Old Ben Franklin, ambassador to France during the American revolution, peered out his window early one morning and took in the Paris sun light. "Why are we not taking advantage of all this daylight?" he is supposed to have said. The philosopher and scientist then picked up his quill pen and scratched out a study that showed the immense number of candles that Paris would save if it changed its clocks to gain extra daylight in the summer. With these scratches, Franklin reputedly first outlined the idea that led to the 20th-century daylight saving time system that brings confusion and controversy to America every year. Millions of Americans in 15 states switched from daylight time back to standard Saturday. To some, the time-switching means little, except the twice-annual struggle to remember to juggle their clocks. But others are hotly concerned over the time-switching, and are demanding an end to it. They do battle with the defenders of daylight saving time...

Lie Detectors - The Industry, the Technology and the Victims. The first lie detector, employed centuries ago, was a handful of rice dropped into the mouth of a suspect. If the rice stayed dry while he answered questions, he clearly was a liar — exposed under the questionable theory that a liar's salivary glands would dry up when gripped by fear. The lie detector used most commonly today is far more sophisticated. Developed by the psychologist and criminologist Leonard Keeler almost forty years ago, it comprises a pneumatic tube that fits across a subject's chest to measure breathing, an inflatable rubber cuff that wraps around the arm to measure blood pressure and a pair of electrodes that touch the fingers and, by the flow of current, measure the dampness of the palm. These instruments activate pens that draw wiggles and waves on a rolling sheet of paper — a process that gives the lie detector its modern name, polygraph, Greek for "many writings." In theory, an examiner can look at the chart, note any unusual wiggles and waves, and nab his man. This polygraph, obviously more complicated than a few grains of rice, is also touted as more accurate. In truth, it is not...

In Between Explosions - Princeton University chemistry professor last night at the Manchester Hotel closed a two-hour, explosion-filled, surprise-stuffed lecture on atomic energy with the admonition that better understanding of people is the "ultimate" solution to problems created by the atomic bomb. "The political and social scientists will have to get as busy as the physical scientists if we are to have world peace," Dr. Hubert N. Alyea told about 700 members and guests of the Armco Technical Operating Discussion Group. Dr. Alyea’s demonstrations featured the spraying of his audience with carbon dioxide fire extinguisher, exploding a can cover to the ceiling of the hotel ballroom, shooting a model of an atom with toy "space" guns, spitting paper at the first few rows of spectators, when good picture material was coming up...

Dr. Mather Disagrees - Charges by Middletown patriotic groups that Dr. Kirtley F. Mather has been affiliated with over “40 Communist front organizations” were described yesterday by the Harvard professor as based, in general, on “erroneous” sources or on activites of which he is “extremely proud" to be a part. Dr. Mather’s remarks came in a private conversation two hours before he participated in an afternoon symposium at Western College. During the later session, Dr. Mather told his audience that blacklists of “allegedly subversive” organizations were “circulated by local protective associations as part of a well-calculated campaign to paralyze American thoughts.” Included in the geology professor’s audience were four representatives of Middletown's Protect America League and the Americanism committee of American Legion Post 218. Before the meeting, they had distributed mimeographed sheets that outlined Dr. Mather’s alleged link with subversive organizations...