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Describes and explains the rationale for establishing a program in higher education that would support and interact with the community of institutions and individuals involved in informal or nonformal science education. Outlines a number of research questions proposed at a recent meeting of informal science educators. (DDR)

Discusses the works by six contemporary American novelists that illustrate the current state of "physics fiction." The discussed examples of physics fiction ranged from the fluent and frequent inclusion of the casual, to the elaborate systems of physics metaphors. (GA)

Editorial. Comments on the universe while seeking to show the necessity of a relationship between arts education and science. Author's comments on a telescopic photograph of the Hercules Cluster of Galaxies; Reference to the Einsteinian view of the universe.

The article presents a summative evaluation of the Star Games, a participatory astronomy exhibit designed for public and school group visitors from age 13 to adult, developed at the Lawrence Hall of Science in California. The evaluation provides information about the effect of the exhibit on visitors and the attainment of its goal in education. It also provides information about the effect of Star Games on visitors of various ages and sexes. It is concluded that the exhibit experience should be an effective learning tool even if on a less comprehensive level, particularly at a science center with a large population of school groups such as Lawrence Hall.

A generic class of sonar receivers are modeled in an attempt to describe average receiver performance in the Arctic channel. A ray-theoretic model, discussed in a companion paper, describes the average reverberation intensities within an Arctic channel in the presence of pressure ridge scattering. Receiver performance is evaluated in terms of signal detectability as a function of range, ridge location, and source/receiver depth. The models are extremely general in that arbitrary pulse shapes and sensor locations are allowed. As an illustration, two pulse shapes are considered-a transient and a CTFM pulse. Their effect on receiver performance is dependent on the source/receiver geometry as well as ridge location. In general, however, the longer CTFM pulse often leads to a reverberation-limited condition as a result of surface as well as pressure ridge scattering. [Work supported by ONR.] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]