PRCT RL 2.0, 
AT THE 
CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES 
AUGUST MEETINGS 
Dates & Matinee, 2:30 p.m., Wednesday, 
Times: August 13 
Evenings, 8:00 p.m., Wednesday 
and Thursday, August 13-14 
Place: May Treat Morrison Auditorium 
Speaker: Sandra and John McCosker 
Subject: “IN SEARCH OF COELACANTHS” 
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Dr. John McCosker headed the 1975 Cali- 
fornia Academy of Sciences’ Comoro Islands 
Expedition, a team of American and French 
scientists and divers, who, during last February 
and March, set up a base camp in the Indian 
Ocean. The major purpose: to bring back, if 
at all possible, a living Coelacanth, an ancient 
fish throught to be extinct for some seventy 
million years. Naturally, there were attendant 
research projects that proved to be amazingly 
successful — and all this is part of the McCos- 
ker adventure. 
It was a multi-faceted foray, to say the least, 
what with extensive photography both above 
and in the water; studies on land of the fascin- 
ating native peoples — Malagasy, Arabs, Afri- 
cans; and much taping of primitive music by 
Sandra who, for sometime, has been deeply 
involved in ethnographic music. Dr. McCosker 
is Superintendent of Steinhart Aquarium. 
We are given the whole story through the 
extensive preparations, the departure, the 
often harrassing unexpected vicissitudes, the 
joy of discovery, and the eventual return of 
the aquatic troupe from an adventure unique 
in Academy history. 
Three presentations as usual and your mem- 
bership card admits you through the main en- 
trance of Cowell Hall. At the matinee per- 
formance you may be asked to present it once 
again at the auditorium entrance. 
MORRISON PLANETARIUM 
“OUR MARVELOUS MILKY WAY” is the 
subject of the summer sky show in the Theatre 
of the Stars. Performances daily at 12:30, 2:00 
and 3:30, and two evening performances, 
Wednesday and Thursday at eight. Admission: 
$1.50. Those 17 and under: 50c. 
“LASERIUM” continues as a_ box-office 
champion featured in the planetarium at spe- 
cially-arranged times. Members are reminded 
that this is not a planetarium show nor are 
your membership tickets or passes usable for 
this attraction. Performance schedule: Monday 
and Tuesday at 5:00, 7:30 and 9:00. On Friday, 
Saturday and Sunday, at 5:00, 7:30, 9:00 and 
10:30. For all five o’clock shows, the price per 
seat is $2.50. For all other performances: 
$2.75. Seats are available at Bay Area Seating 
Service outlets (Pacific Stereo stores, Discount 
Record stores, and Montgomery Ward). If a 
performance is not sold out, tickets may be 
purchased at the planetarium box-office one- 
half hour before performance time. Telephone 
752-8268 anytime for information. 
SPECIAL EXHIBITS 
“THE GENIUS OF BENIAMINO BUFANO”, 
a retrospective one-man show devoted to this 
late, great San Francisco artist. Continues until 
the end of the year in Lovell White Hall and 
surrounding areas. 
“SKYLAB” continues in Hohfeld Gallery 
through the end of summer. 
“CETACEA” (marine mammals) continues 
indefinitely in Cowell Hall. 
AND DON’T FORGET! Through Labor Day, 
September 1, all public areas of the Academy 
will remain open until nine in the evenings. 
Doors open every day at ten — so share the 
news with your friends. 
ADVANCE NOTICE OF MONTHLY 
ACADEMY MEETINGS 
September 10-11, October 8-9, 
November 12 (Open House) 
News and Votes 
ers 
bear Se ca 2 
An incredibly exciting piece of work 
and assuredly a major addition to the Acad- 
emy exhibits is the new adjunct to Simson 
African Hall and its arresting display titled 
“African Origins of Man’. This new display 
features a forty-foot mural in color plus an in- 
genious giant jigsaw puzzle wall that captures 
one’s fancy not only by the pieces that are 
present but equally so by those that are absent. 
The jigsaw hinges on two words, ‘““WHY 
AFRICA?”, followed by four statements, mag- 
nified by text, to wit: Because early humans 
lived there. Because their remains fossilized. 
Because those fossils are unusually accessible, 
and because our nearest primate relatives live 
there today. It is a truism to say that museums 
primarily are concerned with ‘‘things’’. This 
display is unique in that despite its size, only 
26 “things” are involved in the form of casts 
of 26 pieces of fossilized bone found in vari- 
ous parts of Africa. The remainder of the ex- 
hibit rests in the text and the inviting world of 
ideas and suppositions — and a dramatic 
world it is. 
For decades there has been a steady accel- 
eration of interest in Africa and man’s evolve- 
ment through the centuries. In deciding to do 
this exhibit, the Academy was fortunate in 
many, many ways, but certainly the most im- 
portant was in the person of Dr. F. Clark 
Howell, a paleoanthropologist at the Univer- 
