September 1998

In This Issue
Charles C. Mann, “Who Will Own Your Next Good Idea?”; Ellen Ruppel Shell, “Could Mad-Cow Disease Happen Here?”; Francis Davis, “Swing and Sensibility”; Yusef Komunyakaa, “Venus of Willendorf”; and much more.
Articles
Could Mad-Cow Disease Happen Here?
Britain's horrifying experience taught us a few things, but perhaps not enough to preclude an outbreak of our own
Who Will Own Your Next Good Idea?
Some corporations want to lock up copyright even tighter. Some naive intellectuals want to abandon copyright altogether. Where is a "do-nothing" Congress now that we need one?
Tuscan Tomatoes
Panzanella combines two ingredients Tuscans hold dear -- fresh tomatoes and old bread
Swing and Sensibility
Whatever Frank Sinatra sang, he swung, and his musicianship will endure longer than the swagger that today's singers so admire
The Time Has Come
Thinking about the logical next step in the funeral industry's evolution
The Fulcrum of Europe
Romania longs for the West, and the West needs Romania more than it knows
Poor but Prosperous
Development and quality of life can't always be measured purely in economic terms. The Indian state of Kerala is a case in point
Come Back Irish
As a child she had kept a pony in a small stable behind her house. One afternoon, in a moment of pure misunderstanding of her own motives, she had encouraged it to bite her
Escapade
Half a World Away
Buenos Aires is a European city six months and a hemisphere out of synch.
The Hidden Nature of Systems
A prominent social scientist explains how complex social connections affect international politics, economic competition, and the environment
The Pleasures of Formal Poetry
77 North Washington Street
Letters
The September Almanac
At Last Count
Word Court
