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academy activities...

In striving to "advance scientific research and discovery," the Academy engages in numerous activities. Among these are:

International Conferences -- The speed at which scientific knowledge is advancing today puts a premium on easy and quick access to recent work. The Academy's international conferences provide this access by bringing scientists face to face. In any one year, the conferences will deal with the most pressing problems in each of 20 or more fields of study. Speakers are flown in from universities, hospitals and laboratories around the world, selected solely on their ability to provide a new insight, a fresh theory, or an original research report.

Monthly Meetings -- Each of the 16 Sections and Divisions meets once every month, throughout the academic year. Here, specialist speaks to specialist, and again is an exciting exchange of views. Once small gatherings, these meetings now often overflow the largest hall in the Academy building. Members will stand in the corridors and listen, rather than miss an important report.

Scientific Publications--The papers and reports presented at the conferences are published in the famed Annals series. A small Annals may contain the work of a single author on a subject of particular importance. The Transactions are published eight times a year and contain the papers presented at the monthly and special meetings.

In addition, the Academy also publishes the Classics in Science series in hardcover editions, a multi-volume survey of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, and reprints of scientific papers. The newest Academy publication is the monthly magazine, The Sciences, which interprets both the facts and the significance of modern science for scientists, students, and laymen.

In 1950, a total of 221,000 publications were requested from the Academy. Just 14 years later, this total had climbed to a staggering 1,323,085. To expediate the flow of information, part of this publishing load is handled in the Academy's own print shop. The presses now roll weekends and even evenings throughout the year.

Public Information -- The Academy encourages various news media to cover the conferences and meetings and to make the latest scientific information available to their readers. Last year thousands of press releases were distributed, hundreds of reporters were aided at meetings, and innumerable articles about Academy functions, or excerpts from Academy publications, appeared in newspapers and magazines both in the U.S. and abroad. The Junior Academy of Sciences -- The newly formed group is composed of high school students who, although under the supervision of the Academy's Educational Advisory Committee, are largely self-governing. Meeting once a month, they hear talks by leading scientists.