May 22, 1984

FOR sheer intellectual esoterica, nothing can top the limited engagement hit that is opening in Manhattan this week. Billed as the Town Hall of Science, this production will bring together 5,000 scientists and science buffs from around the country for a sometimes rowdy run of discussions, arguments and occasional protests involving hundreds of subjects ranging in importance from atomic weapons to U.F.O.'s. The session that officially begins Thursday is the 150th meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, whose theme this year is ''Science, Engineering, Technology, Education: Toward a World Perspective.'' While some scientific groups will begin meeting Wednesday, the main sessions of the association open Friday and continue through next Tuesday at the New York Hilton, Avenue of the Americas at 53d Street, and the Sheraton Centre, Seventh Avenue at 52d Street, where scores of meeting rooms have been reserved for participants. Registration for the sessions will be at the Hilton.

An obituary yesterday of Dr. Joseph Thomas Klapper, a researcher into the effects of television on behavior, gave an incorrect site for the funeral service. It will be held at 11:45 A.M. today at the Riverside Memorial Chapel, Amsterdam Avenue and 76th Street.

A RARE and dramatic solar eclipse that will cast its shadow on more of the United States than any other for a decade is only days away. Professional and amateur astronomers and eclipse buffs of every stripe who plan to move into the right place at the right time along a thin line from Louisiana to Virginia will catch a glimpse of the spectacular event on May 30. On that Wednesday, a ''diamond necklace'' of light will surround the dark moon as it passes directly in front of the sun. This narrow, bejeweled ring of light will be visible for only a few seconds, and then only to observers along a path a few miles wide. Careful viewers in New York and other areas outside this thin strip of land where the shadow will fall most directly can also witness the eclipse, although they will not be able to see the majestic ''diamond necklace.'' In New York, a partial eclipse will begin at 11:24 A.M., Eastern daylight time. By 12:55 P.M., at its maximum stage, 92 percent of the sun will be hidden and the city will be bathed in a strange orange light.

It was a ''desecration,'' according to Governor Cuomo, for reporters to attribute to A. J. Parkinson such aphorisms as, ''When in doubt, mull'' or ''Let them eat polenta.'' ''A. J. Parkinson never said those things,'' the Governor said. He knows, he said, as the world's leading Parkinson scholar. His counselor, Timothy J. Russert, said the Cuomo office had ''the world's only complete collection of Parkinson.''

Beatrice's bold move to acquire Esmark, if successful, would create ''a huge consumer company,'' said George Novello, an analyst at E. F. Hutton & Company. Combining Beatrice, which had $9.3 billion in sales in 1983, with Esmark's, which had $4.1 billion in sales, would result in a concern about the same size as the Procter & Gamble Company or the foreign giant Nestle S.A. Only the huge Unilever British-Dutch conglomerate would be significantly larger among consumer products companies. ''Even if they have to sell a lot of businesses to pay for Esmark, the Esmark food and personal-product businesses would add another $2.5 billion in sales,'' Mr. Novello said. The proposed merger would be a continuation in a series of changes taking place at Beatrice. For example, James L. Dutt, Beatrice's chairman, announced last winter that Beatrice was not simply a food concern. And in March the company said it would ask shareholders in June to change the corporate name, now the Beatrice Foods Company, to the Beatrice Companies. Beatrice has also embarked on a $29 million campaign to publicize its new image. The Esmark acquisition, analysts say, will move Beatrice faster toward its goals by enhancing Beatrice's national marketing and distribution, as well as adding nationally recognized brands.