Around the sun leaving a bright trail behind. For more than

However broad such support, it has not been able to dent the political influence of auto enThusiasts and carmakers. The latter, who make up one of Germany's most powerful industries and account for 1 in every 7 jobs, argue that speed limits would deprive the likes of Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Porsche of a key competitive advantage: the right to say their cars are engineered to the driving standard of the autobahn, known the world over for uncapped speed.

Why German car buffs are so militant in their determination to drive fast remains a subject of much speculation. Some argue that the automobile is the supreme symbol of Germany's postwar economic achievement and its obsession with quality products. Others suggest that the autobahn is the only place where individuals living in one of the world's most regulated societies can vent aggression. No-limit supporters have the government's ear: Chancellor Helmut Kohl has sworn none will be introduced on his watch.

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130

THE RAYS ARE NOT COLOURED

Newton first understood, more than 200 years ago, that "the Rays, to speak properly, are not coloured," and "Colours in the Object are nothing but a disposition to reflect this or that sort of Ray more CopioUSly than the rest..." Yet colour seems so compellingly to be a property of an object that few among us doubt the obvious. Indeed, the insights of Newton, supported by two centuries of scientific elaboration, are not fully appreciated even by the practitioners of colour, such as the artist and the paint manufacturer, let alone the man in the street.

W.D.Wright is a physicist and one of the fathers of the CIE (Commission International de 1 'Eclairage) system of colour specification. Despite the proven usefulness of this system, Wright admits that it ⁹⁹does not give precise information about the spectral composition of the light or any exact information about the sensation..." Accordingly, Wright's interests, reflected in this book, have extended well beyond classical colourimetry to the use of colour in art and television, the teaching of colour in schools, and the pracfical and theoretical problems presented by colour-defective vision.

The difficult problem raised by the coloured appearance of objects provides a recurring theme for some of the nine essays of this slim volume. Is it possible that the man in the street is right to believe what he sees? Wright struggles hard to find a proper basis for restoring colour to the object. He notes that the main task of vision, for which colour is not necessary, is to render objects visible. Although the initial basis for colour vision does lie in the spectral modification of light by the object - just as Newton discerned - such modified light is far from the only basis for colour perception. Somehow, Wright says, colour projects light back out to, is modified by, and becomes an inherent property of the object.

Most of the book consists of the texts of invited lectures delivered from 1951 to 1966. It is easy to see why Wright is so often asked to speak. His remarks are lucid and reflect his enThusiasm for a subject with which he has had more than 40 years of experience. Most of the material will be readily understood by the non-expert. The lectures point more to problems than solutions since they do not attempt to deal with a large percentage of the experimental evidence bearing upon the topics discussed.

131

THE SHAME AND PAIN OF' SUDDEN RUIN
Walter Armanini, a city councilor, was en route to his Milan office on May 19, 1992 when his car phone range “There are people waiting for you at the office," said a colleague. "They won't give their names, and they won't go away." Armanini's first thought was that the strangers might be kidnappers. When the men introduced themselves as detectives, there to arrest him for soliciting $125,000 in kickbacks, Armanini, 56, knew his life would never be the same. He was permitted to return home and pack a bag. One of the arresting officers advised him to change out of the dark suit he was wearing: "You won't need it where you're headed."

Armanini's destination was Milan's San Vittore prison, which he had often passed without really looking at it. "I never thought about what happened inside," he says. "It wasn't a part of my world. Sometimes, out of superstition, I'd make a sign as I went past to ward off evil."

He found himself in evil's midst. He posed for mug shots, holding a number across his chest, and was fingerprinted. As he walked to his cell, there was a roar from the inmates. “They knew I'd been arrested, and they were laughing and shouting at me to stop stealing because there'd be nothing left for them."

Armanini was among the first to be arrested in Operation Clean Hands, a corruption probe that has swept up more than 2,500 members of Italy's business, political and government elite. The profound despair of facing ruin and imprisonment has led 12 of them to commit suicide, a reaction Armanini says he understands. Although he endured the humiliation of a televised trial and was sentenced to four years, the horror that stays with him most palpably is the 41 days he spent at San Vittore. "I can still smell the urine in the halls, hear the barking of the guard dogs outside, see the flash of the searchlight overhead," he says. "I just can't get those things out of my mind."

Re spent his first night in a 2-rn by 3-rn cell with a suspected murderer. "I felt so alone, so scared, as if I were already condemned to spend my life here," he recalls. "I wouldn't let myself think about my wife or my daughter. I didn't want even the thought of them to enter this place."

Transferred to the isolation ward after three days, he was already thinking like a prisoner. "I noticed that nothing they gave us could be used as a weapon. The dishes and spoons were plastic. The bed sheet was too flimsy to hang yourself. When we took exercise, it was in an area open to the wind, but there were bars overhead. The place was full of excrement from the dogs that barked all night and kept me awake Until 5."

At his trial, Armanini admitted to shaking down businessmen on behalf

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of the Socialist Party. "I never thought of it as illegal," he says. Now free, pending an~ appeal, he says he is frequently accosted on the street and called a thief. "I just want back the life I had," he says. Trapped in a nightmare he cannot escape, he yearns for a dream that cannot be.
132

POLLUTION (1)

Pollution has already become an international problem. Even countries with little industry have reason to be alarmed by the appalling situation. Industries and individuals dump waste materials into rivers, oceans, and even local water supplies. Farmers use chemical insecticides to protect their crops, but these chemicals, which remain in the soil and water for long periods of time, also endanger many other living things. Already, many species of plant and animal life face complete destruction. Their disappearance will harm others, as the natural food supply is reduced. This chain of events may ultimately result in a serious imbalance in nature which could endanger all living creatures, including man.