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A discussion of the proposed European Molecular Biology Laboratory was held at the Royal Society on October 21. Although it was the intention of the organizers that the discussion should be private, the occasion has been widely talked of in the past few days. What follows is an account of some of the proceedings which has been pieced together from several sources. Nature apologizes to those among the participants who may be surprised to see their opinions appear in print—they have been widely talked of—and to its readers for being unable to provide a fuller account of what went on.
… Just as we have got to learn what the capacities of Literature are as a profession, we still have to realize what publishing may be and what an immense power a Publisher might wield for good without the least neglect of business conditions1.
“First, to place before the general public the results of Scientific Work and Scientific Discovery and to urge the claims of science to a more general recognition in Education and in Daily Life …”
Nature soon became the recognized forum for scientific debate in Britain. Few of the competitors of Nature from the nineteenth century have survived, but for many years Nature's finances left much to be desired.
During the nineteenth century the leading articles in Nature tackled such topics as scientific and technical education, industrial competition from Germany, and the role of the Royal Society. Lockyer was concerned about British organic and industrial chemistry.
On November 6, 1919, Nature's Jubilee, Lockyer relinquished his editorship to Richard Gregory. By now, Nature had become a “great international institution”.
Unusual signals from pulsating radio sources have been recorded at the Mullard Radio Astronomy Observatory. The radiation seems to come from local objects within the galaxy, and may be associated with oscillations of white dwarf or neutron stars.