Bulletin of the American Physical Society
2007 APS March Meeting
Volume 52, Number 1
Monday–Friday, March 5–9, 2007; Denver, Colorado
Session U20: History of Physics; General Physics |
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Sponsoring Units: FHP Chair: Catherine Westfall, Argonne National Laboratory Room: Colorado Convention Center 105 |
Thursday, March 8, 2007 8:00AM - 8:24AM |
U20.00001: Compartmentalization of Science, Power and Social Responsibility as exemplified in the life of J. Robert Oppenheimer. Willem Van De Merwe, Todd Ream Many biographies of J. Robert Oppenheimer have recently been published; each emphasizing some different aspects of his life. Physicists can learn much about physics in the early 1900s and about the practice of physics in society from these biographies. Oppenheimer, the ``father of the atomic bomb,'' seems to have struggled early in life with finding a framework for understanding himself and for finding guidance for making responsible decisions. In this paper, we will briefly consider his upbringing in the Ethical Cultural School, his studies in physics in Europe, passion for poetry, including the influence of the Bhagavad-Gita, and his initial sympathizing with left-wing political groups. In this context, we will consider whether a quality liberal arts education might help physics students formulate their framework to guide them throughout the course of their career in science. [Preview Abstract] |
Thursday, March 8, 2007 8:24AM - 8:48AM |
U20.00002: The English Revision of The Blegdamsvej Faust Karen Keck At the 1932 meeting of quantum physicists at Niels Bohr's Copenhagen Institute, participants staged an updated version of Goethe's Faust with Pauli tempting Ehrenfest to accept a chargeless, massless particle, then called the neutron. The most widely read translation of the anonymous Faust: Eine Historie appears in George Gamow's Thirty Years that Shook Physics; his second wife, Barbara, translated the text. Her work masterfully communicates the parallels between Goethe's original and the anonymous parody, but it also rearranges and adds to the parody to strengthen those similarities and to reflect George Gamow's views. The changes emphasize the international and cooperative aspects of physics. [Preview Abstract] |
Thursday, March 8, 2007 8:48AM - 9:12AM |
U20.00003: ABSTRACT WITHDRAWN |
Thursday, March 8, 2007 9:12AM - 9:36AM |
U20.00004: A 18$^{th}$ century thermometer recipe: The begin of experimental physics courses in Guadalajara, M\'{e}xico? Durruty Jesus de Alba Martinez As a part of the Special Funds Collection of the Jalisco's State Public Library ``Juan Jos\'{e} Arreola'' is a physics course manuscript attributed to Francisco Javier Clavigero s.j. (1731-1787), teacher at the Jesuit \textit{Colegio de Santo Tom\'{a}s} (a college-level institution in Guadalajara before the university opening), inside of the vellum bounded volume is a unbounded folio containing instructions on how to build a thermometer. In this work are discussed some evidences of the belonging of such folio to the manuscript in spite of their differences (it is written in Spanish not in Latin as the whole), we also describe the process to construct the thermometer and how could be the experimental part of the physics course. Also is briefly exposed the importance of the educational role of Clavigero as a builder of the concept of \textit{mexicanity}. [Preview Abstract] |
Thursday, March 8, 2007 9:36AM - 10:00AM |
U20.00005: Historical perspectives on respiratory fluid dynamics and flow phenomena deep in the lung Josue Sznitman, Akira Tsuda Next year marks 30 years since the first review on pulmonary fluid dynamics was published (TJ Pedley, \textit{Ann Rev Fluid Mech}, 1977). Since the early publications on flow resistance in airways (F Rohrer, Pflugers Arch, 1915), much research has been conducted to deepen our understanding on the role of flow convection in the lung. While many investigations have been aimed at elucidating the nature of airflow in the upper (nose, larynx) and conducting airways (trachea down to the 15$^{th}$ bifurcation generation of the airway tree), comparatively little effort has dealt with airflow in the deeper regions of the lung, characterized by 300 million pulmonary alveoli providing gas exchange with blood. For very long, it has been argued that airflow velocities in the alveolar region are negligible due to a large increase in the total cross-sectional area at that level. This is still reflected today in medical teaching. However, in the last 20 years, new theories have tackled the experimental observation of convective mixing of inhaled particles deep in the lung. These theories suggest that convective airflow in the alveolar region is indeed relevant. In particular, alveolar flows are much more complex than previously thought and may exhibit properties of chaotic flows. Such discoveries have led to a small revolution in our common understanding of respiratory flows deep in the lung. [Preview Abstract] |
Thursday, March 8, 2007 10:00AM - 10:12AM |
U20.00006: Sustainability and the Use of Non Renewable Resource, Australia as an Example Albert A. Bartlett A government minister in Australia writes that Australian coal will last ``110 years at present rates of production.'' (1) But production is growing 5\% per year, so the life expectancy will be less than 110 y. Assume production follows a Gaussian Hubbert curve. We can construct a family of curves for the future path of P(t) vs. t, each of which is consistent with the 110 y. This envelope of this family of curves divides the graph of P(t) vs. t into allowed and forbidden areas. The curve with the current value of dP/dt is then the most probable future path of P(t). The curve reaches a maximum and then rapidly declines to zero. Australia's growing population and these Hubbert curves combine to indicate frightening non-sustainability. Sustainability requires a curve of P(t) that declines exponentially with k = (1/110) per y.(2) \newline (1) Ian Macfarlane, World Energy, V.8, 112-117, 2005 \newline (2) A.A. Bartlett, Am.J.Phys., V.54, 398-402, 1986 [Preview Abstract] |
Thursday, March 8, 2007 10:12AM - 10:24AM |
U20.00007: Dynamics of the 1,n compound pendulum John Starrett, John Korbin We analyze the motion of the $1,n$ compound pendulum, that is, a pendulum system with one upper and $n$ lower pendula. In contrast to the more well known $1,1$ pendulum (the double pendulum), the $1,n$ pendulum exhibits an exchange of energy between the lower pendula, which can lead to bursts of over-the-top motion for one or more of the lower pendula as their energy is suddenly pumped up from a lower energy state. The $1,n$ systems can exhibit chaotic dynamics, but as $n \rightarrow \infty$, the motion of the upper pendulum approaches zero and the lower pendula become independent of each other, and the system ceases to be chaotic. [Preview Abstract] |
Thursday, March 8, 2007 10:24AM - 10:36AM |
U20.00008: ABSTRACT WITHDRAWN |
Thursday, March 8, 2007 10:36AM - 10:48AM |
U20.00009: myADS-arXiv: A fully customized, open access virtual journal Michael Kurtz, Guenther Eichhorn, Edwin Henneken, Alberto Accomazzi, Carolyn Grant, Donna Thompson, Elizabeth Bohlen, Stephen Murray {\bf myADS-arXiv} is a collaboration of the Astrophysics Data System group at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatroy and the arXiv group at Cornell University. The {\bf myADS-arXiv} service provides a listing of those articles in physics or astronomy which have been posted in the last week which are of most interest to you. In essence {\bf myADS-arXiv} is a free, weekly, fully customized (for each individual user) open access virtual journal which covers the most important, most recent papers in physics and astronomy. {\bf myADS-arXiv} follows the same format as the existing {\bf myADS-Astronomy} and {\bf myADS-Physics} notification services. These services provide access to the most interesting (to you) recent journal articles in physics and astronomy. These are done in collaboration with nearly every publisher of physics or astronomy journals, including APS, AIP, AAS, RAS, IoP, EDP, World Scientific, Wiley, Springer, and Elsevier. [Preview Abstract] |
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