Book of Projects for the Amateur Scientist PDF
Preview Book of Projects for the Amateur Scientist
THE SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN BOOK OF PROJECTS FOR NEW YORK I960 SIMON AND SCHUSTER -%^ l m E AMATEUR SCIENTIST Experiments and constructions, challenges and diversions in the fields of Astronomy, Archaeol ogy, Biology, Natural Sciences, Earth Sciences, Mathematical Machines, Aerodynamics, Optics, Heat and Electronics. Selected from Mr. Stong's clearing house of amateur activities, appearing monthly in SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, and ex panded with additional information, instruc tions, notes, bibliographies — and postscripts, from readers. BY C. L. STONG INTRODUCTION BY VANNEVAR BUSH ILLUSTRATED BY ROGER HAYWARD ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INCLUDING THE RIGHT OF REPRODUCTION IN WHOLE OR IN PART IN ANY FORM COPYRIGHT © I960 BY C. L. STONG PUBLISHED BY SIMON AND SCHUSTER, INC. ROCKEFELLER CENTER, 630 FIFTH AVENUE NEW YORK 20, N. Y. FIRST PRINTING Material previously published in SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN is copyright © 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960 by Scientific American, Inc. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOG CARD NUMBER: 6044286 MANUFACTURED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA PRINTED BY THE MURRAY PRINTING COMPANY, FORGE VILLAGE, MASS. BOUND BY H. WOLFF, NEW YORK TO MIL CONTENTS INTRODUCTION BY VANNEVAR BUSH XVII ". . . the motivation of the scientist, profes sional or amateur, is the sheer joy of knowing." PREFACE BY C. L. STONG XXI ". . . the fact that an experiment delivers an unexpected answer means simply that you have not asked the question you assume you have asked" I. ASTRONOMY 1. ASTRONOMICAL DIVERSIONS 3 A note about the delights of stargazing and some fascinating instruments devised to over come the limitations of the human eye. 2. A SIMPLE TELESCOPE FOR BEGINNERS 5 For about $25 the amateur can construct a telescope more powerful than Galileo's. 3. A TRANSISTORIZED DRIVE FOR TELESCOPES 18 Telescopes must be turned slowly to follow the stars across the sky. Here is a way of turning one automatically by means of a mo tor deriving its power from transistors. A. AN ELECTRONIC STAR-TWINKLE SUPPRESSOR 26 How to build an apparatus for making ex ceptionally clear photographs of the planets. VII 5. AN ASTROPHYSICAL LABORATORY IN YOUR 38 BACK YARD With the addition of a spectrograph the tele scope becomes a tool of immense power for probing, the mysteries of the universe. 6. USING SHADOWED STARLIGHT AS A YARDSTICK 53 How to use -fleeting star shadows cast by the moon for locating with great precision geo graphical points on earth, 7 A UNIVERSAL SUNDIAL 62 By mounting a globe of the earth this way you can convert it into a universal sundial that yields a wealth of information about the earth's relative motion in the solar system. It gives you the hour of the day in distant lands, 8. A SUNDIAL THAT KEEPS CLOCK TIME 73 Some attractions of the sundial frequently overlooked by laymen. Instructions for con structing a sundial which can be adjusted to keep clock time (including daylight sav ing) anywhere in the Northern Hemisphere. 9. THE MOON IN "3-D" 80 With the aid of a mirror, and your own nose as a measuring rod, the photographs in this chapter will give you a "3-D" view of the moon. Notes on how the pictures were taken. II. ARCHAEOLOGY 1. SHOULD THE AMATEUR DIG? 85 The amateur's role in archaeology. How the hobby of surveying ancient ruins and arti- CONTENTS facts can give pleasure to the amateur and help his professional colleagues. 2. THE EXCAVATION OF WAPANUCKET NO. 6 90 How a group of amateurs with professional guidance unearthed an ancient Indian vil lage and thereby upset some well-established conclusions about Indian culture. Important do's and donts for the beginner. III. BIOLOGY 1. HOW TO CULTIVATE HARMLESS BACTERIA 105 Adventures in gardening at the microscopic level. How to experiment with weed-killers popularly known as wonder drugs. 2. GROWING ALGAE ON A WINDOW SHELF 117 Even if you live in the city you can grow a pioneer crop of the minute plants which may some day become an important source of mans food. 3. HOW TO TRANQUILIZE A RAT 123 An experiment designed by a Michigan high- school girl. 4. HOW TO MEASURE THE METABOLISM 135 OF ANIMALS An Ohio high-school girl devised this appa ratus. She describes its assembly and opera tion and gives details of a typical experiment utilizing mice as subjects. 5. CHROMATOGRAPHY 142 An analytic technique, one of the most powerful known to biochemists, is used to separate chlorophyll from spinach leaves. IX 6. ZONE ELECTROPHORESIS 152 When a solution of chemical compounds is applied to an electrified sheet of porous pa per an extraordinary phenomenon occurs which the amateur can use for analyzing subtle chemical mixtures. IV. THE NATURAL SCIENCES 1. "NATURES UNIMPORTANT PUZZLES" 167 A note about a great amateur naturalist, the late Walker Van Riper. 2. THE DELIGHTS OF HUMMINGBIRD STUDY 168 Walker Van Riper devised brilliant tech niques for attracting and studying humming birds. Here are some of his methods described in his own words. 3. RAISING MOTHS AND BUTTERFLIES AS 184 EXPERIMENTAL ANIMALS An amateur lepidopterist explains how he raises unusual species and prepares them for scientific study. 4. BIRD-BANDING FOR THE AMATEUR 194 How the amateur who becomes a licensed bird-bander can make valuable contributions to science in his own back yard. 5. HOW TO LIVE WITH REPTILES AND 202 AMPHIBIANS Follow these simple direction for raising rep tiles at home and you can see a snake shed its skin, or witness the courting rites (at once comical and enthralling) of small desert liz ards, or watch a dime-store turtle grow to a length of eight or ten inches. x CONTENTS V. THE EARTH SCIENCES 1. HOW TO KNOW THE ROCKS 217 To the amateur who learns to "read" in rocks the history of the earth's ever-chang ing surface, mineral collecting becomes a doubly rewarding avocation. How to begin. 2. THE ATTRACTIONS OF AMATEUR SEISMOLOGY 228 How to locate distant earthquakes by the vibrations that shake your own back yard. Typical seismographs. An eminent seismolo gist shows how amateurs can help the pro fessionals. 3. AN ELECTRONIC SEISMOGRAPH 236 From a war-surplus magnet, some scrap metal, and a few electronic parts, you can build a sensitive instrument for detecting earthquakes and the approach of violent storms. 4. AN AMATEURS SEISMOLOGICAL 245 OBSERVATORY The design and construction of the instru ments. How a well was turned into an earth quake detector. 5. HOW TO TRACK EARTH SATELLITES 263 Basic equipment for Method 1: a piano and a radio set capable of picking up signals from an artificial satellite. Method 2 employs a set of sticks and a stop watch. 6. EXPERIMENTING WITH THE EARTHS CHARGE 272 Normally the air around your head is some 200 volts positive with respect to the ground underfoot, but what happens in a thunder- XI
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