May 2001 NEWS Volume 10, No. 5 A Publication of The American Physical Society http://www.aps.org/apsnews

Woodstock West: Celebrating March Meeting Prize and Award Recipients

the New MgB2 Superconductors The excitement was palpable in the Media on page 2). Jun high temperature superconduc- in the Grand Ballroom at the Akimitsu’s research group at tors that Akimitsu’s group made the Westin Hotel in Seattle on Mon- Aoyama-Gakuin University in To- startling discovery that the com- day night, March 12, as kyo were attempting to make a pound had a transition physicists, attending the APS chemical analogue of CaB6, a semi- temperature of about 39K. The March Meeting from around the conducting material that becomes previous highest transition tem- world, gathered for a mammoth ferromagnetic, like iron, when perature for a metallic technical session discussing superconductor — niobium Photo by William Stickney the discovery and subse- tin — was 20K. Akimitsu’s Front row (l to r): Steven Oliver, Jacob Krich, Victor Emery, Mildred Dresselhaus quent experimental results group and several others (standing), Heather Lynch, Masao Doi. Back row: W. E. Moerner, Louis Brus, on the newly discovered su- have already begun to explore Donald Eigler, Arthur Gossard, Henry Glyde, Lewis Edelheit, James Faller, perconducting compound whether it may be possible to Klaus Schmidt-Rohr, Ellen Williams, Bertrand Halperin. Not shown: Vladimir magnesium diboride (MgB2), raise the superconducting Arnol’d, Alan Luther. first discovered less than transition temperature of

two months ago in a labora- MgB2 further by lacing the tory in Japan. Speakers flew compound with other ele- in from Japan, Korea, Swit- ments. MgB Session Hits the Web

Photo by Antonio Bianconi 2 zerland, Italy, Britain, China, “Discovery of supercon- Over a thousand people packed transparencies were digitally enhanced France, the Netherlands and Jun Akimitsu makes a point as session co-chair John ductivity at 39K in the simple into the Grand Ballroom of the Westin and were correlated with the various Germany, in addition to nu- Clarke looks on. hexagonal diboride com- Hotel in Seattle when the APS March- talks. With the aid of special software, merous speakers from the US. A doped with a small amount of elec- pound MgB proves that there are 2 Meeting post-deadline session on APS information technology special- total of 79 ultra-short (2-minute) trons. They tried to replace calcium still remarkable scientific sur- Magnesium Diboride (MgB ) began at ists then synchronized the papers were presented, with the with magnesium, which is directly prises,” says J.D. Jorgensen of 2 8 pm on March 12. Interest was in- transparencies with the audio tapes, session running past one the fol- above it in the periodic table. One Argonne National Laboratory. tense, although the crowd had using the video tape as reference. lowing morning. It was quickly of their starting materials was From a physics standpoint, the dwindled to perhaps a couple of The result of these efforts was dubbed “Woodstock West,” in MgB , a common compound chief interest in the compound is 2 hundred when the 79th and final pa- posted on the APS web site (http:// memory of the so-called known since 1953, which had been the possibility that the old BCS per was presented at about 1:15 am. www.aps.org) in batches as the talks “Woodstock of Physics” at the overlooked by physicists for de- theory, which has proven useful for In addition to the physicists in the became ready. All the talks were avail- 1987 APS March Meeting where cades in the search for new low temperature metallic materi- audience and at the podium, a team of able by March 30. A visitor to the the discovery of high-tempera- superconductors. “It’s just that als but not for the higher APS staff members was ensconced at a site who has the appropriate ture superconductivity was first nobody bothered to cool it down temperature ceramic materials, special table in the front of the room, RealPlayer software can now click on announced. and measure its superconducting might still be relevant at 40K, frantically collecting transparencies a particular talk, see an abstract, and Like many historical break- properties,” says David Cardwell of where the MgB materials become 2 from the speakers who careened off listen to the audio, with the relevant throughs in science, the compound’s Cambridge University. superconducting. “How much this the podium at the rate of one every 3 transparencies popping onto the moni- discovery was partially serendipi- It was while routinely mea- discovery changes the path of ma- minutes, and then photographing the tor just when the speaker would tous (although this was not the view suring the properties of MgB terials physics depends on whether 2 transparencies with a digital camera. have placed them on the overhead of the discoverers—see Members before using it as a dopant in See MGB2 on page 6 Meanwhile, in the back of the room, projector at the meeting. “This comes an audio-visual technician was record- close to reproducing the experience ing the session both on video tape and of someone in the audience,” said Jim APS Responds as Visa Problems Rise on digital audio tapes. All of this Egan, APS Senior Systems Analyst, If the number of calls for help with the visa office of the host in- Lerch points to several possible fac- information was transported back who spearheaded the information- received by the APS International stitution and don’t be afraid to dig tors. A major one is lack of adequate to APS headquarters in College technology part of the effort. Affairs office is any guide, more and into http://www.travel.state.gov/ staff at some of the busiest consu- Park, MD where the images of the See WEB SESSION on page 7 more physicists abroad are being visa_services.html which contains lates abroad. He cites one consulate frustrated in their attempts to get more than enough information on which employs seven principal for- A Call to Action the visas they need to pursue col- visas to occupy the mordant curi- eign service officers, 270 local service HIGHLIGHTS laborations or attend meetings in osity of any concerned colleague.” staff, and 270 support personnel on Nanotech the United States. When asked to explain the dra- assigned in Washington, DC, to Board and Council According to Irving Lerch, Direc- matic increase in visa problems, See VISA on page 7 Initiative Minutes Now on tor of International Affairs, the office 2 the Web is handling between three and five Announced by then-President requests a week, many from physi- Physics Teachers Gather at March Meeting Clinton in January 2000, the National Broad or Narrow? cists on the “sensitive countries” list Nanotechnology Initiative has en- Members Debate APS 3 Meeting Structure like India, China and Russia, whereas joyed strong federal support and a year ago the number might have funding in the first one year of its been one or two a month. While the existence. However, the fledgling APS is often successful in interced- program could be in jeopardy be- ing with consular officials with cause of expected decreases in supporting information and clarifi- funding for FY2002, according to cations, Lerch cautions that it is the three speakers at a special crucial for potential hosts to get in- evening session on the topic at the volved. Helping with the proper APS March Meeting in Seattle. Par- documentation is of course essential, ticipating in the session were: Mildred Dresselhaus, former Director of the ZERO GRAVITY but it is also necessary to learn about The art of earthquakes some of the more common impedi- Office of Science at DOE, who has 5 ments to granting visas imposed by the since returned to her professorship law and various regulations. Edward Lee/APS at MIT; Lance Haworth of NSF; and THE BACK PAGE “The State Department has a web Bill Keller, a Washington state high school physics teacher, observes an image James Murday of the Department of James S. Langer on site with a great deal of informa- under the watchful eye of Lezlie DeWater from the Physics Education Group of Defense. A theme common to all the 8 “A call for major tion and each major consulate also the University of Washington. This activity was part of a workshop on teaching talks was the need for action on the reform of APS meetings” physics by inquiry, conducted by Lillian McDermott, the leader of this group. has a web site,” he says. “Check See NANOTECH on page 7 2 May 2001 NEWS

Board and Council Minutes Now This Month in Physics History on the Web May 1609: Galileo First Hears About the Telescope Recent Executive Board and Council meeting minutes are now available on a new section of the APS web site, accessible to all Galileo Galilei is justly known design. He presented an members who have an APS Member Web for many contributions to sci- eight-powered instru- Account (members who don’t have one can ence, as well as for his ment to the Venetian easily set one up by visiting the site). A persecution and confinement Senate in August, and was permanent link to the Meeting Minutes site under the Inquisition. But rewarded with a dou- can be found from the APS Governance Page among his most memorable bling of his salary and at http://www.aps.org/exec. achievements is his adaptation lifetime tenure at the Uni- In the January 2001 issue of APS News, APS President George Trilling of a novel instrument, the tele- versity of Padua. By late stated, “I believe that it is extremely important that our members be well scope, with which he observed October, he had com- informed about the many activities of their Society,” and added that the the Moon, discovered four sat- pleted a twenty-powered APS web site should play a major role in providing information to APS ellites of Jupiter, resolved nebular telescope, which is when members. Making the minutes available is one way of realizing this presi- patches into stars, and observed he first turned it to the dential initiative, says Ken Cole, who, in his role as Administrator of the phases of Venus. In the pro- heavens to observe celes- Governing Committees is responsible for preparing the minutes and for cess, he helped lead a revolution tial bodies. posting them on the Web. “We hope our members will take advantage of in cosmology—along with his fel- Galileo initially used this new way to learn about Society affairs,” he added. low astronomers—that the instrument for a se- conclusively toppled the tradi- ries of observations of tional Aristotelian model in the Moon, which neared favor of the Copernican system. completion at the end of “Members in the Media” Historians generally agree that 1609, when Jupiter was The telescope; inset of Galileo Galilei. the telescope originated in the Neth- at opposition and closest to the planetary bodies that revolved “We believe there is a revolution going on at the nanoscale” erlands, with two simultaneous Earth, and hence the brightest ob- around Jupiter. The planet had —David Tomanek, Michigan State University, speaking about nanotubes, patent applications appearing in ject in the evening sky, apart from four moons—strong support for NY Times, March 27, 2001 ✶✶✶ October 1608; a third inventor ap- the Moon itself. After making the Copernican theory. He pub- parently developed a telescope necessary adjustments, he began lished this groundbreaking “The fluctuations are much bigger than one would naively think. I am around the same time and at- observing the planet, noting on 7 observation in his book, Sidereus confidently making a bet that quantum foam will be detected.” tempted to sell it at the Frankfurt January 1610 that Jupiter appeared Nuncius, which appeared in —Jack Ng, University of North Carolina, NY Times, March 29, 2001 ✶✶✶ Fair. These designs consisted of a to have three fixed stars nearby. In- Venice in the middle of March convex and concave lense in a trigued, he returned to the planet 1610, guaranteeing his fame and “...extremely hard to analyze, extremely hard to predict” tube, able to magnify objects by the following evening, expecting ensuring his place in scientific —Sidney Perkowitz, Emory University, on the physics of foam two or three times their original the then-retrograde planet to have history. (not quantum foam), Seattle Post-Intelligencer, March 12, 2001 ✶✶✶ size. The news of the invention moved from east to west, leaving Following the publication of spread rapidly throughout Eu- the three little stars behind. In- the Sidereus Nuncius, Galileo con- “We are convinced that SQUIDs can provide unique and useful rope, and samples of the device stead, Jupiter seemed to have tinued to make observations of information about hidden corrosion activity even if they are restricted to soon followed. By April 1609, citi- moved to the east — an interesting celestial objects. In July 1610, the laboratory.” zens could purchase anomaly. he first remarked on the strange —John Wikswo, Vanderbilt University, three-powered spyglasses in lo- Puzzled by the planet’s behav- appearances of Saturn, which United Press International, March 14, 2001 ✶✶✶ cal spectacle makers’ shops in ior, Galileo returned to the sometimes seemed to be oval, Paris; within four months, they formation repeatedly, observing sometimes two lateral bodies, “The reason we want to fly an airplane on Venus is because it would be were also available in Italy. several key details. First, the little and at other times solitary and way cool.” News of this marvelous new stars never left Jupiter, but ap- perfectly spherical—another —Geoffrey Landis, NASA Glenn Research Center, instrument for “seeing faraway peared to be carried along with the puzzling enigma. By December, Albuquerque Journal, February 18, 2001 things as though nearby” planet. Second, as they were car- he was able to verify the obser- And now, some quotes in connection with the new metallic reached Galileo in May 1609, ried along, they changed their vations of other astronomers that superconductor MgB (see story on page 1). All from the 2 and he quickly duplicated the position with respect to each other Venus has phases similar to the Associated Press, March 13, 2001: invention and constructed his and to Jupiter. Finally, there were Moon, providing additional proof “It’s just been downright screaming fun.” own three-powered telescope four of these little stars. By the 15th that Venus orbits the Sun, in con- —Paul Canfield, Iowa State University that summer, then set about of January, he concluded the ob- formance with the Copernican “People are working all hours, weekends. It’s ideas now, and making improvements in the jects were not fixed stars, but System. experimentation and new things coming all the time” The product of craftsmen, —David Larbalestier, University of Wisconsin A Typical Galilean Telescope rather than an invention of sci- “Magnesium and boron are all over the earth, and they’re cheap as entists, the telescope nonetheless hell” Galileo’s famous telescope for observing Jupiter’s moons had a enjoys an important place in his- —Paul Grant, Electric Power Research Institute convex lens with a focal length of about 30-40 inches and a concave tory as the prototype of modern “Everyone could kick themselves. All those metallurgists work with ocular lens of about 2 inches, contained in a little tube that could be scientific instruments. The obser- very exotic materials. And now, you can buy this stuff off the shelf.” adjusted for focusing. The instrument’s magnification was between 15 vations made by Galileo and his —Brian Schwartz, City University of New York. and 20, and the aperture of the convex lens was 0.5 to 1 inch, yielding scientific colleagues revealed hith- “Sometimes our biases can get us into a lot of trouble, and scientific a field of view of about 15 inches in 100 yards (i.e., 15 arc-minutes). erto unsuspected phenomena in bias was probably what prevented this discovery” This small field of view meant that only a quarter of the full Moon could the heavens and had a profound —James Jorgensen, Argonne National Laboratory be accommodated. However, the Galilean telescope could be used for impact on the 17th century con- “To the lay person, this seems like a low temperature, but to the scientific terrestrial and celestial observations interchangeably, unlike the astro- troversy between followers of community it’s really not that low.” nomical telescope described by Johannes Kepler in 1611, which the traditional geocentric as- —Robert Cava, Princeton University employed both a convex objective and a convex ocular, resulting in an tronomy and those who favored “My years of struggling, step by step, and finally I got it. It was never inverted image. the heliocentric system of serendipitous.” —Adapted primarily from information provided by The Galileo Copernicus. —Jun Akimitsu, Aoyama-Gaikun University Project (http://es.rice.edu/ES/humsoc/Galileo)

Series II, Vol. 10, No. 5 Physical Society, One Physics Ellipse, College Park, Treasurer Lubkin* (Forum on History of Physics), Stuart Wolf May 2001 MD 20740-3844, [email protected]. Thomas McIlrath*, University of Maryland (emeritus) (Forum on Industrial and Applied Physics), Ed Gerjuoy NEWS © 2001 The American Physical Society Editor-in-Chief (Forum on Physics and Society), Carl Lineberger (Laser For Nonmembers—Circulation and Fulfillment Martin Blume*, Brookhaven National Laboratory Science), G. Slade Cargill, III (Materials), John D. Coden: ANWSEN ISSN: 1058-8132 Division, American Institute of Physics, Suite 1NO1, (emeritus) Walecka (Nuclear), Sally Dawson, Peter Meyers 2 Huntington Quadrangle, Melville, NY 11747- Past-President (Particles & Fields), Alexander Chao (Physics of Editor ...... Alan Chodos 4502. Allow at least 6 weeks advance notice. For James Langer*, University of California, Santa Barbara Beams), Richard Hazeltine (Plasma), Timothy P. Associate Editor ...... Jennifer Ouellette address changes, please send both the old and new Lodge (Polymer), Kannan Jagannathan, (New addresses, and, if possible, include a mailing label General Councillors England), Joe Hamilton (Southeastern) Special Publications Manager ...... Elizabeth Buchan-Higgins from a recent issue. Requests from subscribers for Jonathan A. Bagger, Beverly Berger, Philip Bucksbaum*, * Members of the APS Executive Board Design and Production ...... Alicia Chang missing issues will be honored without charge only L. Craig Davis, Stuart Freedman, Leon Lederman*, Proofreaders ...... Ken Cole and Edward Lee if received within 6 months of the issue’s actual date Cynthia McIntyre, Margaret Murnane, Cherry Ann ADVISORS APS News (ISSN: 1058-8132) is published 11X News should be directed to: Editor, APS News, One of publication. Periodical Postage Paid at College Murray, Roberto Peccei, Philip Phillips, Helen Quinn*, Representatives from Other Societies yearly, monthly, except the August/September Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20749-3844, Email: Park, MD and at additional mailing offices. Jin-Joo Song, James Trefil John Hubisz, AAPT; Marc Brodsky, AIP issue, by the American Physical Society, One [email protected]. Postmaster: Send address changes to APS News, International Advisors Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740-3844, Membership Department, American Physical Society, Chair, Nominating Committee Gordon Drake, Canadian Association of Physicists, (301) 209-3200. It contains news of the Society Subscriptions: APS News is an on-membership One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740-3844. Curtis G. Callan, Jr. Dr. Gerardo C. Puente, Mexican Physical Society and of its Divisions, Topical Groups, Sections publication delivered by Periodical Mail. Members Chair, Panel on Public Affairs and Forums; advance information on meetings residing abroad may receive airfreight delivery for a APS COUNCIL 2001 William R. Frazer Staff Representatives of the Society; and reports to the Society by its fee of $15. Nonmembers: Subscription rates are: President Alan Chodos, Associate Executive Officer; Irving Lerch, committees and task forces, as well as opinions. domestic $105; Canada, Mexico, Central and South George H. Trilling*, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Division, Forum and Section Councillors Director of International Affairs; Fredrick Stein, Director America, and Caribbean $105; Air Freight Europe, President-Elect Steven Holt* (Astrophysics), Harold Metcalf (Atomic, of Education and Outreach; Robert L. Park, Director, Letters to the editor are welcomed from the Asia, Africa and Oceania $120. William F. 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Franz*, University of Alabama, Huntsville (on leave) Dynamics), James Wynne (Forum on Education), Gloria Stephens, Controller and Assistant Treasurer NEWS May 2001 3 Tackling Issues of the Disabled Head-On When Noah Hershkowitz, a pro- Disabilities (see August/September for disabled persons in more long- Broad or Narrow? fessor at the University of Wisconsin 2000 APS News); both Hershkowitz term, even creative ways. “I would (and an APS fellow), attends a scien- and Siegal are members. The task like to think that the Society’s mem- Members Debate APS tific conference, the first challenge force has already suggested a list bers would deploy their skills to he encounters is the hotel. of the most common deficiencies address issues of people with dis- Meeting Structure Hershkowitz suffers from multiple in hotels and conference centers, abilities,” says Siegal. “The scientific sclerosis and is wheelchair-bound, and is hopeful that with the strong and technological community can Editor’s note: This is the first of declined in recent years, with and invariably ends up having to ask support of the APS and other have a huge impact on the lives of two articles by Jordan Raddick on particular restrictions affecting hotel staff to make numerous ac- professional organizations, hotels people with disabilities, not just by “centrifugal forces” within the APS. DOE grants that fund partici- commodations, from removing extra will be encouraged to improve in being attuned to their own students This article concentrates on the dy- pants at the April meeting (see furniture or a bathroom and co-workers, but by namics of APS society-wide and APS News, April 2000). door to allow access of recognizing problems for divisional meetings. Next month’s will The meeting is now too small his wheelchair, to adding which technological solu- look at the dynamics that leads to to take up an entire convention an extra grab bar in the tions are the best ones.” the formation of new divisions and center. “If you have a convention bathroom, or temporary For example, Siegal topical groups. center, but you don’t need a con- ramp at the front en- points out that advances APS sponsors two general vention center, that creates an trance to enable him to in medicine and micro- meetings a year, and many of the expense,” Franz said. As a result navigate the steps to the processor technology Society’s divisions hold their own of this expense, the meeting has lobby. have enabled implanta- separate meetings as well. Out- been in financial straits three of While the regular tion in the retina of going APS President James the past four years. To reduce sessions at a recent devices to assist those Langer, writing in the Back Page expenses and to more accurately meeting in New Orleans with visual impairments. of this month’s APS News, fears conform to the size of the gath- proved reasonably ac- His fellow task force that the increasing number of ering, the 2001 meeting was held cessible to him, he member, John Gardner meetings threatens to divide the in a hotel. wasn’t able to attend (Oregon State Univer- society. “It’s not playing to the In 1998, Franz worked with one reception since it sity), has spent a strength of a broad based mem- then-President Andrew Sessler to required maneuvering substantial part of his ca- bership of APS,” he says. expand the April meeting and move a small flight of stairs, reer developing software The interplay between the di- it to the fall, where it would be with no wheelchair ac- to allow people with print visional meetings and the spaced farther on the calendar from cess available. However, impairments to use com- society-wide general meetings the March meeting. Franz worked “Since wheelchairs are puters. An inventor has often been a source of con- with the Divisions of Astrophysics, the wrong height for named Ralf Hotchkiss troversy within the Society. Nuclear Physics, and Particle Phys- ©2001 Paul Dlugokencky (www.aDailyCartoon.com) for APS News receptions where who received his under- Recently, the controversy has ics to move the meeting, while people are all standing, I wasn’t too this area. And, as Siegal points out, graduate degree in physics won a come up again because of Sessler urged the Division of Plasma disappointed,” he says. it is hardly a matter of charity. “As an McArthur Prize for designing Langer’s concerns, because of the Physics (DPP) to schedule their own Hershkowitz is not alone in his increasing number of people with wheelchairs that can be built in de- shrinking size of the April meet- fall meeting together with it. “A large frustrations. Charles Siegal, an at- substantial disabilities move into the veloping countries out of bicycle ing, and because of the increasing number of the senior leadership [of torney based in LA who earned a workforce, they will demand goods parts. In fact, Hotchkiss recently tendency of divisions to concen- DPP] was in favor of the new ar- PhD in physics in 1972, suffered and services to meet their quite demonstrated such a wheelchair trate their efforts in stand-alone rangement,” Franz said. But the from polio as a youth, which limits specialized needs,” he says. capable of walking up and down meetings. The issues the meetings divisional membership as a whole substantially the use of his arms and Many concerns can be addressed the curb and navigating a broad create are complex and defy easy voted the idea down. The APS gen- legs, although he generally manages with accommodations that “are al- range of terrain in both urban and solutions. eral meeting remained in April, and to function without the use of most trivial,” says Siegal, such as the rural areas. In the middle decades of the DPP continues to hold separate wheelchairs, crutches or canes. Still, physics professor at Carnegie Mellon Concludes Siegal, “As I see it, the twentieth century, the Society meetings. lengthy passageways in airports or University (where he attended gradu- purpose of the APS task force is typically met five times a year. The Separate divisional meetings like hotels, or long walks between meet- ate school) who allowed him to use not simply to point out problems most general meeting came in DPP’s lead Langer to worry about ing rooms, can take their toll. a small lab office to eat his lunch to its disabled members encounter, January, when APS met jointly in “centrifugal forces” within APS — Disabled persons also struggle with save him the arduous walk to the but to suggest things Society mem- New York with the American As- forces that tend to divide the soci- the lack of electronic hearing aids, college cafeteria. And there are many bers might do to lower or erase the sociation of Physics Teachers. ety into specialized research areas raised speaker platforms, thick car- state and federal laws in place that walls that stand in the way of those Other APS meetings focused on rather than uniting it to represent peting, and so on. require more elaborate accommo- with disabilities — be they students, specific topics in physics — the physics as a whole. Interaction be- Addressing these and other dations, although these are not professionals in the physical or March meeting focused on con- tween research areas is “a very obstacles faced by disabled always complied with. other sciences, or in society at large densed matter and materials practical necessity,” Langer said — scientists is the objective of the The scientific community can — from realizing potentials that science, while the April meeting for example, his own research in newly formed APS Task Force on also contribute to improving access their disabilities sometimes mask.” focused on particle and nuclear condensed matter physics requires physics. After World War II, when knowledge of algorithms studied in government funding for physics computational physics. “The APS was high, researchers started has to be an agent for helping those SQUID Detectives Could Save US Billions several smaller meetings focusing interactions to occur,” he said. He on more specific topics. Atten- worries that if physicists only go to When it comes to measuring microscopic rates. (SQUIDs can de- samples. In the SQUID tech- dance at the general meetings, small, specialized meetings, they will the magnetic fields associated tect corrosion rates as small as 70 nique, one adds magnetic especially the January meeting, lose the benefits of interacting with with so many processes in nature, millionths of an inch per year in alu- particles to the sample of inter- dwindled. “It just got smaller and other research areas. from brain activity to oil depos- minum, Wikswo says.) The est. The particles have specific smaller,” said Judy Franz, Execu- Of course, there are also ben- its, one of physicists’ best friends Vanderbilt team studied corrosion antibodies or other binding tive Officer of APS. As early as efits to smaller meetings. At smaller is the SQUID, or Superconduct- in aircraft lap joints, pieces of over- compounds attached to them. 1968, the meeting left its tradi- meetings, scientists can interact ing Quantum Interference lapping metal fastened with rivets In addition, the particles are tional New York venue and began more personally with their friends Device. SQUIDs have been or spot welds. While humid air did superparamagnetic, meaning traveling about the country. In and colleagues, and that personal around for several decades, but not increase corrosion appreciably that they line up with an applied 1992, the January meeting was interaction can lead to deeper dis- continuing improvements have in the lap joints, they determined magnetic field even for a short discontinued altogether. cussion of research problems. “You opened new applications for that distilled water increased it sig- time after the field turns off. Today, some people are afraid can really learn a lot,” said Shi-Yi them. At the March APS meet- nificantly, presumably by activating Exposed to such a field in the that the same fate could befall the Chen, who studies computational ing, John Wikswo of Vanderbilt dried chemical deposits within the sample, particles which attach April Meeting, which used to be fluid dynamics at Johns Hopkins described SQUID studies of metal. Contrary to common wis- to the microorganism or mol- held in Washington every year, but University. Chen works on a com- hidden corrosion in aging air- dom, however, salt water did not ecule of interest stay aligned now moves around the country mittee to organize the divisional craft parts. increase corrosion appreciably longer than unattached par- (although this year it was back in meeting for the Division of Com- According to a 1996 Battelle compared to distilled water. The ticles, providing a signal that can the nation’s capital). The meeting putational Physics (DCOMP), which study, corrosion costs the US a researchers envision the SQUID as reveal as few as 30,000 attached focuses on particle, nuclear and will be held this June in Cambridge, staggering $300 billion per year a lab tool that can provide advice magnetic particles. By contrast, astrophysics, and it attracts few Massachusetts. in infrastructure maintenance, on aircraft maintenance and the the widely used ELISA immu- attendees from other disciplines. Over the years, DCOMP’s an- and up to a third of this cost can effectiveness of various anti-corro- noassay only detects as few as While the March meeting typi- nual meeeting has alternated be prevented with the proper sion compounds. 100,000 labeled particles. The cally attracts over 5,000 between being at the March meet- anti-corrosion measures. Helene Grossman of LBL/UC- researchers are working to im- attendees, the April meeting has ing, at a separate meeting, or at an Whereas traditional techniques Berkeley demonstrated the use of prove the SQUID’s sensitivity by recently had fewer than 1,000. international meeting that is co- provide month-to-month infor- SQUIDs to perform faster and more a factor of 4000 so that the de- “It’s smaller than some of the di- sponsored by the International mation on surface corrosion sensitive immunoassays, the detec- tection of single microorganisms visional meetings,” Franz said. Union of Pure and Applied Physi- activity, SQUIDs can provide tion of small levels of bacteria, comes within reach. Attendance has been declining cists (IUPAP). “We don’t have a hour-by-hour pictures of sub- viruses, or other proteins and — Phillip F. Schewe and partly because government fund- steady tradition,” said Bob Peterkin, surface corrosion occurring at chemicals in biological or industrial Benjamin P. Stein ing for travel expenses has See STRUCTURE on page 6 4 May 2001 NEWS

LETTERS INSIDE THE BELTWAY: A Washington Analysis The Last Word on Science, Religion and Creationists Editor’s Note: Last November we published a Back Page by Stephen Brush on the battle between science and creationism. Budget Bombs! This triggered a deluge of letters, which then led to a series of replies, which have now generated even more replies... With the By Michael S. Lubell, APS Director of Public Affairs current batch of letters, this discussion in our pages is now at an end. Please don’t send us any more on this topic; they won’t be published. Storm flags began flying last Feb- Equipment would decline 20.6 per- ruary when President Bush released cent. I was disappointed to see the re- the anamolous RICHs known as Polo- cosmological speculations are, as Pauli his Budget Blueprint. Although short The DOE budget is only marginally cent letter by Robert Gentry in APS nium halos. Adequate mechanisms for would say, “Not even wrong.” on specifics, the Administration’s better. Overall, the Office of Science News. In Science, Oct. 6, 1989 Odom the halo production were presented. Wayne Hayes first funding go-round set a som- would get a 0.1 percent increase, and Rink rather thoroughly discussed Gentry’s interpretation and subsequent Greenville Technical College ber tone for a community that had amounting to $4.4 million. But in- ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ its spirits buoyed last year, when creases in Program Direction would the NSF and the DOE’s Office of Sci- chew up $17.5 million, and Safe- I was somewhat appalled by the let- mind. We need to be aware of how November/December 2000) on ir- ence received impressive increases. guards and Security would devour ter favoring “recent creation” in the beliefs are melded into one’s world rational beliefs and how skeptics For Fiscal Year 2002, however, the $13.8 million more, leaving the other March APS News. Clearly scientific view and be careful in attacking can best work to dislodge them. His Bush Blueprint called for reductions in programs to make up the difference. training does not clear away what what we feel is irrational. The psy- techniques are patience, patience, the research accounts for DOE, NASA Biological and Environmental Re- most of us see as irrational beliefs. chologist Gregory Lester published and patience. and NSF, which D. Allan Bromley, sci- search, a perennial recipient of However, nothing we may write to an excellent article (“Why Bad Be- Tom Barber ence advisor to former President Bush, congressional pork, would give back the author will likely change his liefs Don’t Die”, Skeptical Inquirer, Houston, Texas strongly criticized in a March 9 New $39.5 million, allowing the Spallation ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ York Times Op-Ed (reprinted in last Neutron Source to proceed on month’s APS News). With the Office of course with a $13.4 million increase. Adrian L. Melott’s letter in the man, even the elusive TOE, cannot reality of, say, the microworld. Our be- Science and Technology Policy a vir- All other major DOE science pro- March APS News is replete with mis- bring anything into being and only a lief that “Man shall not live on bread tual tomb and no science patron on grams would be virtually flat-funded. representations of my January letter. Creator can do that—even quantum alone” surpasses all scientific knowl- the White House scene, only the Na- But many of them could come under Big Bang cosmology is the precursor vacuum fluctuations do not bring the edge and lies at the very foundation of tional Institutes of Health emerged with increasing pressure when DOE modi- to the evolution of the life itself. Linked vacuum into being! the humanity of man. Our purpose for a strong budgetary guarantee. fies its Energy Supply and Defense invariably with the question of the ori- I am an evangelical Armenian who doing science and reading Scripture is On April 5, the Senate reset pri- Programs requests, pending the report gin of man, it is hard to understand believes that man was created in the to reconcile in man scientific knowl- orities. Later that day, President Bush of Vice President Cheney’s Energy Task how a cosmological theory developed image of God and thus has the ability edge with revealed truths. again dramatized his commitment to Force. Both of these activities are likely by man can ever explain the very exist- to “detect” God in a more convincing Moorad Alexanian biomedical research in remarks be- to see increases, and the Office of Man- ence of man. Theories propounded by fashion than we have in inferring the UNC at Wilmington fore the American Society of agement and Budget has said that it ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ Newspaper Editors, when he said will not submit a supplemental request. that his budget would finish the job The DOE budget also projects a I’m wondering why the letters to supposed to be about physics. folklore, religion, the occult, and of doubling NIH by 2003. But then 5.7 percent decline in Environmen- APS News have become a literary dis- I’m not against people inventing modern fantasy novels, film, and he added, emphatically, “Basic re- tal Management, but to achieve the cussion group about works of fantasy. elaborate fantasy world such as Lord of television, but I didn’t know that these search gets big increases too.” savings, the Department would You can have fans of J.R.R. Tolkien write the Rings, and describing the details. I’ve subjects were now under the domain I nearly uncorked a bottle of have to rewrite tripartite cleanup in and debate the details of Lord of done this myself. (See my homepage at of the American Physical Society. Moët. But it would have been pre- agreements and in some cases get the Rings. I’m not against people do- http://www.geocities.com/ Perhaps I’ll write a paper on the Force mature. When the presidential judges to vacate court orders. ing that. I’m just wondering why this is jefferywinkler) I’m just wondering why in Star Wars, and submit it to Physical budget hit the streets four days later, These uncertainties leave the sci- taking place in APS News. I thought this is taking place in APS News which Review Letters. his words rang terribly hollow. ence programs in limbo. But if APS stood for American Physical So- used to be about physics. I’m very Jeffery Winkler Should Congress follow through on current funding holds, High Energy ciety. I thought APS News was interested in mythology, legends, Hanford, California his plan, physics could suffer a decline Physics would grow $4.1 million, ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ worthy of the recent drop in the Dow. with SLAC and Fermilab operations Here’s how I read the numbers. rising $20 million and LHC construc- The editors are to be congratulated proclaims that the Earth is only a few Our local rabbi has pointed out that At NSF, one of the few bright spots tion declining $9.9 million. And for publishing Robert Gentry’s creation- thousand years old. This is a classic case Genesis can be read about 70 differ- is science education, a Bush priority, university research would give back ist letter in front of Patricia Schwarz’s of “argument from ignorance” and ent ways because, in the original which would jump 11.0 percent. But $5.6 million or 5.0 percent. letter on religious apologetics (APS “God is in the gaps” rhetoric. One of Hebrew, there are no capitals and no elsewhere, the picture is pretty grim. In Nuclear Physics, which remains News March 2001). Gentry’s letter the current crop of creationists, Phillip punctuation and the verb tense is very, Research and Related Activities would flat, support for RHIC would rise by $1 shows the dangers of mixing religion in Johnson, a UC-Berkeley criminal law very unclear. He has termed people fall 0.5 percent, with Physics, aside from million, but the scant 0.9 percent in- science, dangers which Schwarz seems professor, wants to replace science with who read the Bible literally as “meta- Frontiers Centers and facilities opera- crease would force Brookhaven to to want to gloss over. something he calls theistic science. In phorically impaired”. With religious tions, suffering a 9.8 percent drop. For curtail its running schedule by more Gentry is one of a handful of other- short, he wants scientists to look for leaders like him science will continue Materials Research, the correspond- than 25 percent. University research wise technical people who want to read God’s hand in everything. This is akin to advance. But under fundamental- ing cut would be 4.5 percent. And, would be held constant, except for the Bible literally although he has yet to to the Dark Ages view that angels ists like Robert Gentry and Phillip since the Administration zeroes out heavy ion physics, which would decline choose which of the biblical versions moved the planets. While these so- Johnson civilization will sink once again new construction, Major Research See BELTWAY on page 7 of creation he wants taught. Gentry’s called “intelligent design” advocates into a world of ignorance with super- letter is typical of creationism in action claim they don’t know who the “intelli- stitious beliefs that spirits inhabit as described in the accompanying ar- gent designer” is, in private they admit everything. Early Artists Did Use Optics ticle by Adrian L. Melott (“Kansan they are promoting the concept of an The APS and the American Asso- The March 2001 issue of APS News contained a letter from Mat- Dissects Soft Creationism”). Overlook- ultraconservative fundamentalist Chris- ciation of Physics Teachers need to thew Lybanon repeating information from a year-old article in The New ing the overwhelming evidence for a tian God. What makes their deceptive become very active in turning back this Yorker about David Hockney’s observation that some early artists ap- multi-billion-year-old universe and for sales pitch so dangerous is that they vicious assault on science. peared to have used optical aids. His letter says “there is a great deal of evolution, Gentry finds some (to him) now have allies in the White House, Gary L. Bennett skepticism in the art world about Hockney’s ideas.” Whether or not problem with age dating and loudly Congress and the Justice Department. Emmett, Idaho that overstates the case at the time, certainly much has transpired in the intervening year that Lybanon was unaware of when he wrote his Keyworth’s SDI Comments are “Déjà Vu” letter. A few weeks after The New Yorker article appeared I was intro- Alert Reader Catches duced to Hockney by a colleague at the Guggenheim, resulting in an George Keyworth (Back Page, This is not, by any means, to imply that unusual, and remarkably productive, collaboration between an artist February 2001) devotes a quarter nuclear weapons can, or will, go away.” URL Error and a scientist. On May 3, 2000 Hockney and I presented our early of his remarks, which are suppos- So what good it is really? The main ad- While trying to look up the optical discoveries to a group of eminent art historians in a day-long edly on future weapons, to the vantage of chip-laden and space-based reference cited in David symposium organized for this purpose at the National Gallery of Art in ridiculous and irrelevant claim that weapons seems to be that 3rd world Lupfer’s letter “Science Text- Washington, DC. Space limitations permitted us to publish only a por- Ronald Reagan was a strategic countries won’t have them, so the US books Riddled with Errors” in tion of our scientific evidence in the July 2000 issue of Optics and thinker, and then tops even that by can launch zero-US-causality strikes the April issue, I discovered Photonics News, and we will have a second manuscript with consider- stating that “SDI was effective in re- against them whenever the president that the website http:// able additional material finished shortly. Also, this fall, Viking will publish storing counter-force deterrence to needs a headline. The contribution to www.psrc-onhne.org does not his book Secret Knowledge: Rediscovering the Lost Techniques of the Old its more stable alternative...” This is US security seems marginal at best. exist. After some effort I Masters. These discoveries convincingly demonstrate optical instru- patently false, SDI was a research The real threat to the US is loose found the correct address at ments were in use—by artists, not scientists—nearly 200 years earlier program, it never produced any func- nukes and political instability in the http://www.psrc-online.org. than previously even thought possible, and account for the remark- tioning “defense!” former Soviet Union, but somehow our Apparently even the letters able transformation in the reality of portraits that occurred early in the As for future weapons, Keyworth’s hardware peddling “defense experts” about science textbooks are 15th century. As such, they have many implications for the history of piece is Reagan’s SDI speech all over never display any real interest or ur- riddled with errors. science as well as for the history of art. again, full of extravagant but very vague gency about that. Laurence Lurio Charles M. Falco promises: “digital defense will result Ted Lawry Argonne National Laboratory University of Arizona from displacing the nuclear weapon. Boulder, Colorado NEWS May 2001 5

VIEWPOINT… New Membership Booth Debuts A Modest Proposal: Recruit Undergraduate Majors by Carl Wieman Over the last several years I have graduate students. This trend to- Of course increasing the num- visited the physics departments at wards fewer undergraduate majors ber of majors at one’s own many of the major research univer- is the most dramatic at PhD grant- institution is unlikely to have much sities in this country. A recurring ing institutions (see AIP statistics). direct beneficial impact on one’s theme at essentially all of them is An extrapolation of the data from own graduate program because the desire for more good graduate the past decade would predict that few physics majors stay at the same students, particularly those fluent the last physics major will gradu- institution for graduate school. So, in English. In response to this short- ate in about the year 2010 and will strictly from the perspective of en- age the recruiting of prospective almost certainly be from a four- hancing the graduate program, the graduate students has correspond- year college. The reasons for this optimum strategy of each depart- ingly escalated so that most PhD trend are complicated and there ment is to spend all of its resources

granting physics departments are are many possible ways and re- on recruiting grad students, while Alicia Chang/APS now investing large amounts of fac- wards for attacking the problem. counting on everyone else dividing The new APS membership booth debuted at the March Meeting in Seattle. ulty time and money in the process. My 10% proposal is intended to their recruiting resources between Kathleen Hajduk of the Membership Department explains the many benefits Including the fellowship money be only one small specific step. graduates and undergraduates. of membership to an interested passer by. being offered to attract prospec- There is considerable reason to Unfortunately, all PhD granting de- tive students, numbers on the order think that better recruiting would partments seem to have come to of $100K per year are becoming have an impact on this depressing this same conclusion, producing common at major departments. trend in the number of under- the dismal outcome we see at Most of these same institutions graduate physics majors. The study present. Clearly the best interests where there are such intensive ef- of why students leave the sci- of all would be better served if ev- RESEARCH forts to recruit graduate students ences (which they do in droves ery such research department appear to make little or no effort from the physical sciences) sug- agreed to put this modest fraction NEWS BRIEFS to recruit undergraduates to ma- gests that a major factor for (10%) of their recruiting resources jor in physics. I would like to student’s switching to other ma- into increasing the number of un- propose that all physics depart- jors is the lack of advice and dergraduate physics majors. In this The Latest on Carbon Nanotubes ments with PhD programs should counseling (and implicitly just case the words of Benjamin A carbon nanotube integrated circuit, with a thousand nanotubes acting like commit to putting at least 10% of contact) from faculty. According Franklin apply nicely, “We must all transistors, has been devised by Phaedon Avouris of IBM. Nanometer-wide tubes the faculty time and money that to the departmental reviews car- hang together, or assuredly we shall made of carbon chickenwire have for some years been expected to become an they are currently spending on ried out by the National Task all hang separately.” active ingredient in electronics. Besides their strong mechanical properties, graduate recruiting into such un- Force on Undergraduate Physics Carl E. Wieman is a Distinguished nanotubes have a variety of useful electrical properties. Nanotubes, for example, dergraduate recruiting. The Education, departments that have Professor of Physics and Fellow of JILA can sustain current densities hundreds of times greater than those of common shrinking number and the much been unusually successful at at- at the University of Colorado. Although metals and are created in both metallic and semiconducting form. Speaking at more dramatically shrinking frac- tracting physical science majors he is a member of the APS-AIP-AAPT the APS March meeting in Seattle, Avouris described how, in a mixed batch of tion of undergraduate students all indicate that a significant factor National Task Force on Undergradu- nanotubes, one can short out the metallic nanotubes (with a surge of volt- that are choosing to major in in these successes is personal con- ate physics education, this letter age) while leaving the semiconducting ones intact for use as circuit elements. physics are of course the ultimate tact and recruiting of students by represents his personal opinion and not Other nanotube highlights from the same meeting: reason for the shortage of good faculty. necessarily that of the Task Force. • David Tomanek of Michigan State reported that experimental measurements of nanotube heat conductivity went as high as 3000 watts/m/K, almost as high as that of diamond. He predicted that nanotube performance would reach zero levels of 6600 watts/m/K. The ability to conduct heat will come in handy gravity for future circuits needing to dispose of lots of heat from tight places. • Mathieu Kociak of the CNRS lab, University of Paris-South, announced the first observation of superconductivity in nanotube ropes. “This Rattle in Seattle Creates Earthquake Art represents the first observation of superconductivity in a system with Two weeks before the onset of such a small number of conduction channels,” said Kociak, referring the APS March Meeting in Seattle, to the meager material substrate over which the supercurrent must the city was rocked by a magni- flow, namely the aggregate of essentially two-dimensional surfaces of tude 6.8 earthquake, cracking nanotubes. The researchers hope to raise the transition temperatures, sidewalks, toppling building fa- presently only 300-400 mK, through judicious doping. cades, and even cracking the • Jason Hafner of Harvard reported using single nanotubes (with diam- capital dome in Olympia. Fortu- eters of .9-2.8 nm) as extensions on the ends of atomic force microscope nately, major structural damage probes. Not only does this narrow the probe profile, resulting in greater was less than expected, since the spatial resolution when imaging a variety of biomolecules (such as immu- quake was located about 30 miles noglobulins) but, when used to seek out specific molecules on a sample below Earth’s surface. The meet- surface, the nanotube probe could help in studying tip-sample adhesion. ing took place without a hitch. But Hafner referred to this approach as “chemical force microscopy” (CFM). further north, in the sleepy settle- • Finally, Masako Yudasaka of the NEC lab in Japan reported on the enormous ment of Port Townsend, Mother pressures that arise when C60 molecules are encased inside nanotubes, (an Nature offered striking visual evi- arrangement called “peapods”. The force on the C60 is only a nano-Newton, dence that earthquakes have an but by dividing by the area of the tube, one arrives at a pressure of .1 giga- artistic bent as well. Pascal. In other words the buckyball can act like a piston for facilitating novel A local shop called Mind Over forms of tailored chemistry. Yudasaka also described her work with nanotubes that flare out like cones (typical size: 2 nm small diameter, length of 50 nm, Matter displayed a sand-tracing The Earthquake Rose. Scientists believe the squiggly lines at the center of the pattern pendulum, featuring a pointed were formed during the quake’s most intense trembles. and opening angle of 20 degrees). These “nano-horns” might be useful for weight at the end of a long wire absorbing gases (replacing other forms of activated carbon in filters). suspended over a tray of sand. The might mean: the eye of Poseidon, a While the sand carved by the vibrations of the quake produced rose, or even (for conspiracy buffs) pendulum offers a less precise read- Molecular Beacons for Cancer an intricate, rose-like shape in the a recording of a top secret govern- ing of the multidirectional tremors Aiming to detect cancers early, safely, and inexpensively, Britton Chance of the sand. “You never think about an ment weapon designed to trigger of the quake, it preserves two fea- University of Pennsylvania and his colleagues have created “molecular beacons,” earthquake as being artistic — it’s earthquakes. tures of the earthquake waves in tiny capsules that are opened by specific biochemical activity related to a tumor. violent and destructive,” Norman Seismologists are a bit more particular. The “flower” in the cen- At the APS March Meeting, Chance described molecular beacons designed to MacLeod, president of Gaelic Wolf circumspect in their conclusions. ter records the surface movements detect 1-2 mm sub-surface breast tumors inexpensively and without ionizing Consulting in Port Townsend, told “The pattern shows the three-di- associated with the higher fre- radiation. Injected into the body, the capsules remain sealed until opened by ABC News. “But in the middle of all mensional pattern of the quake. quency waves that arrived first. The specific enzymes associated with breast cancer. The beacons then fluoresce near- that chaos, this fine, delicate art- It’s a nice little seismogram that outer larger amplitude oscillations infrared light in response to light beaming from a small device outside the body. work was created.” helps people understand how the record the lower frequency waves That same device then detects the signal from the beacons. (The beacons emit Images of the unusual pendu- ground was moving at the time that arrived later. enough near-infrared light so that some of it gets through the body.) The device is lum pattern were distributed over of the quake,” says Bill Steele, a Sadly, the Earthquake Rose is no designed to cost only several thousand dollars, Chance said, and is based on off- the Internet, and quickly spread seismologist at the University of more. Shop owner Jason Ward had the-shelf CD and cell-phone technology. The molecular beacon has successfully around the world. MacLeod, who Washington. Modern seismo- intended to take a mold of the pat- been tested in mice, and human tests are planned. The technique does not require posted the images on his Web site grams record the north-south, tern. But before this could be done, uncomfortable compression of the breast, which is what often is required for (http://www.gaelwolf.com/ east-west and vertical shakings of his three-year-old son accidentally women under 40 years of age who receive mammograms. Self-tests for breast pendulum.html), has received thou- a quake. The information is then kicked the pendulum — and erased cancer may eventually be possible with this technique, Chance said. sands of letters from people fed into a computer that creates the sand’s design. At least Ward still — Phillip F. Schewe and Benjamin P. Stein theorizing about what the shape a three-dimensional reading. has the photographs. 6 May 2001 NEWS

AIP Report Identifies Strongest PMD MEETING BRIEFS Programs APS New England Section, March 30-31, 2001, A new report from the Ameri- enables them to quickly assess into four general categories: bridge Middlebury, Vermont can Institute of Physics (AIP) problems in diverse situations building (connecting the physics The APS New England section held its annual spring meeting at identifies 22 US schools with the and allows them to formulate so- department to the world outside Middlebury College in Vermont in March, in conjunction with the corre- strongest professional master’s lutions,” he says. academics); programmatic empha- sponding geographical section of the American Association of Physics degree (PMD) programs in the PMD physics programs are sis (drawing on the expertise of Teachers. Friday afternoon’s program centered on the theme of chaos, country, an issue of great concern needed because of the increasing physics faculty, as well as faculty complexity and self-organization, and featured talks on nonlinear dynamics to educators because of declin- demand for employees with scien- from other disciplines at the uni- and mixing dynamical systems. Thomas Moore of Pomona College was the ing enrollments in physics. The tific and technological skill who are versity); research experiences keynote speaker at the banquet later that evening, summarizing lessons report, which was supported by also able to work outside of an aca- (internships or other off-campus he learned about reforming the introductory calculus-based physics the Sloan Foundation, defines demic setting. Over the last decade, work experiences based on a col- course at Pomona. In addition to assorted topics in general physics, PMD physics programs as those the US economy has been growing laboration with a corporation or Saturday morning’s program focused on chaos, complexity and that address the current needs of at an unprecedented rate, driven government laboratory); and non- self-organization in the high school and college classroom. In addition, two the economy, as well as the needs to a large extent by technological technical aspects, such as classes general interest invited talks were given outlined six ideas that helped shape of students, by providing both innovation, and this has resulted in that address the unique needs of physics, and applied chaos to ship dynamics and wave propagation. fundamental knowledge and spe- an especially strong demand for students in areas like oral and writ- cialized skills. The complete report, employees with scientific and tech- ten communication, and team APS New York Section, April 6-7, 2001, Yorktown including the list of the 22 best PMD nological skills. “Physics skills are work. Heights, New York programs, can be found at http:// superb preparation for employ- In addition to the 22 strongest The APS New York Section held its annual spring meeting at the IBM www.aip.org/professionalmasters/ ment, but they are more valuable PMD physics programs, the report T.J. Watson Research Center, organized around the theme of the phys- profmshigh.htm . and useful if accompanied by the also lists 17 other strong PMD pro- ics of self-organized nanostructures, including nanocrystals, nanowires Report co-author Roman broader set of skills needed to be a grams and 22 new programs still to and nanoporous templates. Each of the three half-day sessions — two Czujko, who heads AIP’s Employ- successful employee,” says Bernard young to be evaluated. The Univer- on Friday and one on Saturday morning — consisted of an introduc- ment and Education Statistics Khoury, executive director of the sity of Arizona is among the latter, tory tutorial followed by a series of topical presentations by such Division, says that the rationale American Association of Physics having recently initiated a profes- luminaries in the field as Lynn Boatner of Oak Ridge National Labora- behind compiling such a study is Teachers. In fact, the growth of sional master’s degree program, in tory; IBM’s own Frances Ross; Leonid Tsybeskov of the University of that while physics enrollments are PMD programs “is a clear indica- industrial and applied physics. Rochester; and Alexei Ekimov of Nanocrystal Technology. Louis Brus declining, the demand for stu- tion that universities are Launched last year and sponsored of Columbia University was Friday evening’s banquet speaker, summa- dents who are technologically acknowledging this employment by the Sloan Foundation, the pro- rizing current trends in nanostructured materials physics. trained is on the rise. “We tried reality.” gram educates students to work in to identify schools that were do- Of course, master’s degree interdisciplinary teams on complex APS Ohio Section, April 20-21, 2001, Kent, Ohio ing a good job of preparing programs come in a variety of problems involving rapidly chang- The APS Ohio Section held its annual spring meeting in April at Kent physics students for the shapes and sizes, according to ing science and technology and to State University. Friday afternoon’s session featured talks on membrane workforce,” he says. In addition, Czujko. While some are focused gain proficiency in computational protein structure, solid state NMR, and the dynamics of heme proteins students must be prepared to on only one specialization, many techniques. Students also learn determined by synchrotron Mössbauer scattering, followed by a tour work in a variety of industrial set- have multiple specializations, how to effectively communicate of the university’s Liquid Crystal Institute. Thomas Weber, director of tings, according to Jim Stith, some have a general track along their scientific mission at all levels, NSF’s Division of Materials Research, gave a public presentation follow- director of AIP’s Physics Resource side of a specialized focus, and and to understand business and le- ing the evening banquet, outlining NSF initiatives in information Center, ranging from technical still others only offer a general gal issues associated with their technology research, nanoscale science and engineering, and positions in traditional engineer- academic curriculum. scientific projects. The university biocomplexity in the environment. Saturday morning featured two ing companies to analysts in Nevertheless, the report found has parallel PMD programs in ap- additional invited lectures on the collapse mechanism in lung surfactant financial firms. “Their education that successful PMD programs have plied biosciences and mathematical systems, and scanning near-field infrared microscopy of single living cells. must provide the foundation that a combination of features that fall sciences.

from page 3 Structure, MgB2, from page 1

vice-chair of DCOMP. “We’ve been al- bers are cross-registered with MgB2 is a solitary example of a new most randomly alternating the last other divisions. At the March meet- way of making high-temperature several years.” In 2001, the alternation ing, many DCOMP members would superconductors, or whether it sends the division’s annual meeting to be busy attending sessions in their represents only the tip of the ice- a separate meeting. Jim Gubernatis, research areas, and would not have berg,” says Princeton University’s

chair-elect of DCOMP, explained that time to work with other computa- Robert Cava. “For the high-Tc cop- the division will hold its annual meet- tional physicists. “[DCOMP per oxides, we haven’t found the ing separate from the March divisional meetings] offer expert bottom of the iceberg yet, even af- meeting, in part because DCOMP practitioners and students… the ter 15 years of looking. I, for one, represents all areas of physics, not opportunity to interact closely with hope this iceberg is just as deep.” just condensed matter. “At the March other expert practitioners,” Of course, the other key ques- meeting, DCOMP tends to lose its Peterkin said. Peterkin explained tion is whether the compound identity,” he said. “Having a stand- that since many members of might be amenable to technologi- alone meeting gives us more DCOMP study condensed matter cal applications. Although most flexibility in planning a meeting to physics, the division will be well- scientists agree that it is too early meet the needs of our entire mem- represented at the March meeting; to speculate about how the mate- bership.” furthermore, computational physi- rial might perform in devices, there Gubernatis estimates that about cists who do not study condensed are promising signs. Both magne- 250 physicists will attend the June matter were unlikely to go to the sium and boron are common meeting. The morning sessions will March meeting anyway. But Langer materials, inexpensive and easy to

be plenary sessions that focus on worries that the absence of work with — in fact, MgB2 is a com- issues of general interest to DCOMP presentations from the modity item that can be bought off computational physics. Afternoon March meeting will deprive other the shelf from chemical companies. sessions will include discipline- scientists of the opportunity to Its transition temperature greatly for APS News ©2001 Paul Dlugokencky (www.aDailyCartoon.com) specific invited and submitted talks, learn from computational physics. exceeds those of the conventional sition temperature. However, “A stages of commercialization. plus a special session on scientific Individual scientists need to con- metallic superconductors, and great deal of work remains to be Ultimately, though, the impor- visualization and a town hall sider the relative merits of attending studies on polycrystalline materi- done to develop wires of supercon- tance of the discovery and the meeeting on the education of a large and small meetings, both for their als indicate that naturally occurring ducting borides that are robust and special session is what they com- computational physicist. The own research and for physics in gen- grain boundaries do not signifi- cost-effective to manufacture,” municate to the general public meeting will small enough to allow eral. As more divisions sponsor their cantly inhibit current flow, another cautions Alex Malozemoff, chief about the noblest aspects of the all members to attend each plenary own meetings, scientists have more significant advantage over the technology officer of American Su- scientific endeavor: the excitement session, with no conflicting parallel meetings to choose from. As govern- cuprate superconductors. perconductor, which manufactures of new discovery spurring a flurry sessions. “Hopefully the structure ment funding for travel expenses The most promising potential High-Temperature Superconduct- of related research at laboratories and topics reflect our particular shrinks, the pressure to decide be- application is the commercial pro- ing (HTS) wires for electric power around the world, culminating in a needs as a division,” Gubernatis said. comes more immediate. James Langer duction of superconducting wires applications. “If these materials collegial gathering to interact and

Computational physics’ needs as fears that the increased numbers of out of MgB2, which should be able prove to be practical, it is likely that share results for the greater good. a discipline are unique, Peterkin ex- small meetings will excessively decen- to carry more current than the cop- it will take five to ten years to get Most of those at the “Woodstock plained. Most DCOMP members tralize the APS. His fears underscore per oxide superconductors, and them out of the laboratory and into West” session echoed the senti- are researchers who use comput- the fact that decisions of individual sci- could possibly be cooled by elec- the marketplace.” He points out ments of one observer in ers to study specific topics in entists could help shape the future of tric refrigerators rather than liquid that the HTS materials discovered attendance, who enthused, “This is physics, so most DCOMP mem- the society and its divisions. helium because of the higher tran- in 1986 are just now in the early what physics is all about.” NEWS May 2001 7 ANNOUNCEMENTS

APS UNDERGRADUATE PHYSICS CALL FOR DANNIE HEINEMAN PRIZE FOR STUDENT COMPETITION NOMINATIONS MATHEMATICAL PHYSICS Purpose: To recognize outstanding publications in the 2001 APKER AWARDS THE GEORGE E. field of mathematical physics. VALLEY JR. PRIZE OF Nature: The prize consists of $7,500 and a certificate For Outstanding Undergraduate Student Research in Physics citing the contributions made by the recipient plus travel Endowed by Jean Dickey Apker, in memory of LeRoy Apker THE APS expenses to attend the meeting at which the prize is bestowed. It will be presented annually. DESCRIPTION QUALIFICATIONS The George E. Valley Jr. Prize Establishment & Support: The prize was established in will be awarded for the first time in Two awards are normally made • Students who have been enrolled 1959 by the Heineman Foundation for Research, each year: One to a student attend- as undergraduates at colleges and 2002. Nominations for the 2002 Educational, Charitable, and Scientific Purposes, Inc., and is ing an institution offering a Physics universities in the United States at prize must be received by July 2, administered jointly by the American Physical Society and PhD and one to a student attend- least one quarter/semester during 2001. The prize will be awarded the American Institute of Physics. For biographical ing an institution not offering a the year preceding the JUNE 15, Physics PhD 2001 deadline. for outstanding research in any information on Dannie Heineman, visit http://www.aps.org. • Recipients receive a $5,000 • Students who have an excellent field of physics to an individual Rules & Eligibility: This prize is awarded solely for award; finalists $2,000. They also academic record and have demon- who is under the age of 30 at the valuable published contributions made in the field of receive an allowance for travel strated exceptional potential for time of nomination. The prize mathematical physics with no restrictions placed on a to the Award presentation. scientific research through an origi- candidate’s citizenship or country of residence. “Publication” carries with it a cash award of • Recipients’ and finalists’ home nal contribution to physics. is defined as either a single paper, a series of papers, a book, $20,000. More details can be found institutions receive $5,000 and • Only one candidate may be nomi- or any other communication which can be considered a $1,000, respectively, to support nated per department. on the APS web site at http:// publication. The prize may be awarded to more than one undergraduate research. FURTHER INFORMATION www.aps.org/praw/valley/ person on a shared basis when all recipients have contributed • Recipients, finalists and their See http://www.aps.org/praw/apker/ to the same accomplishments Nominations are active for home physics departments will descrip.html. descrip.html be presented with plaques or Five (5) copies of nominations three years. certificates of achievement. The DEADLINE and supporting documentation Nomination Deadline: The deadline for submission of student’s home institution is Send name of proposed candidate and should be sent to: Laleña Lancaster; nominations for the 2002 Prize is: JULY 2, 2001 prominently featured on all supporting information by JUNE 15, 2001 Attn: George E. Valley Prize; Five (5) copies of nominations and supporting documentation awards and news stories of the to: Dr. Alan Chodos, Administrator, Apker competition. Award Selection Committee; The Ameri- American Physical Society; One should be sent to the Chair of the 2002 selection Committee: • Each nominee will be granted a can Physical Society; One Physics Ellipse, Physics Ellipse; College Park, MD Jonathan Bagger (Chair); Dept of Phys & Astron; Johns Hopkins free APS Student Membership for College Park, MD 20740-3844; Tele- 20740-3844; [email protected]. Univ; 3400 N Charles St; Baltimore MD 21218; Phone (410) 516-5419; Fax (410) 516-7239; email [email protected] one year upon receipt of their phone: (301) 209-3268, Fax: (301) CALL NOMINATIONS FOR completed application. 209-3652, email: [email protected].

Visa, from page 1 Nanotech, from page 1 range exhibit characteristics that tra- partnership. Funding is also pro- the session, praised the lobbying ef- ditional models and theories vided for measurement and forts of APS members last summer, evaluate between 50,000-60,000 part of the scientific community to cannot explain, and hence, “Devel- instrumentation improvements, who sent some 2000 letters to their visa applications annually, to issue ensure continued strong funding in opments in these emerging fields with the aim of developing a flexible Congressional representatives, 25,000-30,000 passports, to process this area. are likely to change the way almost infrastructure to enable US industry joined by members of several other 6,000-7,000 birth certificates, and The Nanotechnology Initiative is everything — from vaccines to to commercialize the new discover- scientific and engineering societies. to serve the needs of a US expatriate intended to support long-term computers to automobile tires — ies and innovations as quickly as Their action was rewarded hand- population in excess of 250,000 nanoscale R&D leading to potential is designed and made,” she said. possible. And all this will be coordi- somely: the federal science budget (mostly armed forces personnel and breakthroughs in such diverse areas Examples of specific applications nated among several government increased about 15%, compared to their families). This means that the 7 as materials and manufacturing, include the use of giant magne- agencies with strong traditional sup- an expected decrease before the let- foreign service officers must make— nanoelectronics, medicine, the en- toresistance in magnetic storage port for science and technology. ter-writing campaign began. on average—from 200 to 250 vironment, energy, chemicals, applications; nanostructured cata- “This is a multi-agency initiative,” said The Nanoscience Initiative in- decisions on visas alone each day. biotechnology, agriculture, informa- lysts; drug delivery systems; Haworth. “It would not be as suc- creased from $270 million for “There is no time for extended de- tion technology and national security. nanocomposites and nanoparticle cessful as it has been if it were focused FY2000 to $423 million in FY2001, liberation,” Lerch says, and adds that “The ability to work at the molecu- reinforced polymers; molecular elec- on any one agency alone.” according to Haworth. The NSF re- because the consular officer is held lar level is leading to unprecedented tronics; biodetection in the interests The DOE is planning five ceives the largest share of the FY2001 responsible for enforcing US law, it understanding and control over the of national security; and water puri- nanotechnology research centers at budget for the initiative ($150 mil- is just easier to deny an application fundamental building blocks of all fication and desalinization. various national laboratories, and lion), followed by the Department that isn’t letter perfect than to try to physical things,” said Dresselhaus. The initiative includes a series of the NSF expects to fund additional of Defense ($110 million) and the correct it. However, she emphasized that nanotechnology research centers, centers. The DOE has already re- DOE ($93 million). Other agencies Another factor is the increasing the nanoscale is not merely another expected to play an important role ceived funding for the preliminary being funded at a lesser scale are complexity of the law. The embargo step in the ongoing process of min- in the development and use of spe- design of the centers, and NASA, the Department of Com- required by the technology transfer iaturization; materials in that size cific tools, and in promoting Dresselhaus reported that final de- merce, and the National Institutes provisions against nuclear prolifera- sign could begin as early as 2002 if of Health. tion (India and Pakistan), the new funding can be obtained, with Unfortunately, the current out- economic embargo against Cuba, the look for federal science funding Web Session, from page 1 The next step will be to post the construction expected to begin some- “sensitive countries list” which re- plenary talks from the just-con- time in 2003. The NSF currently doesn’t look quite so rosy. The quires special processing of visa Talks from the APS Centennial cluded April Meeting, which should funds about 600 nano-related re- change in Administration has requests from many countries, and meeting in 1999 had been posted be a more typical exercise than the search projects, involving roughly brought a corresponding change in a panoply of laws designed to pre- 2500 faculty and students. many major policies, and, said Franz, on the Web, but the work had been MgB2 session. After that, it will be vent access to US technologies all contracted to an outside firm. Us- time to assess the experiment. Ac- However, “To make this initiative “The combination of massive tax cuts obstruct scientific exchange. ing APS resources to put talks from cording to Egan and Tracy Alinger, a success, we need the same level of and substantially increased defense APS has formed a partnership APS meetings on the web had been Director of Information Technology, funding increases that we’ve been spending is going to a put a squeeze with other organizations (AAAS, under active consideration, but the when staff time and audio-visual seeing this past year,” said on all other funding”—not just the American Chemical Society, Na- idea received a sudden shot in the costs are factored in, a half-hour talk Dresselhaus. APS Executive Of- Nanotechnology Initiative, but sci- tional Academy) to try to help the ficer Judy Franz, who moderated ence funding across the board. arm when the MgB2 session was should run about $150 to $200. This State Department and the US sci- scheduled. “We wanted to provide might be reduced for speakers who entific community deal with these this service to the condensed matter use power-point presentations. problems in a more systematic way, and materials physics communities,” What happens next will de- Beltway, from page 4 support. Drawing on Bromley’s cri- and is also examining how best to said Jessica Clark, APS Public Out- pend on whether the various tique of the presidential Blueprint, bring the issues before Congress reach Specialist, who was in charge units who participate in APS meet- $500 thousand or 4.2 percent. Republicans in both Houses have and the Administration. of getting the digital pictures of the ings want to see talks from their Apart from the SNS, Basic Energy enlisted the support of Democrats Finally, APS stands ready to transparencies. sessions on the web, and are will- Sciences, as well as Fusion Energy Sci- in calling for 15 percent increases help at the individual level. A sci- The APS team had the enthusiastic ing to cover the cost. “It was an ences, would have to live within budgets for DOE, NASA and NSF science. entist in need can email support of the chairs of the session, interesting experiment, but at this frozen at the FY 2001 levels. But as Reversing the Administration’s pro- [email protected] or call any John Clarke of Berkeley and George point we have to go to the units Secretary Spencer Abraham noted, his posed cuts depends upon the science of the APS International Affairs Crabtree of Argonne. “I’m glad the ex- who organize the individual ses- vociferous support for science could community. At the APS March Meet- staff: Irving A. Lerch (301) 209- periment has worked out,” Crabtree sions and ask them whether they deliver no more, given the White House ing, physicists sent more than 900 3236; Michele Irwin (301) said. “It is a great idea.” want this service to continue,” cap on discretionary spending. letters to members of Congress. But 209-3237; Jackie Beamon-Kiene “Thanks to everybody at APS for all concludes Alan Chodos, Associ- Action now shifts to Capitol Hill, given the climate, thousands more will (301) 209-3239. their efforts,” added Clarke. ate Executive Officer of the APS. where science enjoys considerable be necessary to get the job done. 8 May 2001 NEWS THE BACK PAGE APS Meetings Need Reform Now By James S. Langer As readers of APS News know, What’s worrying me is that our exhibitors. There were some excel- any natural advantage — as compared I’ve been taking every opportunity meetings — our primary scientific lent special symposia; the organizers to, say, the Institute for Theoretical to stress the growing responsibili- membership activity — seem to be had made heroic efforts to schedule Physics in Santa Barbara or the Aspen ties of the American Physical in serious trouble. plenary sessions as well as other in- Center – in organizing innovative spe- Society. Simply stated, physics no vited sessions of general interest. I cial-topics workshops or other small, longer sells itself: not to politicians, “What’s worrying me is listened, for example, to accelerator focused events. I think that our unit to future physicists, nor to the pub- physicists talking about new ideas meetings will have a much harder lic at large. The entire US physics that our meetings – our involving lasers and plasmas, but time keeping themselves relevant to community, APS members and non- primary scientific was keenly aware that there were the rapidly changing natures of their members alike, depends on the APS membership activity – hardly any laser or plasma physicists fields if they remain separate instead to make the case for our field. seem to be in serious present to participate in the discus- of combining with other units. The APS has been remarkably ef- trouble.” sions. The audiences seemed small By far the most compelling ad- fective in this role. Its statements and compared to what I would have ex- vantage of big meetings, in my advice are taken seriously by politi- pected for comparable sessions in opinion, is their special importance cal leaders and the media. This The major bright spot in this pic- March. for young physicists. We take great effectiveness depends primarily on ture is the March Meeting, which As bad as it may seem, the pos- pride in the fact that an education in James S. Langer our reputation for wisdom and ob- focuses on condensed-matter and sible demise of the April meeting isn’t physics is an excellent preparation both use large general meetings as their jectivity, but it also depends on the materials physics and related sub- nearly so serious a threat to the APS for a wide variety of careers. Only a principal membership activities. The size and vitality of the community jects, and is attended by about 5,000 as the centrifugal forces that are af- fraction of the graduate students AGU and MRS meetings and member- we represent – i.e., our membership. people every year. There are roughly flicting many of our units. Not only who specialize in experimental high- ships are large and growing; ours is not. Thus, membership in the APS is criti- that number of invited plus contrib- have many APS units been holding energy physics, for example, expect In short, the APS has a serious cal for maintaining the health of the uted talks, presented in about 30 separate meetings but, in some cases, to continue in that field for the rest problem. I think that the solution physics community. I see a major parallel sessions spread over five the barriers between these units ap- of their lives. In addition to their is obvious: we must move toward problem emerging here. Our tradi- days. The meeting is organized jointly pear to be growing despite clear knowledge of particle phenomenol- consolidating our meetings. At the tional mechanisms for maintaining by a group of APS units whose lead- needs for bringing people together. ogy and their problem-solving very least, we should move in the the size and financial strength of ers get together each year in the fall Last year, for example, the Division abilities, many of these students are directions that we started but the APS are changing just as dra- to select invited speakers and sym- of Laser Science (DLS) expressed in- skilled in scientific instrumentation aborted last year, shifting the April matically as the political climate. posia. Throughout my career, terest in combining its meeting with and data analysis, and are prepared meeting to the fall and adding other And, unlike some other scientific although my research interests the Division of Atomic, Molecular, to use those skills in a wide variety of units to it, i.e., DAMOP, DLS, DPP, societies the membership of the have shifted over the years, the APS and Optical Physics (DAMOP); but, careers in science or technology. etc. We also should encourage all APS has not been growing in re- March Meeting has remained a so far as I know, nothing has hap- They need exposure to fields beyond of the units that participate in this cent years. fixed point on my professional cal- pened. Similarly, the Division of their areas of specialization, and they new general meeting to make it Why do physicists join the APS? endar. I know that a large fraction Plasma Physics (DPP) declined a pro- also need opportunities to talk with their principal event, including their In the past, the answer was simple. of the most active people in my ar- posal to merge with the April people who might offer them jobs. most urgent special symposia. We joined because we wanted to be eas of interest will be there, and that meeting and move the whole event That’s what happens at the March It’s already too late to make these part of and to support the larger the speakers will bring me up to date, to the fall. Plasma physics, a field of Meeting, where recently I have been changes quickly; we have had to physics community; and also be- not just in my current specialty, but wide-ranging importance, is under seeing not just large numbers of book facilities three or more years cause membership was essential to in many other areas where relevant stress because of funding crises in young people, but also large num- in advance for all APS meetings and our professional careers. We needed ideas may be emerging. its key area of fusion energy. I think bers of employers competing for cannot reasonably change those ready access to the Physical Review, The March Meeting is big, but it it might be enormously important for their services. I think that all our commitments. Given that lead time, and we came to the regular APS may not yet be big enough. I think the DPP to take advantage of the units ought to be providing the same however, large-scale changes are fea- meetings to exchange ideas and in- we need to bring back more indus- strengths of the APS in broadening opportunities for young physicists. sible. We have a highly professional formation. Today, however, neither trial physics; FIAP and other units its horizons. meetings department, led by Donna of the latter motives is as compelling and topical groups are working hard For some years, the Division of “By far the most Baudrau, that has gained valuable ex- as they once seemed. to do so. I’d also like to see more Computational Physics (DCOMP) perience in organizing large events The APS is by far the world’s lead- active participation by the Division has met in conjunction with the compelling advantage of such as the Centennial celebration ing publisher of scholarly physics of Fluid Dynamics and, more gener- March Meeting. I have gone to their big meetings is their in Atlanta and the increasingly com- journals, and publishing remains ally, more aggressive efforts by many sessions quite often, not just out of special importance for plex March Meeting. With a competent one of its very most important re- units to include sessions in far-flung idle curiosity, but because some talks young physicists.” and well-staffed meetings department, sponsibilities. However, individual interdisciplinary areas of soft con- were directly relevant to my current we shall find it much easier and more subscriptions to the Physical Review densed-matter physics, biology, research and I needed to know what economical to organize unit meet- no longer make sense for most of us. complex systems, and the like. If our was happening. This year, DCOMP There are yet other advantages ings as components of general We count on our home institutions to units continue to work together con- has decided to hold a stand-alone of large meetings. The March Meet- meetings rather than as stand-alone buy “site licenses” that give us access, structively in these efforts, we’ll be meeting because, I am told, they ing is big enough to attract substantial events. And, the more our meetings via our computers, to a huge database in very good shape. want to emphasize that computa- numbers of commercial exhibitors, business grows, the better the ser- of scientific literature. Thus, access to Now for the bad news. tion is just as relevant to particle whose presence adds greatly to the vice we’ll be able to provide. the APS journals has been discon- The only other general APS meet- and astrophysics as it is to con- professional content of the meeting. I don’t think that we can wait much nected from membership in APS. ing is the one we hold in April. I densed matter. That’s absolutely The March Meeting is also big longer to reform the APS meetings. Like That leaves the APS meetings as seldom went to the April Meeting true. But why, then, deprive all but enough to provide an effective fo- any competitive business whose suc- our single most important member- until I joined the presidential line. In the specialists of the chance to at- rum for discussing general issues cess depends on building and ship benefit. There are other the spring of 2000, however, I had tend their sessions? such as federal science funding, elec- maintaining customer loyalty, our meet- benefits, of course: free subscrip- official responsibilities at the meet- I fully realize that small, indepen- tronic publication, or trends in ings business is intrinsically unstable. tions to Physics Today, participation ing in Long Beach; and my concern dent unit meetings are a education. A year ago in Minneapo- The APS meetings must be visibly the in APS educational and public out- about what I saw there is a major long-standing APS tradition. In lis, about 2,000 people attended a most important and exciting events of reach activities or in human rights part of my reason for writing this many ways, they can be more com- special session on the proposed fed- their kind, attractive especially to advocacy. Our established purpose, article. The April Meeting has de- fortable than big general meetings, eral initiative in nanoscale science young scientists who are moving into however, is to “advance and diffuse clined to less than one quarter the and the organizers have a better and technology. The speakers — all new areas of physics and related fields. the knowledge of physics,” and our size of the March Meeting. Most of sense of being in control of the pro- key players in the field — found this The alternative is that we shall lose core competence is as a scientific so- the APS divisions that participate in gram and extracurricular activities a useful forum for engaging a large some of these meetings, perhaps ciety. Therefore, our core rationale organizing it hold their own sepa- such as banquets and award cer- fraction of the relevant scientific quickly and suddenly, and then the very for membership had better be sci- rate meetings elsewhere and at other emonies. But small meetings do not community in the national debate. future of our Society will be in jeop- ence, not public affairs. If future times. Few, if any, of my colleagues take best advantage of the strengths I belong to two other scientific so- ardy. We cannot continue to be generations of physicists join the APS that I saw last April seemed to use of the Society as a whole. Larger cieties that are in many ways influential in public affairs, or even to primarily because they agree with this meeting as a principal profes- meetings are much more natural comparable to the APS: the American remain a major, non-profit, publisher our positions on issues of public sional activity in the way that many mechanisms for providing interac- Geophysical Union, and the Materials of scientific journals, unless we main- policy, then we will be known prima- of us use the March Meeting. Promi- tive, cross-disciplinary opportunities, Research Society. Both are growing or- tain our unique identity as a broadly rily for those positions rather than nent physicists came to give their and it is relatively easy for a large ganizations that are providing representative, membership-based sci- for our scientific objectivity, and we invited talks or receive prizes and society like the APS to organize important leadership for their fields. entific organization. will become less effective in both then left as soon as possible. There them efficiently. In contrast, nei- Like the APS, both publish research James S. Langer was President of science and public outreach. were essentially no commercial ther the APS nor its units have journals. Unlike the APS, however, APS in 2000.

APS News welcomes and encourages letters and submissions from its members responding to these and other issues. Responses may be sent to: [email protected].