In this paper we describe the results of some experiments about using surprising physics demonstrations, presented as magical phenomena followed by scientific explanations, for introducing physics topics in several teaching contexts. All the demonstrations have been designed to be implemented with easy to get and cheap materials, so that students…

Field experiments are at the core of ecology, yet rarely find their way into education, probably due to a combination of technical challenges and risks associated with fieldwork. This may compromise student education and perception of the subject, making interesting, readily manageable experiments extremely important. We describe how the daily…

Environment and sustainable development show how policies are becoming ever more complex and ambiguous. This trend calls for new evaluation approaches. They need to be more clearly focused on specific, explicit concerns. They must be driven by a strategic concept of use to overcome the vulnerability to manipulation of many integrative, essentially…

The purpose of the paper is twofold: (1) To contrast the longstanding tradition of private and public courses of chemistry with the public demonstrations of physics. Whether taught in public institutions such as the Jardin du Roi or by apothecaries in their officines chemistry demonstrations were not for the entertainment of their audiences.…

This report is based in large part upon a personal examination of the fresh water and marine biological stations of Europe, made in the summers of 1908 and 1909. Its purpose is to put in convenient form for reference an account of the history, organization, equipment, and work of the various stations of Europe, and to indicate their relations to…

This purpose of this journal is to document advances in the fields of health, education, food, diet, and development. Each issue contains an overview of a high-priority subject touching the everyday life of children, mothers, and families. This double issue describes the Andes project, a food, diet, nutrition, and development program conducted in…

More than one billion people do not have access to an adequate water supply. In Gambia and Haiti, people live on less than 4 liters of water per day. By contrast, most toilets in the West use several times that amount of water for a single flush. The global distribution of water is making it increasingly difficult for poor people to access it, and…