January 27, 1981

A pharmacist testified today in Westchester County Court that Dr. Herman Tarnower was prescribing a variety of stimulants, depressants and painkillers to Jean S. Harris, who is accused of his murder, for two years prior to the shooting. The pharmacist, Joseph Eisenberg, said that Mrs. Harris picked up the medication each time and that 13 of the 17 prescriptions offered into evidence between Aug. 21, 1977 and Sept. 1, 1979, were ''controlled substances,'' or strong enough to come under state control. Mr. Eisenberg, of Vexler's Pharmacy in White Plains, was not asked about the quantities but said that 10 of the prescriptions were for Desoxyn, which he described as an methamphetamine, or stimulant. The seven others were for Percobarb, a sedative; Percodan, a heavy painkiller; Plexonal, a depressant; Valium, a tranquilizer, and Nembutal, a sleeping pill.

A decision by the Reagan Administration to lift remaining controls on the price and allocation of petroleum is ''fairly imminent,'' David A. Stockman, director-designate of the Office of Management and Budget, said today. The move is expected to raise within weeks the price of gasoline and heating oil by perhaps 5 to 10 cents a gallon, according to independent analysts. But the impact on consumers would be limited because under existing legislation controls were scheduled to expire Sept. 30, resulting in similar price rises then. The comment by Mr. Stockman, confirmed by a well-placed Department of Energy source, was the strongest indication so far that controls, which limit the retail price of gasoline and propane and the price that producers can charge for several categories of crude oil, would be ended in the next few days. The controls were imposed more than nine years ago; the decontrol process has been under way since April 1979.

WASHINGTON WHEN the Soviet Union sent a new science attache to its embassy here recently, President Carter's science adviser refused to receive him for the customary get-acquainted chat. The attache, Dr. Igor M. Makarov, ultimately met informally with the adviser, Dr. Frank Press, at private parties and he says, with a sly grin, that there are ''no bad feelings.'' This year, too, for the first time in 15 years, Dr. Urie Bronfenbrenner, the child development expert at Cornell, failed to get any New Year's greetings from his many Russian colleagues. These two episodes - and others - are indicative of the frosty scientific contacts that now exist between the world's two largest technological powers. The breakdown of what was once a cordial relationship started about a year ago, the result of both the tension between the United States and the Soviet Union over the latter's invasion of Afghanistan and by revulsion among American scientists over Russian treatment of Andrei D. Sakharov and other dissidents.

Gold and silver prices plunged yesterday as traders reacted to comments by President Reagan and Paul A. Volcker, chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, indicating they would like to see gold prices move sharply lower. Their comments were made during a meeting last Friday at which both agreed that lower gold prices would lessen inflationary expectations and bolster the dollar. Although the meeting did not produce any specific measures to achieve a lower gold price, many traders reacted by selling bullion yesterday. ''The implied unity of views between the White House and the Fed sank in over the weekend, during which the selling pressure mounted,'' said James E. Sinclair, who heads a major brokerage house specializing in precious metals that bears his name.

The board of the Atlantic Richfield Company yesterday named William F. Kieschnick president and chief operating officer amid indications that he might be just as unconventional as Thornton F. Bradshaw, his predecessor, who ignored industry dogma on issues such as the ''windfall'' profits tax. Mr. Bradshaw, who is 63 years old, was named chairman of the RCA Corporation over the weekend. Mr. Kieschnick disclosed in a wide-ranging interview yesterday a number of diverse aspects of his life, such as that his politics tended to be ''maverick independent'' and that he enjoyed a whirl on the disco dance floor. He indicated strongly that he viewed his new job as an opportunity to make major changes in a company that has so far largely been the creation of two men, Mr. Bradshaw and Robert O. Anderson, Arco's chairman. ''I don't think you ever finish designing a company,'' Mr. Kieschnick said. ''You better never slow down.'' Mr. Kieschnick, who is 58 years old, has been vice chairman at Arco for the past two years. He was an executive vice president before that.