At the American Museum 
terns on ancient tools to find out how 
they were used. But the specimen 
chamber on the old machine was too 
small to accommodate most tools, and 
thus the SEM was only used as a 
supplement to the light microscope. 
The larger specimen chamber of the 
new scope will allow Thomas to do 
broader, more thorough research. 
George Harlow, a curator in the 
Department of Mineral Sciences, will 
use the Stereoscan 250 to investigate 
the structure of asbestos fiber, which 
is too fine to be seen with the light 
microscope. Among Harlow’s con- 
cerns are those properties of asbestos 
that might induce biological activity. 
2:30 P M. — will be held in the Edu- 
cation Hall and the Auditorium. 
Evening Courses 
February marks the beginning of 
the Education Department’s Spring 
Evening Lecture Series. Over the 
years, these popular lectures have 
brought the world of natural history, 
anthropology, and geology to thou- 
sands of interested people. 
Studying Birds is a four-evening se- 
ries that will cover High Andean 
Birds, Endangered Cranes, Birds of 
the Amazon and Meadowlarks. Var- 
ious authorities on birds, including 
Thomas Lovejoy of the World Wildlife 
Fund and Francis Vuilleumier of the 
Museum’s Ornithology Department, 
will present each lecture. Tuition is 
$ 20 . 
Symbol and Shadow will explore 
the world of Asian puppetry, using 
the Museum’s extensive puppet col- 
lection. Included in this series of five 
lecture-performances will be Cambo- 
dian puppetry and music, the devel- 
opment of shadow theater in China, 
I and a performance of Bali puppets 
collected by the late Margaret Mead. 
Tuition is $30. 
The Hopi, a six-lecture series, com- 
plements the special Museum exhi- 
bition Hopi Kachina: Spirit of Life. 
He says, “The more we understand 
the structure of asbestos and other 
powdered minerals, the more we will 
know why such minerals can cause 
various diseases, including cancer.” 
Roger Batten, who was the prime 
mover in getting the old scope, will 
use the new one for his research on 
fossil bivalve mollusks. His research 
is adding to our knowledge of earth 
history and evolution and, inciden- 
tally, providing valuable information 
for oil exploration. Bruce Haugh is 
also working on a complex evolution- 
ary problem involving the fossilized 
microanatomy of echinoderms (sea ur- 
chins, starfish). His findings are chal- 
lenging traditional views of echino- 
derm evolution. 
Other Museum projects that will 
benefit from the 250 range from a 
study of feathers to aid in the clas- 
sification of birds to documentation 
of mineral localities in New Jersey. 
During its lifetime, the S4-10 served 
the Museum well. It provided thou- 
sands of photographs for more than 
eighty scientific publications and ex- 
tended the systematic research of the 
Museum into new areas. As an even 
more powerful extension of our ability 
to see, the Stereoscan 250 will add 
to our understanding of nature. 
Douglas J. Preston 
The illustrated lectures will cover, 
among other topics, the 1,000-year 
prehistory of the Hopi, the kachina 
cult, the Snake Dances, and the fif- 
teenth-century Awatovi murals. Tu- 
ition is $30. 
Other lecture series are Anthropol- 
ogy Through Films, The World of 
Islam , Mammals of North America, 
Plant Life at the Edge of the Sea, 
Foraging for Dinner, Animal Draw- 
ing, Insects, and Explore Weaving. 
Write to the Education Department for 
a brochure and preregistration form. 
Junior Natural History 
The Education Department is of- 
fering four Workshops for Young Peo- 
ple beginning in February: Exploring 
with the Microscope, Photographing 
People, The Arts of Asia, and Games 
People Play. The workshops add a spe- 
cial dimension to the Museum learn- 
ing experience for children in grades 
4 to 7. Each workshop lasts six weeks, 
and tuition is $20. Write to the Edu- 
cation Department for details. 
Inner Landscape 
On Wednesday, February 11, at 
7:00 p.m. in the Auditorium, the Edu- 
cation Department and the Society 
for the Study of Myth and Tradition 
are presenting Sacred Geography: An 
Inner Vision of Ecology. Free illus- 
trated lectures will explore Native 
American views of the universe as ex- 
pressed through myths, stories, after- 
world beliefs, and ceremonies. 
Films for the Family 
On Washington’s Birthday (Mon- 
day, February 16) a Family Film Fes- 
tival will be shown in the Auditorium 
at 1:00 and 3:00 p.m. The free films 
are especially presented for families 
visiting the Museum on the holiday. 
Cosmic Visions 
The February membership program 
will be Visions at T Minus Zero, pre- 
sented by John Teton. Visions incor- 
porates film shorts, including excerpts 
from science fiction thrillers, cartoons, 
and NASA clips, into a program about 
astronomy, cosmology, and the uni- 
verse. Astronomer Robert Chambers 
says about Visions: “The impact of 
Visions on its audience is tremen- 
dous. . . . Teton built a mechanism 
that got through to people as few 
things have.” The program is free for 
members, $3.50 for nonmembers, and 
will be shown on Wednesday, Feb- 
ruary 25, at 7:30 p.m. in the Audi- 
torium. Visions will be repeated on 
Sunday, March 1, at 2:00 p.m. in the 
Auditorium. 
