira l con forms exac tly to the contourof the scaffolding. Several circuitsof th e viscid lin e w ere made for eachcircuit of the scaf fo ld.As the viscid fibres were indistin

guishable f rom the sca ffo ld fib res bysight, it was difficult, while makingdrawing 6, to discern the scaffoldlines in areas where th ey w ere crossed or overlapped by viscid lines. Onlylater, in th e f inal moments o f th espinning, did it become clear that thescaffold lines were gone.

When the spinning was comple teda bal l of white mater ia l was visible a tth e centre of th e w eb . This mater ia lthe spider consumed. Theodore Savory, in his The Biology of Spiders,in fo rms us that as th e viscid fibreapproaches the ne xt turn of scaffolding, that turn is rolled up by the spider;thus account ing fo r the accumulatedbal l a t th e finish.

Different1 species of spiders havecharacteri s ti c patterns fo r their webcentres. Mic ra thena g racilis , afterconsuming its d is ca rd ed scaffolding,ac tua lly cu t ou t the cen tre area of theweb to provide an opening throughwhich it could come out on either sideof the web . The d iameter of thisopening w as such that the spider'seight le gs spanned the gap withoutdifficulty.After tw o and a half hours of steady

work, all was comp le ted; the housewas ready fo r occupancy. The spiderthen took up its p os itio n o ve r thecentre opening (about one-half inch;1.27 cm . in diameter) with legs spreadou t upon the rad ia is . It w as now readyto detect any v ib ra tions tha t wouldindicate that a victim was trapped, andwould also g iv e its lo ca tio n.

The term "engineer ing masterpiece"in th e title o f this article is moreapplicable than one might suppose.The use of three main structural supporting lines is an engineering techn ique based on the geometrical proposition that it takes three points to


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SPIDER'S DOMAININ ADIVING BELL

Photos Holm9-Lebel

Numerous sp ide rs are found on thesurfaces of ponds and quiet streams,bu t the only one that lives al l itslife under water is the Europeanwate r s pid er (A rg yon eta aquatica).This i ngenious sp ide r bu ilds a roughframework fo r its bell-shaped underwater home b y a tta chin g a fewthreads to the s tems of water plants.Then, rising upwards, it coll ec ts a iron its abdomen and rear legs byprojecting them through the surfaceof the water (above r ig h t) . Ca rr yingthis a ir bubble to Its building site,it places it whe re th e silken cableswill hold t prisoner. The spiderre pe ats th e operation until it ha scollected about one cubic centimetreof air (above left), and then completes the nest by weaving a silkencovering around the bubble. To thishome it brings water bug s and otherp re y (ph oto left) and here too itlays its eggs and raises a family.Baby water s pid ers (p ho to right)are comp le te ly t ranspa rent beforethey moult fo r the f irst t ime.


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ENG INEER ING MASTERP IECE (Continued from page 39)determine, or stabilize, a plane. Also,the triangle is the basic form used inconstruction to secure stability andequilibrium.The division of the web-weaving

process into four separate stepsc lo se ly re fle cts s im ila r p ro cedu re s inthe construction of a building:

Laying the foundation.Placing the structural framework.Building the scaffolding fo r en

closing the structure.P reparin g the place fo r occu

pancy, and removing the scaffolding.After cons tr uc tion , the s pid er w ill

co ntinu e to have engineering problems, but now under th e headin g of"Repairs and Maintenance".

It was hard not to think in humanterms as well as strictly engineeringterms when contemplating the eventsat this plac e. These questions occurred to m e:

Why was it that so many webshad been constructed at this samelocation, the va rio us spiders ta kingadvantage of the same existing cabinlogs, tree branches, prot rud ing rocks ,etc., to build above the little w ildgarden? Are spide rs able to stand of ffa r enough and in some way surveyall the attributes of a p os sib le website?

Having selected a site, can thespider then de te rmine wh ich of severallogs, branches, etc., would be mostsuitable fo r anchorages?

Can a spider, having establisheda line from the end of a certain log

to a b ranch, say six feet distant, thenuse some dec is ion-making p rocessth at e lim in ate s severa l a lte rn ate possibilities in favour of centering theweb directly above th e pathway, whereinsect traffic will be heaviest?These and many other quest ions are

unanswered, as fa r as I have beenable to d is cove r. I myself have noanswe rs but it is my be lief , based on

many years of observation, that scoresof spiders, of various species, havebuilt webs a t th is s ite in a mannerthat suggests that the answer to thesequest ions cou ld be "yes".At least, I can say that the samestructural problems had been faced byi nnumerab le bu ilders, and all of them

had been solved in the sam e competent manner.

SPINNING LESSONS FOR THE SCIENTISTThe web building spider can be a unique laboratory animal that may helpscientists to investigate many aspects of physiological, behavioral and psychologicalresearch, say three scientists who have made extensive studies of spiders at workon their webs. Their conclusions are published in a short and easy-to-read little

book, "A Spider's Web, Problems of Regulatory Biology" (1).Their study reveals many interesting and l it tle-known facets of the spider's habitsand working methods. Spide rs p roduce w ith amazing speed large amounts o f silkwh ich they daily spin into a web of specific design. The authors d iscuss the anatomy,physiology and histology of the silk glands, as well as the composition of the silk

itself.The we b is of utmost impor tance in the life of the spider, and its d es ig n has

presumab ly evo lved through some selective process. The authors point ou t thatthe spider nervous system is programmed to achieve construction of a we b throughthe spreading of silk. The specific nature of the web enables it to be characterized,and thus computational methods fo r describing it in mathematical or geometr icalterms can be drawn up .The au thors suggest that the deta iled geometr ic patterns of webs are importantfo r proper mating by provid ing a clear and unambiguous signal fo r an approaching

male. They also note that spiders are able to catch and process flies on strangewebs as efficiently as on their own.The scientists s tud ied the many d iffe rences tha t occur in web patte rns resulting

from natural processes such as aging, growth and weight changes in spiders, aswell as others in du ced b y "manipulating" spiders through the use of drugs and byother means, and th ey d esc rib e the e ffe cts o f drugs on web wea vin g behav io ur.

S in ce s pid ers b uild web s fre quen tly , it is possib le to have a spider in "normal"cond it ion const ruc t a web, then m ake som e a lt erat ion to the spider and comparethe resulting web with th e n ormal or stand ard from the same animal.(1) By P.N. Witt, CF. Reed and D.B. Peaka ll. Sp ri nge r-Ve rl ag , Be rl in ; He idelbe rg ,New York, 1968, 107 pp .

QUASARS AND THE BIRTH OF THE UNIVERSE (Continued from page 34)ou t and aging rapidly, the date thatth ey fla re d up must be related tothe b irth o f the galaxies The quasarsmust be contemporary with the birthof the galaxies or have followed ata lim ite d in te rva l of time. Theytherefore situate in t ime th ebirth of the galaxies which inturn denotes a critical state of th ematter of th e universe, already cons iderab ly cooled down after the initialexplosion. Thermal turbulence mustalready have reduced sufficientlyto allow gravitational forces toaccumulate th e vast mass of th eproto-galaxies, that is, the galaxiesin the process of condensation.

From these observations it seemsto follow that the period in whichquasars flared up reached its culmination eight to nine thousandmillion years ago. It is unlikelythat m ore than nine thousand millionyears ago there were many quasars.

We are living in a comparativelycalm period of the development of

the universe, at a tim e w hen matterhas long been gathered together ingalaxies or stars. But with ou rradiotlescopes we can survey thepast and reach back to an earlierstage in the life of the univ erse toan epoch in which thermal flux andnot the accumulation of matter wasthe dominant factor. We a re on thepoint of hav in g a ccess to the verydawn of th e world at a t ime when,perhaps , the re were no stars and allthat existed was amorphous matter.The initial results of this investiga

tion are still fa r from p re cise. Thegiven facts of time and distance willhave to be checked and verified. Thiswill be the task of larger telescopesthat are today planned or underconstruction. The re su lts they supplywill enable astronomers and astrophysicists to re-constitute the historyof our universe.

The first r ad io t le scope was builtscarcely a quarter of a century ago

and the first optic al te le scope th reecenturies ago. Man has existed onearth fo r a million years and life fo ra thousand million years. The sun,the earth and the planets are sixto seven th ou sand millio n yea rs oldand the galaxy of w hich w e are partgoes back eight to nine thousandmillion years . The expansion of theun iverse , wh ich can still be observedtoday, may have begun ten to twelvethousand m illio n yea rs ago. But thefurther back we go into the pastth e more uncertain become the eventsthat marked the prehistory of theuniverse.It is no t so long since scientists

began their enquiry in to the past ofman and of th e ear th . To avo idstraying in the labyrinths of speculation or losing their way in the m istsof space and tim e, they now haveas guides t he quasa rs , t hose beaconswhose l ight and r ad io s igna ls traveltowards us across thousands ofmillions of years.

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0 El saIL O awarded

Nobel Peace PrizeThe Nobe l Peace Pr ize for 1969 has b een

awarded to the International Labour Organization, which th is y ea r c el eb ra te s its 5 0thanniversary (see the "Unesco Courier",July 1969). In making the aw ard the N obelcommit tee commended the 110 as an organization which has worked to create stablesocial relations and thus contributed tosafeguarding world peace, and noted theILO 's impor tan t work in the fie ld of technical a ss is ta nc e to d ev elo pin g c ou ntrie s.The ILO is the third U.'N. body to re ce iv eth e awa rd . The U .N . Children's Fund (1965)and the O ffice of the U.N. High Commissioner fo r Refugees (1955) were previouslyhonoured.

Unesco Indiantranslations honoured

Special editions are being prepared oftw o o uts ta nd in g Indian n ov els re ce ntlypublished in English fo r the Unesco Literature Translations Programme, by Allenand Unwin in U.K. and Indiana UniversityPress in U.S.A. Pather Panchali by Bib-hutibhushan Banerji will be the first of over130 vo lumes publ ished in English in theUnesco. Collection to app ear in a specialbook club edition (Folio Society of GreatBritain). The G ift of a Cow (Godaan) byPremchand will be th e first book in thecollection to be published in Brail le (National Library fo r the Blind, London).

'Prospects in Education'Unesco recently published the first issue

of "Prospects in Education", a new quarte rly w hic h aims to bring to educators,educational institutions and teachers articlesand in format ion from worldwide sources

and to give teachers especially in primary schools an in sig ht in to e du ca tio na lproblems and their solutions in other countries. Annual subscription: $3.50 or 21/-stg.Subscribers will r ec eiv e th e first s ix is su es(1969-70) free of charge, and their subscription will cover Nos 7-11 (1971). Orderfrom Une sc o national distributors (P. 43).

Developing Asia'sbook industry

A centre fo r the promotion of bookpublishing in Asia has been se t up in Tokyo(Japan) by the Japanese Publishers' Association with aid from the Japanese NationalCommission fo r Unesco. It will carry ou tresearch on publi sh ing techno logy, p rov idetraining courses fo r the industry and reportnew trends in Asian publishing. Unesco iscontributing $36,000 to p ro vide cou rses fo rtrainees from 18 countries.

Hazards o f food poison ingThe danger of food poisoning is every

where increasing, not only from food-bornediseases bu t also through chemical contaminants that find their way into foodthrough mishandling, reports the WorldHealth Organization. Mass production andd is tr ibut ion o f food and the growth ofinternational trade and travel a ll contributeto the danger.

Dial-a-lesson ClassroomsTeachers in Ottawa, Canada, wil l be able

to dial-a-lesson under an experimental project in four schools. Each of the schools'110 c lassrooms will be c on ne cte d to av ideo l ib ra ry , and teachers will be able tochoose recorded programmes by telephoneto be p la yed b ac k over a coaxia l c ab lenetwork and rece ived on classroom TV .

IVAN KOTLYAREVSKYPoe t Laureate of the Ukraine(1769-1838)

This year's bi-centenary of the birth of Ivan Kotlyarevsky,"Poet Laureate of the Ukraine," w as m arked by celebrationst hroughout the Soviet Union, inc lud ing spec ia l ceremoniesin the Bolshoi Theatre, Moscow, in September.

Ivan Kotlyarevsky was th e lead ing figure in the literary revival of t he Ukra in iancultu ra l r enais sance that took place early in the 19th century- He w ro te th e firstUkrainian musical drama, "N ata lk a o f P oltav a" an d his translations of La Fontaine's Fables in to Uk ra in ia n an d of G reek an d Latin l iterature into R ussian arest il l w ide ly read. But the work wh ich b rough t him the greatest fame and establishedhim as th e founder o f U kra in ia n literature is his poem , "The Aene id T ransposed ."This vigorous, sparkl ingly witty poem is in no sense a parody of Vergil's master

piece. Borrowing only the story outline, Kotlyarevsky produced a brilliant andorigina l wo rk whose purpose was to challenge Tsarist despotism at a time whenthe ve ry survival of the Ukrainian language and culture was at stake. In its verses,the go ds on Olympus, the Tro jan, Carthagin ian and Latin peoples speak, act, dress,ea t and qua rre l lik e Ukra in ians at the close of the 18th century. The author'sstyle, his humour and philosophical irony have led many to compare him with Rabelais, Swif t, Ar ios to and Anatole France.Kotlyarevsky shook of f the shack le s o f 18th cen tu ry c lass ic ism, raised a verna

cular la nguage to the rank of a literary one and introduced Ukrainian literature intoRussia's cultural life . H is "Aeneid" is so r ich in Ukrain ian folk wisdom and turnso f speech that few have attempted to trans la te it, although it well deserves to beread In every count ry .

BOOKSHELF

Desert T rave l le r(The Life of Jean Louis Burckhardt)By Kather in e SimVictor Gollancz Ltd., London, 1969(60/-).

Scribes an d Scholars(A Guid e to the Transmissionof Greek and Latin Literature)By LD . Reyno ld s and N.G. WilsonOxford Univers ity Press, London,1968 (15/-).Writing in French from Senegal

to CameroonSele cte d b y A.C. BrenchThree Crowns LibraryOxford Univers ity Press, London,1967 (10/6).

Language Today(A Survey of Current LinguisticThought)By Mario Pel and WilliamF. Marquardt, Katherine Le Mee,Don F. NilsenFunk and Wagnalls, New York, 1967($5.95).M EuropeBy Jasper H. Stembridge and DavidParnwellThe New World W ide Geographies,Second Series , Oxford Universi tyPress, 1968 (12/6).

Human Rights and FundamentalFreedoms in Your CommunityBy S tanle y I. StuberAssociated P ress, N ew York, 1968(Cloth: $3.95; paperback: 95 a) .

The Complete Poemsof MichelangeloTranslated by Joseph Tusiani(Unesco 's Translat ions Series)Pete r Owen Ltd., London, 1969(38/-).

Ocean exploration decadeA long-term and expanded programme of

ocean ic research, wh ich would comprehendthe pro po se d In te rna tio na l D ecade ofOcean Exploration, was recently adoptedby the In te rg overnmen tal O canog ra phieCommission meeting at Unesco headquarters in Paris. It comprises some 50 projectsc ove rin g the whole spectrum of oceanog raphy from the stu dy of the ear th 's c rustun de r the ocean basins an d research onth e ocean as th e "b oile r" fo r th e world'sweather system to ways of doubling oreven quadrupling the present annual saltwater fish catch of nearly 60 million tons.

Flashes...

Seventy per cent of Soviet doctors arew om en, w hose num bers reached 438,000la st y ea r c om pa re d w ith 96,000 in 1940.Traff ic congestion in Great Britain, which

has nearly 60 vehicles fo r e ve ry m ile ofroad, is increasing more rapidly than inan y o th er majo r country, according to theBritish Road Federation.

By 1975 the world's nuc lear power stations are likely to n umbe r 300 with a totalgenera ti ng capac it y of 150,000 megawattsas against 20,000 today .

One ou t of e ve ry s eve n p ers on s in theworld is a citizen of India. India's population (over 520 million la st y ea r) growsannually by 13 million.

ceo


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UNESCO COURIER INDEX 1969January

CAN WE KEEP OUR PLANET HABITABLE? (M . B ti sse) The biosphere(R. Dubos). A look at the animal world (J. Dorst). Man againstnature (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

CIVIL IZATIONS O F C EN TR AL A SIA A ND TH E HIMALAYAS. KushanCivilization (B . Gafurov). H im ala ya n a rt (M . S ing h). Phil ippine folkballet. Khorassan earthquake, Iran (R. Keating). Art treasures (31)Young E tr uscan (Italy).

MarchNEW FOOD REVOLUTION (G . Gregory). India's progress in foodproduction. A lg ae in ste ad of steak. Nurser ies o f th e sea (W. Mar x).Forms of nature (A . Feininger). Synthetic cuisine (A . Nesmeyanovand V. Belikov). Communications on the moon (G. Phlizon). Arttreasures (32) Nas re din th e sage (Turkey).

AprilYOUT

Documents

The Sculpture of Vibrations