I SHALL BE OUT of London on the night of
the Royal Society's conversazione, so once again I shall miss an occasion which always offers many strange glimpses up the side-alleys of scientific research. As usual there will be a great many exhibits whose titles seem more indicative of recently discovered essays by Edward Lear than of 'exhibits of scientific interest.' Why, for example, 'a juvenile armoured Dinosaur'? Or 'how spring mechanisms make flapping flight cheaper'? I never knew that there was any flapping flight except among birds and insects which are not, presumably, worried about cost one way or another. But I could 'certainly do with a 'compandor to reduce the effect of noise and cross-talk in a telephone system.' The only system I have at the moment for dealing with cross- talk on the telephone is to put up the receiver, and this tends to lead to even more tedious trouble. Yes, I'm sorry I shall miss this conversazione.
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