Can firewire peripheral (ex hard drive) connect to macbook usb port?

i have a new macbook and an old external hard drive.  the hd is firewire only and the mac is usb only.  how can i get data off hard drive and onto mac?

Because Firewire and USB are different protocols you can't just use a cable with firewire on one end and usb on the other.  You can get a break-out box that converts data between firewire and usb, but they are expensive and you'll only use it this once.
If you have another Mac or PC with firewire then connect the hard drive to that machine and set up file sharing between the 2 machines and copy across the network, or use target disk mode if it's a Mac.
If this isn't possible the next easiest thing to do is to remove the hard drive from the chassis, have a look at what type connector is on the hard drive (if it's an old hard drive it will probably be IDE) and go out and buy a simple IDE to USB hard drive enclosure, fit the hard drive, then you will be able to access the data.
You can pick up a chassis for under £5 nowadays, so it's a cheap solution as well!
HTH

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