SCIENCE American Assoclation for the Advancement of Science Science serves its readers as a forum for the presentation and discussion of important issues related to the advance- ment of science, including the presentation of minority or con- flicting points of view, rather than by publishing only material on which a consensus has been reached. Accordingly, all ar- ticles published in Science-including editorials, news and comment, and book reviews-are signed and reflect theindi-, vidual views of the authors and not official points of view adopted by the AAAS or the institutions with which the au- thors are affiliated. Publisher: William D. Carey Editor: Daniel E. Koshland, Jr. Deputy Editors: Philip H. Abelson (Engineering and Applied Sciences); John1. Brauman (Physical Sciences); Gardner Lindzey (Social Sciences) EDITORIAL STAFF Managing Editor: Patricia A. Morgan Assistant Managing Editors: Nancy J. Hartnagel, John E. Ringle Senior Editors: Eleanore Butz, Lawrence1. Grossman, Ruth Kulstad Associate Editors: Martha Collins, Barbara Jasny, Katrina L. Kelner, Edith Meyers Lettes Editor: Christine Gilbert Book Reviws: Katherine Livingston, editor This WeekIn Science: Ruth Levy Guyer Chief Production Editor: Ellen E. Murphy Editing Depatment: Lois Schmitt, head, Caitilin Gordon, Mary McDaniel, Barbara E. Patterson Copy Desk: Lyle L. Green, Sharon Ryan, Beverly Shields, Anna Victoreen Production Manager: Karen Schools Graphics and Production: John Baker, assistant manager; Holly Bishop, Kathleen Cosimano, Eleanor Wamer Cover Editor: Grayce Finger Manuscript Systems Analyst: William Carter NEWS STAFF New Editor: Barbara J. Culliton New and Comment: Colin Norman, deputy editor; Mark H. Crawford, Constance Holden, Eliot Marshall, R. Jeffrey Smith, Marjorie Sun, John Walsh Reserch News: Roger Lewin, deputy editor; Deborah M. Bames, Richard A. Kerr, Gina Kolata, Jean L. Marx, Arthur L. Robinson, M. Mitchell Waldrop European Correspondent: David Dickson BUSINESS STAFF Associte Publisher: William M. Miller, Ill Busines Staff Supervisor: Deborah Rivera-Wienhold Associate Busines Supervisor: Leo Lewis Membemhip Recrultment: Gwendolyn Huddle Member and Subscription Records: Ann Ragland Guide to Biotechnology Products and Instruments Editor: Richard G. Sommer ADVERTISING REPRESENTATIVES Director: Earl J. Scherago Productlon Manager: Donna Rivera Advetising Sales Manager: Richard L. Charles Marketng Manager: Herbert L. Burklund Sais: New York, NY 10036: J. Kevin Henebry, 1515 Broad- way (212-730-1050); Scotch Plains, NJ 07076: C. Richard Callis, 12 Unami Lane (201-889-4873); Chicago, IL 60611: Jack Ryan, Room 2107, 919 N. Michigan Ave. (312-337- 4973); San Jose, CA 95112: Bob Brindley, 310 S. 16 St. (408- 998-4690); Dorset, VT 05251: Fred W. Dieffenbach, Kent Hill Rd. (802-867-5581). Instructions for contributors appears on page xi of the 27 June 1986 issue. Editorial correspondence, including re- quests for permission to reprint and reprint orders, should be sent to 1333 H Street, NW, Washington, DC 20005. Tele- phone: 202-326-6500. Advertising correspondence should be sent to Tenth Floor, 1515 Broadway, NY 10036. Telephone 212-730-1050. S SEPrEMBER I986 VOLUME 233 NUMBER 4768 Beauty, Balance, and Mathematics N ow that female beauty has been reduced to a formula (eye width, three-tenths of the width of the face; chinlength, one-fifth of the height of the face; area of the nose, less than 5 percent of the area of the face*), we await the arrival of a formula for the ideal journal. The reader might wonder how decisions can be made in the absence of such mathematical precision. There are indeed historical, philosophical, and economic considerations thatguide the policy of a journal. Scice is designed for the sophisticated scientist. Why sophisticated? Because, of course, like beauty, interest in a journal is in the eye of the beholder. Science is a relatively thin magazine compared to most specialty journals, yet it covers the entire range of scientific disciplines. Thus it is inevitable that only a small fraction of the articles can be in an individual scientist's subdiscipline. The more curious the reader is about the entire range of science, the more likely he or she is to find something of interest in our pages. A frequent comment is that Science is biased toward the biological sciences. That is historically true, and Newton's laws of motion apply to magazines as they do to bodies falling through space: to change trajectories requires enormous force. It is the goal of this magazine, of this editor, and of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, which represents all of science, to increase participation of scientists in nonbiological disciplines. To do this at the expense of biological science at a time when biology is flourishing in what appears to be its golden age would be folly. Therefore, the AAAS has wisely decided to add pages to the magazine in order to increase the participation of the physical and social sciences without diminishing the contributions of biological sciences. Balance does not mean that each part of the magazine in each issue will have the same proportion of space for the various fields. Our news department emphasizes the physical sciences, as space science and weaponry occupy an unusually large portion of the news. Reports emphasize biology. Solicited articles, Research News, and Book Reviews reflect our attempts to increase coverage of social and physical sciences. We interpret balance in terms of the entire magazine, and our goal is toensure that each issue contains items of interest to every type of scientist. Balance is not achieved by giving every subspecialty equal weight. Fields that flourished in the past may not be as productive in the present and "the past" can be a mere few years ago. We do not wish to forget the past, but we want to emphasize the present and the future. In the selection process, the economics of publication must play a role. For a wide circulation magazine such as Scienc (subscriptions 155,000) compared to specialty journals (circulations in the 3,000 to 10,000 range), the cost of printing and mailing is enormous. If we want to keep the magazine por.table, economical, and comprehensive, topics of the widest impact must be given priority. Seminal articles in any area are welcome, even if they may be difficult reading for many. Intense joy to a small minority of our readership can be as important as mild pleasure to the majority of our audience. An author's anguish when we reject an excellent paper with the statement that it is more appropriate for a specialized journal is matched by our own. This painfuil selection process is not driven by economics alone; it is also a service to our readers to present a distillation of the best and most general. Magazines, like species, must adapt to optimize their survival in an ever-changing world. Mutations can occur from within or by suggestions from readers, and this editor particularly welcomes ideas for new features, new emphases, and new concepts. Those who think that their particular specialty is being neglected are encouraged to send specific suggestions to us. We would hope that a mathematical formula would arise to select the good mutations, but in the interim the editor's receptors will have to respond in a serendipitous manner to the most attractive intellectual pheromones provided by our writers and scientists.-DANIEL E. KOSHLAND, JR. *M. Cunningham,1, Pm. So. Psycbol. 50, 925 (1986). S SEPTEMBER I986 EDITORIAL I017 o n A p ril 5 , 2 0 2 1 h ttp ://scie n ce .scie n ce m a g .o rg / D o w n lo a d e d fro m http://science.sciencemag.org/ Beauty, Balance, and Mathematics DANIEL E. KOSHLAND JR. DOI: 10.1126/science.233.4768.1017 (4768), 1017.233Science ARTICLE TOOLS http://science.sciencemag.org/content/233/4768/1017 REFERENCES http://science.sciencemag.org/content/233/4768/1017#BIBL This article cites 1 articles, 0 of which you can access for free PERMISSIONS http://www.sciencemag.org/help/reprints-and-permissions Terms of ServiceUse of this article is subject to the is a registered trademark of AAAS.ScienceScience, 1200 New York Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20005. The title (print ISSN 0036-8075; online ISSN 1095-9203) is published by the American Association for the Advancement ofScience 1986 by the American Association for the Advancement of Science. o n A p ril 5 , 2 0 2 1 h ttp ://scie n ce .scie n ce m a g .o rg / D o w n lo a d e d fro m http://science.sciencemag.org/content/233/4768/1017 http://science.sciencemag.org/content/233/4768/1017#BIBL http://www.sciencemag.org/help/reprints-and-permissions http://www.sciencemag.org/about/terms-service http://science.sciencemag.org/