Our Mineral Civilization.

PassivityÐthe key to our metals-based civilization*

Humankind has been able to develop a metals-based civilization primarily because the reactive metals (Fe, Ni, Cr, Al, Ti, Zr, . . .) exhibit extraordinary kinetic stabilities in oxidizing environments. From the time of Schonbein and Faraday (1830s), the reason for this stability has been attributed to the existence of a thin reaction product ®lm on the metal (or alloy) surface. This ®lm effecti...

Mars can wait: facing the challenges of our civilization.

We are overwhelmed by warnings about inevitable geophysical and human problems. Earth is beset by escalating, manmade, environmental crises and our exploding population will eventually lack water, food and vital materials. This suggests, together with increasing poverty, deepening social unrest and advanced techniques for mass killing, that civilization will break down long before atmospheric C...

The Role of Science Institutions in Our Civilization.

The Role of Science Institutions in Our Civilization: Special Articles: DR. WILI4am D. COOLIDGE ......................... .................. 411 Antibacterial Properties of Protamine and Histone: DR. BENJAMIN F. MILLER and OTHERS. The Smithsonan Enterprises: DR. C. G. ABBOT. 417 Effect of Vitamin E on the Blood Plasma Lipids of the Chick: DR. HENRIK DAM and EDW. M. Obituary: KELMAN. Vitamin C C...

Veronica Brady: A Fringe of Leaves: Civilization by the Skin of Our Own Teeth

Patrick white set the terms of the debate over his work when in his essay “Prodigal Son” he declared his hope that he might “be helping the people of a barely inhabited country to become a race possessed of understanding”. In other words, he sees his work as providing a kind of gnosis. Critical debate therefore has quite properly turned on the quality, and in particular, on the implications of ...

Destroying Civilization, Destroying Nature