Bulletin of the American Physical Society
2005 APS March Meeting
Monday–Friday, March 21–25, 2005; Los Angeles, CA
Session L19: History of Physics |
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Sponsoring Units: FHP Chair: Nina Byers, UCLA Room: LACC 406B |
Tuesday, March 22, 2005 2:30PM - 2:54PM |
L19.00001: Physics at Fisk University Ronald Mickens Fisk University was chartered in 1866 to educate former slaves at the end of the civil war. The physics department was started in 1931 under the chairmanship of Dr. Elmer Imes, Fisk 1903, a research physicist in the field of infrared (IR) spectroscopy. After Imes' death in 1941, one of his early physics majors, James Lawson, became chair and soon obtained a research IR instrument from the University of Michigan. By the early 1950's Fisk's IR research findings began to be published in the scientific journals and Fisk graduate students began to read the results of their M.A. thesis at the meeting of the Southeastern Section of the American Physical Society (SESAPS). This active participation in SESAPS in the mid-1950's was the impetus which caused SESAPS to switch its meetings from segregated to unsegregated facilities. During the next four decades physics at Fisk University expanded to include the annual Fisk Infrared Institute (FIRI) and the formation of strong research collaborations with Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Vanderbilt University, Bordeaux University (France), and NASA. Our presentation will expand on these issues and also include a discussion of the ``McCarthyite Problem'' of the mid-fifties as it impacted both Fisk University and the physics department. [Preview Abstract] |
Tuesday, March 22, 2005 2:54PM - 3:18PM |
L19.00002: Atempts to link Quanta \& Atoms before the Bohr Atom model A. Venkatesan, M. Lieber Attempts to quantize atomic phenomena before Bohr are hardly ever mentioned in elementary textbooks.This presentation will elucidate the contributions of A.Haas around 1910. Haas tried to quantize the Thomson atom model as an optical resonator made of positive and negative charges. The inherent ambiguity of charge distribution in the model made him choose a positive spherical distribution around which the electrons were distributed.He obtained expressions for the Rydberg constant and what is known today as the Bohr radius by balancing centrifugal energy with Coulomb energy and quantizing it with Planck's relation $E=h\nu$. We point out that Haas would have arrived at better estimates of these constants had he used the virial theorem apart from the fact that the fundamental constants were not well known. The crux of Haas's physical picture was to derive Planck's constant h from charge quantum $e$ , mass of electron $m$ and atomic radius. Haas faced severe criticism for applying thermodynamic concepts like Planck distribution to microscopic phenomena. We will try to give a flavor for how quantum phenomena were viewed at that time. It is of interest to note that the driving force behind Haas's work was to present a paper that would secure him a position as a Privatdozent in History of Physics. We end with comments by Bohr and Sommerfeld on Haas's work and with some brief biographical remarks. [Preview Abstract] |
Tuesday, March 22, 2005 3:18PM - 3:42PM |
L19.00003: Personal Recollections of Albert Einstein Steven Moszkowski My grandparents were good friends of Albert Einstein in Berlin. Later my parents also were on friendly terms with him. I had the opportunity to meet Einstein four times after my parents and I came to the United States in 1940. My parents and I, on occasion, had correspondence with Einstein and took a few photos of him. Albert Einstein had considerable influence on my development and style of doing physics, as I will discuss. [Preview Abstract] |
Tuesday, March 22, 2005 3:42PM - 4:06PM |
L19.00004: Ugo Fano, Enrico Fermi, and spectral line shapes Charles W. Clark Ugo Fano's 1961 paper on spectral line shapes$^1$ was recently ranked as the third highest in citation impact of all papers published in the entire Physical Review series.$^2$ In the course of preparing an article for a NIST Centennial volume,$^3$ I became interested in the history of the results presented in Fano’s seminal paper, and will present my findings in this talk. An amusing sidelight concerns the role played by Enrico Fermi in the development of the famous ``Fano profile'' formula. I had been told this story by Fano when I was his graduate student, but uncertain of my recollection of the details, I did not publish it in his obituary.$^4$ I later learned that the archives of the Royal Society of London contain Fano's own written version of the tale, which will be presented in this talk. The story sheds light on the nature of Enrico Fermi's interactions with his students, and confirms accounts concerning the way in which he did his theoretical work.$^5$ \\ $^1$ U. Fano,``Effects of Configuration Interaction on Intensities and Phase Shifts,'' {\em Phys. Rev.} {\bf 124}, 1866-1878 (1961)\\ $^2$ S. Redner, physics/0407137 (2004)\\ $^3$ http://nvl.nist.gov/pub/nistpubs/sp958-lide/116-119.pdf\\ $^4$ C. W. Clark, {\em Nature} {\bf 410}, 164 (2001)\\ $^5$ F. Rasetti, in {\em Collected Papers, vol. I}, E. Fermi (University of Chicago Press, 1962), p. 178 \\ [Preview Abstract] |
Tuesday, March 22, 2005 4:06PM - 4:30PM |
L19.00005: Citation Statistics From More Than a Century of Physical Review Sidney Redner The statistics of citations from all Physical Review journals for the 110-year period 1893 until 2003 are studied. Basic properties of the citation distribution are discussed. It is found that the growth of citations is consistent with linear preferential attachment. The time evolution of citations are also investigated. There is a positive correlation between the number of citations to a paper and the average age of citations. Citations from a publication have an exponentially decaying age distribution; that is, old papers tend to not get cited. In contrast, citations to a publication are consistent with a power-law age distribution, with an exponent close to -1 over a time range of 2-20 years. Finally, strong bursts of citations, as well as other dramatic features in the time history of citations to individual publications, are identified. [Preview Abstract] |
Tuesday, March 22, 2005 4:30PM - 4:54PM |
L19.00006: Sarah Frances Whiting: Foremother of American Women Physicists Frieda Stahl Sarah Frances Whiting taught physics and astronomy at Wellesley College for 40 years. After receiving her A.B. degree in 1864, she taught math and classics at a girls' secondary school, and independently studied the science that had attracted her interest. Named to the faculty of Wellesley before its opening in 1876, she attended MIT as an unenrolled guest and observed Edward Pickering's work in establishing the first instructional labs in the U.S. She established the second, which were the first for women students, on returning to Wellesley in 1878. In 1879 she began teaching astronomy also, and built both departments and programs. Rather than celestial observation, she emphasized photometry and spectroscopy. She was instrumental in procuring support for a college observatory, completed and dedicated in 1900, which she directed until her retirement in 1916. Tufts awarded her an honorary Sc.D. in 1905. [Preview Abstract] |
Tuesday, March 22, 2005 4:54PM - 5:18PM |
L19.00007: A half-century ago physicists missed a major public service opportunity, costing the human race widespread chronic illness and many deaths! Marjorie Lundquist Radar$-$pulsed microwave (MW) radiation$-$helped the Allies win World War II but health concerns soon arose. Alerted to a syndrome resembling {\it mild radiation poisoning},$^1$ a worried M.D. surveyed radar-exposed workers, finding a high incidence of internal bleeding, 2 leukemia cases in 600 radar operators, 2 brain tumor cases in a 5-man MW research team and many complaints of headache. He sent his report$^2$ to the Pentagon in 1953. Alarmed Navy officers convened a meeting$^3$ [mostly of electrical engineers (EEs)] to identify a safe level of MW exposure for servicemen. Biophysicist Herman Schwan attended, playing a major role in establishing 10 mW/cm$^2$ as a {\it thermally safe} MW exposure limit. The IEEE became sole sponsor of ANSI C95 [an early health standard for radiofrequency (RF) exposure] with {\it negative long-term consequences for human health!} I review RF health standards development since 1953, comparing what physicists might have done, had {\it they}$-$not EEs$-$had this responsibility! [See also my technical abstract.] $^1$ N.H. Steneck, {\bf The Microwave Debate}, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1984; p. 33. $^2$ J.T. McLaughlin, {\bf A Study of Possible Health Hazards from Exposure to Microwave Radiation} (Hughes Aircraft, Culver City CA, Feb. 9, 1953). $^3$ {\bf Biological Effects of Microwaves}, meeting minutes (Navy Dept. Conference, Naval Medical Research Institute, Bethesda MD, Apr. 29, 1953). [Preview Abstract] |
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L19.00008: History of the Wave Structure of Matter (WSM) Milo Wolff, Geoff Haselhurst The puzzling structure of the electron is due to the belief that it is a discrete particle. Einstein deduced this impossible since Nature's properties do not match the discrete particle. Clifford, 1876, rejected discrete matter and suggested a WSM. Schroedinger, 1937, proposed to eliminate discrete particles writing: \textit {What we observe as material bodies and forces are nothing but shapes and variations in the structure of space. Particles are just schaumkommen}(appearances). Mach's principle of inertia, 1883, first recognized a role of the space medium. Theory was developed by Milo Wolff, 1990-04, and Geoff Haselhurst (SpaceAndMotion.com) using the Scalar Wave Equation to find solutions that form a quantum-wave structure with all the electron's properties plus the Schroedinger Equation. Carver Mead, 1999, applied the WSM to design Intel micro-chips correcting errors of Maxwell's magnetic Equations. New applications of the WSM are concerned with matter at molecular dimensions: nanotechnology, new alloys and catalysts, the mechanisms of biology and medicine, molecular computers and memories. [Preview Abstract] |
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