The Library's Science and Technology Division has published several additional subject bibliographies in its "Tracer Bullet" series.
- The Ethnobotany of the Americas encompasses the study of the applications and economic potential of plants used by native peoples. During the first half of the 20th century the anthropological and ecological aspects of the use of plants by indigenous populations became increasingly important. However, it was during the second half of the century that ethnobotany flourished and ethnobotanical surveys, studies and reports on explorations proliferated. These studies were fueled by the interests of major universities, pharmaceutical firms and government agencies, such as the National Institutes of Health, which greatly expanded their programs in natural products research in hopes of finding new medicines for various diseases, including cancer, diabetes and disorders of the immune system. Increasing concern about the biodiversity crisis has accelerated ethnobotanical research; chiefly due to habitat loss, plant species are disappearing before their possible medical and other applications can be assessed.
- Dinosaurs, concerns the highly successful reptiles that first appeared about 225 million years ago and evolved to inhabit diverse environments and geographic areas; dinosaur fossils have been found on every continent. For more than 100 million years dinosaurs were the dominant terrestrial animals. Then, about 65 million years ago, dinosaurs (or, as some scientists would put it, "non-avian dinosaurs") and many other species became extinct within a geologically brief period of time.
- The popular Tracer Bullet Science Fair Projects, first published in 1991, has recently been updated and is now available. Sources are selected to provide guidance to students, parents and teachers throughout the process of planning, developing, implementing and competing in science fair activities from elementary to high school levels. This Tracer Bullet serves as a general guide; more specialized sources are listed and discussed in other Tracer Bullets, still available: Space Science Projects, Environmental Science Projects and Science Projects in Biology.
These new publications are free and may be obtained by writing to the Science and Technology Division, Library of Congress, Washington, DC 20540, or by telephoning (202) 707-5664. A list is available of many other Tracer Bullets on timely subjects in science and technology.
For those with Internet access, all Tracer Bullets from 1989 to the present, as well as selected older Tracer Bullets, can be read on a Web-mounted full-text database, SCTB Online, which also can be reached from under the Science Reading Room home page.
