50 Years ago

The appearance of Radiocarbon Supplement Vol. 1 of the American Journal of Science marks an important step forward in the publication of radiocarbon dates. In the past, date lists have appeared at irregular intervals in a number of journals, making it difficult for potential users of the dates to keep themselves fully informed of all the work in this field ... The editors ... are to be commended on this project, which provides a single, relatively inexpensive, annual publication specifically for radiocarbon dates and associated measurements. This first volume contains 13 date lists and one paper ... devoted entirely to measurements on samples of known age. This aspect of radiocarbon dating research ... yields information on the past and present distribution of radiocarbon in the carbon exchange reservoir, and this is of particular importance when one is concerned with the attainment of the highest possible accuracy in radiocarbon dates.

From Nature 28 November 1959.

100 Years ago

A flying-fish flew on to the lower deck last night about 8.30p.m. The deck is 20 feet above the water-line, and the railing is 4 feet 6 inches above the deck, but it is possible for it to have flown through the railing; the fish measured 17¼ inches from tip of nose to tip of tail. I forgot to weigh it before it was cooked. It was the largest flying fish I have ever handled. Could any reader of NATURE kindly inform me what is the largest size known? We were about fifty miles north of Teneriffe when it came on board. The species up here appear to be larger than those in the tropics and near South America. I have seen large ones in the Gulf of Aden, but never caught one, though I am inclined to think this was a larger species. The longest flyers always appear to be the largest fish: the longest flight I have seen has been about 400 yards.

From Nature 25 November 1909.