The Citizen Scientist Home Page

GALLERY

Sheldon and I encountered this magnificent green darner (Anax junius) in some brush near a run-off pond adjacent to an industrial area. I estimate that this petite beauty was about 6.5 cm (about 2.5 inches) long, with a wingspan of over 7.5 cm (over 3 inches). I had seen several common green darners in this area, but this was the first time I saw one perched while I was carrying a camera.
More.

COLUMNS

Classics: "The Amateur Scientist" Classics: How to rear a plankton menagerie by Shawn Carlson

Eye on the Sky: Eye on the Sky October/November 2004 by Paul Curtin

Forrest Mims' World of Science
by Forrest M. Mims III

Editorial: The creative mind of Brian Mansfield by Forrest M. Mims III

Puzzle 'Toons by Brian Mansfield

Wanderings with Ralph Coppola

Mathematics Corner: The Return of the Mathematics Corner
George E Hrabovsky, President. MAST

Got a comment? Write to us!

We welcome your comments. Please include the following in your e-mail:

1. Always include "TCS Letter: OK to Publish" in the subject line to give your permission for us to publish your letter. This saves us the time of having to request your permission.

2. Always include your first and last name and your telephone number. We cannot acknowledge or publish e-mails without your first name, a valid e-mail address and a telephone number for possible verification.

Letters may be lightly edited for spelling, grammar and style.

NEWS

The Citizen Scientist goes biweekly

Suggestions wanted for web electronics text

Educator uses data logger to monitor Hurricane Charley

Radio astronomy enthusiasts rescue Stanford radio telescope site

Wanted: Contributions to The Citizen Scientist

Backscatter. Views and responses from TCS readers.

FEATURES

A Closer Look: Crystals
Bill Dembowski

There are various ways of producing crystals: Freezing the material, melting it, dissolving it in an appropriate solvent, etc. For this article I chose the simple method of dissolving the material in several drops of distilled water on a microscope slide and letting it evaporate under the gentle heat of a desk lamp. More.

"The Amateur Scientist" Classics: How to rear a plankton menageria.
Shawn Carlson

Although my formal training is almost entirely in physics and mathematics, I often wonder whether I wouldn't have made a better biologist. I have always reveled in the subject, sometimes even while enduring the consternation of professors who insisted that my many projects in the area meant that I wasn't a "serious" physics student. More.

Nature's Variety - Comparing Birds' Nests
Allen Rhodes

To birders, the variety of sizes, shapes, colors, songs, habitats and behaviors of our feathered friends are fascinating and account for much pleasure. However, if you go a little farther and search carefully, you will find another much-varied dimension of the bird worldÑtheir nests. More.

Now available...

Proceedings of the SAS Virtual Conference on Informal Science Education Spring 2004

PRODUCTS

The Sun and Sky Monitoring Station by Forrest M. Mims III.

An excellent product for beginning scientists, seasoned amateurs (or even professionals) looking for a new challenge, or someone trying to come up with a reasonably self-contained science fair project. Briefly stated, this kit gives one the instrumentation needed to track accurately the total sunlight in a given time period, measure haze and water vapor in the atmosphere.

Click here to order.