Data from a 1974 representative survey of the white American adult population indicate that most white Americans (75%) disapprove of homosexual relations. Those persons who tend to hold more favorable attitudes toward homosexual relations are those under 30 years of age, those living in larger urban centers, and those with college experience.

No abstract

This paper discusses the significance of East India trade to scientific travel in the 18th century, focusing in particular on the so‐called ‘apostles’ or travelling students of Linnaeus. On the one hand, enterprises such as the Swedish East India Company (SOIC) were of crucial importance by providing both incentives for natural history research and the necessary infrastructure for scientific travel. It is indeed difficult to imagine most of the apostles’ expeditions without the framework of East India trade. On the other hand, there were also obvious limits to the willingness of the SOIC to actively sponsor research which was not immediately useful or profitable; such support was typically only given to travellers working on board as chaplains or surgeons, and only as long as it did not interfere with their regular duties. In this context, I briefly discuss the complicated relationship — in the 18th century no less than today — between two contrasting scientific ideals: one based on the notion of curiosity or the search for knowledge as an end in itself and the other fuelled by a belief that science is meaningless if it does not yield tangible benefits to human economy and society.

No abstract

In brief: A review of 92 US medical school bulletins showed that only four schools (4%) offer exercise medicine as part of required undergraduate course work. In 31 schools (34%) exercise information is offered on an elective basis; 57 schools (62%) offer no formal instruction of this type. Despite both the increasing study of the health aspects of cardiorespiratory fitness and the public's growing awareness of these benefits, medical schools continue to place little emphasis on this important component of preventive medicine. The authors recommend that medical students be required to take at least a short course in exercise medicine that emphasizes cardiorespiratory fitness.