Charm quark fragmentation is studied in e[superscript]+ e[superscript]- annihilation at a center of mass energy of 29 GeV using the time-projection-chamber (TPC) detector at the SLAC storage ring PEP. The polarization of the D[superscript]* +, the energy dependency of the polarization, and the spin density matrix of D[superscript]* + are measured. In 147pb[superscript]-1 of data we see no evidence for polarization, alignment, or final state interaction in this fragmentation process;As a part of elementary particle detector improvement efforts a Radial Drift Chamber (RDC) has been built and studied. The RDC features the use of induced signals on the pickup wires, and wave form sampling to reconstruct tracks through avalanche localization of the radically drifted electrons in dimethyl ether. ftn*This work was performed at Ames Laboratory under contract No. W-7405-Eng-82 with the U.S. Department of Energy. The United States government has assigned the DOE Report number IS-T-1396 to this thesis
