SCIENCE IN EVERYDAY LIFE

New Zealand Listener, Volume 12, Issue 310, 1 June 1945, Page 9

SCIENCE IN EVERYDAY LIFE

New Series of Winter Course Talks

ACTS of everyday life, taken for granted and appearing as dull as a New Zealand township on a Sunday, can be fascinating when examined by the scientist. And so, for a series of ‘Winter Course talks from 2YA each Monday evening from June 4 to July 9, some of the ordinary things which New Zealanders take in their stride will be discussed and explained. These talks will be given under the auspices of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research. For instance} if you ask a boot repairer how to get the squeak out of: your shoes, he will probably advise, you to pay for them, But that is only his little joke. There is romance in a pair of shoes. Glace kid leather may come from shell-torn Malta, the squalid towns of the Middle East, China, India, Switzer‘land or South America. In the New Zea‘land products the soles are made from New Zealand hides, but the uppers may be made from skins obtaiged from all over the world. You will learn some astonishing facts about footwear if you listen to a talk by Phillip White on June 4. | ». % 1% ROAD can be described as a line + of least resistance to travel. In primitive times we took advantage of the tracks made by animals which had, by instinct, pioneered the way of least tesistance, With the increase of modern, fast-moving traffic, many people have been inclined to take the development of highways as a matter of course, A knowledge of road construction principles will be needed more and more in postwar years, yet of all the ancient arts, road-making is probably one of the last to call in the services of the laboratory scientist. M. J. Hyatt and H. Williamson will give a talk on "Highway Materials" on June 11. Fa * * T may seem odd to refer to coal as the fuel of the future when transport research workers are talking airily about running a car on compressed air, But it may come as a surprise to listeners to

hear that the world’s petroleum resources are strictly limited, whereas coal reserves are most extensive. World reserves are estimated at seven million millions tons enough to keep-the fires going for 5000 years. W. J. Hughson wilt chat about-coal on June 18. * * ae % HY does iron rust so readily while silver only tarnishes and chromium remains bright? Do water pipes corrode on the outside as well as the inside? These are questions for metallurgical, physical, and analytical chemists rather than for the layman. But the everyday household has its problems through attacks on metal by water, acids, and salt solutions. Sq the householder will find a lot to interest him if he listens to "Chemists and Corrosion," by J. S. Lambert and others on June 25, ob % * NOVELIST once said that the most attractive sight in the world was a crystal glass of pure water standing on white napery. But clear, sparkling water only means that there is no suspended dirt or silt present. Disease-causing bacteria may be there in their millions. New Zealand water supplies are, fortu"nately, of good quality. The great majority of people are content to turn on the bathroom and kitchen tap and draw what they want without. thinking of the careful planning and _ control which lies at. the back of a water supply system, Different: types of water, laboratory examinations of them, and purification systems will be the subject of a talk by H. J. Wood on July 2, * : Ba * HoT springs eternal-that is a pun one might make about some parts of New Zealand where those manifestations occur which intrigue the tourist, and it is said, cure the sick. Such phenomena are also found in California, Tuscany, Japan, and Kamchatka, but the most important regions of thermal activity are in Iceland, Yellowstone Park, and our own country, With the: recent outbreak of Rpapehu we now claim six active volcanoes-Ruapehu, Ngauruhoe, Red Crater and Te Mari on Tongariro, Tarawera and White Island-and hot

springs are associated with dormant volcanie activity, There are cold, scientific reasons for investigating hot springs. You will hear something about them from S. H, Wilson on July 9,