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On the Cover

July-August 2005 Volume 93, Number 4

On the cover:

Vestiges of ancient Maya handiwork, such as this 7th-century ceramic f...

FEATURE ARTICLES

The Mystery of Masting in Trees *

Walter Koenig, Johannes Knops

Some trees reproduce synchronously over large areas, with widespread ecological effects, but how and why?

A New Understanding of Protein Mutation Unfolds *

P. Michael Conn and Jo Ann Janovick

Long believed to be nonfunctional, mutant proteins that cause disease can often behave normally when refolded with the help of a pharmacological template

Feeling Smart: The Science of Emotional Intelligence *

Daisy Grewal, Peter Salovey

A new idea in psychology has matured and shows promise of explaining how attending to emotions can help us in everyday life

Climate and the Collapse of Maya Civilization

Larry Peterson, Gerald Haug

A series of multi-year droughts helped to doom an ancient culture

The Collapse of the Kinzua Viaduct *

A combination of design oversight and material fatigue left a century-old railroad bridge vulnerable to an F-1 tornado

* access restricted to members and subscribers

SCIENTISTS’ BOOKSHELF

Evolution's Many Branches

A review of Assembling the Tree of Life, edited by Joel Cracraft and Michael J. Donoghue. An assessment of current phylogenetic efforts across the Tree of Life.

See all book reviews for this issue.

DEPARTMENTS

COMPUTING SCIENCE

Are there periodic booms and busts in the diversity of life on Earth? Hear a tale of fossils and Fourier transforms

MACROSCOPE

An Engineering Approach to Translational Medicine

Michael N. Liebman

Physician-scientists may benefit from an approach that emphasizes solving problems over generating hypotheses

SIGHTINGS

The Living Cell

David Goodsell of the Scripps Research Institute discusses illustrating the complexity of cells

MARGINALIA

Science and stories are not only compatible, they're inseparable, as shown by Einstein's classic 1905 paper on the photoelectric effect

ENGINEERING

Technology and the Humanities *

How do insights from C. P. Snow's lecture on the "two cultures" reflect on the practice of engineering?

SCIENCE OBSERVER

Attacks on Taxonomy

A contentious biological classification system may make cataloging biodiversity tricky

To Boldly Go (Again)

David Schneider

Two devices now under development evoke the fictional technology of Star Trek

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Bursting with Imagery

Creating Science Interest

More Fuel for the Fire

From the President

IN THIS SECTION

American Scientist Classics

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