A P S N E W S DECEMBER 1999 THE AMERICAN PHYSICAL SOCIETY VOLUME 8, NO. 11 [Try the enhanced APS News-online: http://www.aps.org/apsnews] APSCelebrate News APS a Century 100 of years Physics William Brinkman Elected APS Vice President embers of the APS have elected VICE PRESIDENT of $200M, he is strongly interested in im- libraries for paper versions of its journals, MWilliam F. Brinkman, physical WILLIAM F. BRINKMAN proving technology conversion and perhaps, says Brinkman, through institu- sciences research vice president at Bell Bell Laboratories/Lucent Technologies improving the connection between re- tional flat fees. He also spoke of the need Laboratories/Lucent Technologies, to be search and products. Brinkman was the for the APS to continue to be involved in the Society’s next vice president. Brinkman re- recipient of the 1994 George E. Pake Prize. public affairs that relate to the concerns of Brinkman’s term begins January 1, 2000, ceived his PhD in In his candidate’s statement, Brinkman its members as physicists. “High on this when he will succeed George Trilling physics from the spoke of the growing diversity of the phys- list must be the health of our physics re- (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory), University of Mis- ics community and the need for the Society search enterprise. We must work to make who will advance to become president- souri in 1965. He to continue to embrace new groups with physics attractive to students and to cre- elect. Brinkman will become APS president joined Bell Labora- topical interests that range from applica- ate interesting career paths for them,” in 2002. The 2000 president is James tories in 1966 after tions in computing and communications wrote Brinkman. “Among other things, this Langer (University of California, Santa spending one to medicine. As electronic publishing requires working toward ensuring the nec- Barbara). [Look for our annual interview year as an NSF moves into the mainstream, the APS must essary funds for our research.” with the incoming APS president in the Postdoctoral Fellow at Oxford University. find a way to recover the charges paid by Continued on page 9 January 2000 APS News.] He moved to Sandia in 1984, but returned In other election results, Curtis C. Callan to Bell Laboratories in 1987 to become of Princeton University was elected chair- Executive Director of the Physics Research Atomic Collisions elect of the APS Nominating Committee, Division. In 1993, he became Physical Sci- which will be chaired by Michael S. Turner ences Research Vice President, his current of the University of Chicago and Fermilab position. His responsibilities include the in 2000. The Nominating Committee se- direction of research in physical sciences, lects the slate of candidates for vice optoelectronic and electronic devices, fi- president, general councillors, and its own ber optics and related areas. chair-elect. The nomination committee He has worked on theories of con- choices are then voted on by the APS densed matter and his early work also membership. Elected as new general involved the theory of spin fluctuations in councillors were Stuart Freedman (Univer- metals and other highly correlated Fermi sity of California, Berkeley, Lawrence liquids. Subsequent theoretical work on liq- Berkeley National Laboratory), Margaret uid crystals and incommensurate systems Murnane (University of Colorado), Philip are additional important contributions he Phillips (University of Illinois, Urbana- made to the theoretical understanding of Seen here is a 2D stroboscopic history of the collision of four diatomic molecules, a Champaign), and Jin-Joo Song (Oklahoma condensed matter. As manager of an in- tetratomic molecule, and an atom. The image is one of a series by Eric Heller currently on State University). dustrial research organization with a budget display at the American Center for Physics. See page 8 for more on the exhibit.

Inside… ‘t Hooft and Veltman Awarded Nobel Prize in Physics; NEWS Zewail Wins Nobel Prize in Chemistry To Advance and Diffuse the Knowledge of Physics ...... 2 n October, the 1999 Nobel Prize for as a prototype for other gauge theories an important quarry at places like Public affairs and the war years. IPhysics was awarded to Gerardus (theories which show how forces arise Fermilab’s Tevatron and CERN’s Large FESTIVAL PROFILE ...... 3 ‘t Hooft of the University of Utrecht and from underlying symmetries), such as the Hadron Collider. Exploring our fractal universe. New Faces at APS Headquarters ...... 3 Martinus Veltman, formerly of the electroweak theory, which assimilates The 1999 Nobel Prize in Chemistry Hicks is the new Associate Publisher; Otwell joins University of Michigan and now retired, the electromagnetic and weak nuclear was awarded to Ahmed H. Zewail of as an Education Programs Administrator. for their work toward deriving a unified forces into a single model. Caltech, for developing a technique that IN BRIEF ...... 3 framework for all the physical forces. But the electroweak model too was enables scientists to watch the extremely Townes wins Annunzio award; DHPP is now DPOLY; DNP Junior Investigator Program; Physics Their efforts, part of a tradition going vulnerable to infinities and physicists were rapid middle stages of a chemical reac- in Popular Culture. back to the 19th century, centers around worried that the theory would be use- tion. Relying on ultra-fast laser pulses, MEETING BRIEFS ...... 6 the search for underlying similarities or less. Then ‘t Hooft and Veltman overcame “femtosecond spectroscopy” can pro- Fall section meeting summaries. Physics Nobel Laureates Support CTBT .... 6 symmetries among disparate the difficulty through a renormalization vide snapshots far faster than any The APS spoke out in support for the Compre- phenomena, and the formulation of these comparable to Feynman’s. They suc- camera—it can capture the motions of hensive Test Ban Treaty. relations in a complex but elegant ceeded in renormalizing a non-Abelian atoms within molecules in the time scale Wavelength Division Multiplexing: An mathematical language. A past example gauge theory. Getting the non-Abelian of femtoseconds. Optical Communication Revolution ...... 7 Donald Scifres on a new technology that en- would be James Clerk Maxwell’s electroweak model to work was a formi- An atom in a molecule typically per- ables fiber optic cables to carry many separate demonstration that electricity and dable theoretical problem. An essential forms a single vibration in just 10-100 wavelength signals or channels simultaneously. magnetism are two aspects of a single ingredient in this scheme was the exist- femtoseconds, so this technique is fast Congressional Fellow Report ...... 7 electro-magnetic force. ence of another particle, the Higgs boson, enough to discern each and every step Antonia Herzog reflect on her year as APS Congressional Fellow on the Hill. Naturally this unification enterprise has whose role is to confer mass upon many of any known chemical reaction. Shining BELTWAY BRIEFS ...... 8 met with various obstacles along the way. of the known particles. For example, in- pairs of femtosecond laser pulses on Goings on in Washington. In this century quantum mechanics was teractions between the Higgs boson and molecules (the first to initiate a reaction New Microscope for Materials ...... 9 LBL researchers devise a new microwave probe. combined with special relativity, resulting the various force-carrying particles result and the second to probe it) and study- in quantum field theory. This theory in the W and Z bosons (carriers of the weak ing what type of light they absorb yields OPINION successfully explained many phenomena, force) being massive (with masses of 80 information on the atoms’ positions within LETTERS ...... 4 such as how particles could be created or and 91 GeV, respectively) but the photon the molecules at every step of a chemi- VIEWPOINT ...... 4 Irving Lerch on international collaborations: annihilated or how unstable particles (carrier of the electromagnetic force) re- cal reaction. With this technique, Zewail cost-effective or a give-away? decay, but it also seemed to predict, maining massless. and his colleagues first studied (in the Conceptualizing a New Degree ...... 5 nonsensically, that the likelihood for certain With Veltman’s and ‘t Hooft’s theo- late 1980s) a 200-femtosecond disinte- Sheila Tobias on the professional masters degree. interactions could be infinitely large. retical machinery in hand, physicists gration of iodocyanide, observing the DEPARTMENTS Richard Feynman, along with Julian could more reliably estimate the masses precise moment at which a chemical ZERO GRAVITY ...... 5 Schwinger and Sin-Itiro Tomonaga, tamed of the W and Z, as well as produce at bond between iodine and carbon was The 1999 Ig Nobel prizes these infinities by redefining the mass least a crude guide as to the likely mass about to break. INSIDE THE BELTWAY ...... 6 and charge of the electron in a process of the top quark. Happily, the W, Z, and Since then, femtochemistry has re- Sinking the Test Ban Treaty. ANNOUNCEMENTS ...... 10-11 called renormalization. Their theory, top quark were subsequently created and vealed a whole new class of intermediate THE BACK PAGE ...... 12 quantum electrodynamics (QED), is the detected in high energy collision experi- chemical compounds that exist less than Roger Highfield on the physics of Christmas. most precise theory known, and it serves ments, and the Higgs boson is now itself Continued on page 9 APS News December 1999

To Advance & Diffuse Public Affairs Until recently, the American Physical Society the Knowledge of Physics prided itself on its aloofness from matters of public policy. It saw itself as an organization 100 Years of the American Physical Society devoted exclusively to the affairs of pure science. The archival record tells another story, and one of Excerpts from an exhibit displayed at the APS Centennial Meeting. which the Society might equally be proud. Curator: Sara Schechner, Gnomon Research Time and again the Society entered the field of Exhibit Director: Barrett Ripin politics — with petitions to Congress, telegrams to With contributions by Harry Lustig, R. Mark Wilson, and others. news agencies, and well-placed letters — in order to defend the scientific integrity, freedom, and loyalty of its members. During the war years, the APS was responsive to the needs of national security without losing sight of the long-term goals of international cooperation. AIP Niels Bohr Library

Scientists at Los Alamos, circa 1942.

“The Physicists’ War” One consequence of World War II was the mobilization of physicists for war work. Radar research was undertaken at MIT’s Rad Lab, and the atom bomb project was carried out at Los Work at the Rad Lab, MIT. Excerpt from Hans Bethe’s 1954 telegram to the press in defense of Oppenheimer. Alamos, Chicago, Hanford, and Oak Ridge. Science without Borders In November 1945—three months after the end of the war—the APS Self-Censorship AIP Niels Bohr Library Council voted to treat German and Oppenheimer with Major W. A. “Lex” Stevens War work had impact on the Japanese members the same as other on a trip to select the test site for the first Society’s meetings and publications. foreign members. Gifts of wartime and atomic bomb, 1944. Many members were involved in postwar issues of the Physical Review and classified defense work and had to Reviews of Modern Physics were sent to forego their prewar research. German and Japanese universities in 1948. During the national emergency, Such actions led McCarthyites to view many scientists took the extraordinary step physicists with suspicion during the Cold AIP Niels Bohr Library to set up an office of censorship War. Former APS presidents Edward without direction from the federal Condon and Robert Oppenheimer were government. among those blacklisted.

Seeking Truth without Regard to Politics In 1900, APS encouraged the U.S. Congress to set up the National Bureau of Standards. In 1953, APS again came to the Bureau’s support when its director, Allen V. Astin, resigned under pressure from the Secretary of Commerce. At issue was a battery additive that NBS had tested and found did not extend battery life as advertised by the manufacturer. Astin was eventually reinstated.

Petition submitted by Washington D.C. area APS members in April 1953 in support of Astin (detail).

Referees’ report advising delay in publication of a paper by AIP Niels Bohr Library G. Placzek on fission. Next Month: Consciousness Raising: Turbulent 60s

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2 December 1999 APS News New Faces at APS Headquarters wo new people joined APS staff’s festival profile TCollege Park, MD, headquarters in October. Barbara Hicks joined the Society Exploring Our Fractal Universe as associate publisher replacing Mina Chung, and Suzanne Otwell is the new he lights are dimmed in the generate music. education programs administrator, auditorium at the Atlanta College of Voss’ early work replacing long-time APS veteran Tara T Art, and Richard Voss is playing a simple has given rise to McLoughlin, who now works for the melody for the audience. But unlike a proliferation of American Psychiatric Association. traditionally composed music, this “composers” of Hicks comes to the APS after 18 years Barbara Hicks Suzanne Otwell melody was generated by a computer, fractal music, us- with the Optical Society of America and is based on the fluctuations of 30 ing specially (OSA), initially as director of meetings A graduate of Smith College, Otwell years of IBM stock prices. Voss, who is in designed software and conferences, and later as part of came to the APS from ASPEN, a medical town for the APS Centennial meeting, to generate the OSA’s marketing program in its devel- and scientific association. She will be sup- offers it as an aural representation of same types of opment and business strategies porting the APS Committee on Education Brownian motion as part of his scheduled feedback pro- department. The focus of her work with and its work on women’s issues through lecture on fractal patterns in modern cesses used to Richard Voss APS is to assist in maintaining the Society’s the APS Committee on Status of Women culture. create fractral images. non-member subscriptions. in Physics. A professor of physics and mathemat- The same concept can be applied to ics at Florida Atlantic University’s Center the visual arts. In the 1980s, Voss analyzed for Complex Systems and Brain Science, ancient Chinese landscape paintings from Voss specializes in scientific computer various historical periods at the request IN BRIEF graphics and the application of fractals of James Watt, curator for Asian art at not only to the natural sciences, but to New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art. art, music, literature, the stock market, He determined the dimension of brush Townes Receives Annunzio Award cancer cells, and even the organization strokes in each painting, and found that In October, the second annual $100,000 Frank Annunzio of base pairs of DNA. “Mandelbrot’s those considered superior by art historians Award was presented by the Christopher Columbus Fellow- mathematical language of fractals has (the earlier landscapes) had fractal ship Foundation to Charles Hard Townes, inventor of the revolutionized the application of geomet- dimensions comparable to those of laser. Townes is a professor of physics at the University of ric constructs in the sciences, and typical coastlines: between 1.25 and California at Berkeley, Berkeley, CA. Townes, a fellow of the drastically changed the image of math- 1.33. In fact, the difference between the APS, received the APS Plyer Prize in 1997 and the Nobel ematics,” he says. “Fractal geometry and fractal dimensions of the earlier and later Prize in Physics in 1964. The laser was developed out of his chaos theory provide new tools and uni- paintings turned out to correspond to microwave work on molecules at Bell Telephone Labs in the fying concepts that bridge the traditional sociological changes of the time. The early 1950s. He was trying to produce a wavelength shorter Charles Townes boundaries between science, art and fi- early landscapes were done by painters than a few millimeters in order to extend his spectroscopic studies. The concept nance.” working away from urban areas in the on how to accomplish this came to him early one morning in 1951 while sitting on Voss earned a PhD in condensed mat- countryside, and hence their work a park bench. Townes envisioned using radiation to stimulate a molecule or atom ter physics from the University of involved objects repeated at different to give up energy, thus increasing the radiation intensity. This was the invention California, Berkeley, in 1975. He joined sizes, one of the defining characteristics of the MASER, Microwave Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation, which the IBM research division that same year, of fractals. In contrast, the later paintings was the basic idea behind the LASER which uses light amplification. and found himself working closely with were done by court artists living in urban The Frank Annunzio Award is presented to a living American whose innova- areas, and involved brush tive thinking has had a significant and beneficial impact on society. It is named strokes that were simpler and for the Honorable Frank Annunzio who served as a Member of Congress from smoother; the paintings were the State of Illinois for 28 years, and was the visionary behind the establishment more of an abstraction of of the Columbus Foundation. The Christopher Columbus Fellowship Founda- natural objects and struck tion is an independent Federal government agency established by Congress to Watt and his fellow art encourage and support research, study and labor designed to produce new historians as being much less discoveries in all fields of endeavor for the benefit of mankind. interesting. The fact that human beings DNP Establishes Junior Investigator Program are drawn to objects that ex- The APS Division of Nuclear Physics and the DOE have announced the initia- hibit a specific fractal tion of an Outstanding Junior Investigator Program to support the development dimension is not surprising to of individual research programs of outstanding scientists early in their careers. Voss, or others working in his Grant applications for support are invited from tenure-track faculty currently field. Voss conducted a study involved in experimental or theoretical nuclear physics research falling within Fractal images from Sprott’s Fractal Gallery website: with perceptual psychologist http://sprott.physics.wisc.edu/fractals.htm the full range of activities currently supported by the Division of Nuclear Phys- Bernice Rogowitz, in which ics and the DOE. The deadline is November 16, 1999. For complete information the “father of fractals” himself, Benoit subjects were shown randomly generated see the web page at the URL http://www.er.doe.gov/production/grants/ Mandelbrot, who first coined the term in fractal cloud patterns and asked to indi- fr99_25.html or contact Dr. Dennis G. Kovar, Division of Nuclear Physics, SC-23 1975 to describe patterns or objects that cate in which cases they perceived (GTN), U.S. Department of Energy, 19901 Germantown Road, Germantown, exhibit similar patterns and structures at objects in the pictures. He found that sub- Maryland 20874-1290. Telephone: (301) 903-3613, Fax: (301) 903-3833. different size scales. jects saw more objects in those patterns Certain fractal geometries exist only with fractal dimensions corresponding to APS Division Gets Off Its “High” Horse in the abstract world of mathematics, but those found in nature. To Voss, this is The APS Division of High Polymer Physics — the second-oldest division within the Mandelbrot, Voss and others have found suggestive of a particular sensitivity for Society, having been established in 1944 — has voted to change its name to the APS that many fractal patterns provide use- fractal patterns in the human perceptual Division of Polymer Physics (DPOLY). According to Andrew Lovinger (National Science ful models for the irregular shapes found system, which he does not find surpris- Foundation), the division’s councillor, the use of “High Polymer” in the division’s in nature, which don’t follow traditional ing. “The human perceptual system name stemmed from the original German terminology for those new materials Euclidean geometries of perfectly regu- evolved in nature, which exhibits many whose high molecular weight was responsible for their unique properties. [A low lar circles and squares. “The structures fractal patterns,” he says. “We live in an molecular weight polymer would have the properties of a liquid or a wax.] How- we find in the natural world, going from irregular world in time and space that is ever, over the last few decades, the high molecular weight aspects of polymers the smallest microscopic scales to the very much at the boundary between pre- have been taken for granted, and a new term, “oligomer,” is used to describe low largest intergalactic scales, are mimicked dictable and unpredictable behavior.” molecular weight polymers, making the modifier “high” redundant. Also, the terminol- in the structures we see at human scales However, Voss cautions against attach- ogy “led to the natural question of whether polymers have high physics and low on Earth,” says Voss. “If you want to un- ing too much importance to such physics, or variants thereof,” says Lovinger. “A majority of the division members felt that derstand, simulate and ultimately measurements of fractal dimension, a change of name would not only more accurately reflect the interests of the division, manipulate nature, you need to under- which can be a difficult property to pin but would attract additional membership.” The division members voted for the name stand its language, and the language of down accurately because of the infinity change and the APS Council has approved it last May. nature turns out to be mathematics.” of different shapes that can be analyzed It was during the early period of his within any given image. “So specific mea- Physics In Popular Culture career — beginning when he was still a surements — including those I have Physics has been making cameo appearances in mass media culture during the APS graduate student — that Voss discovered made — need to be taken with a grain Centennial year. In September, an episode of Jeopardy! included a category of ques- that a wide variety of music from differ- of salt,” he says. tions on “A Century of Physics,” which even mentioned the APS by name. And novelist ent historical periods and cultures In 1995 Voss left IBM and joined the Thomas Harris’ new thriller, Hannibal — the sequel to his best-selling Silence of the followed the same patterns as many Center for Complex Systems and Brain Lambs, the film version of which won several Oscars in 1991 — contains a surprising natural phenomena, illustrated by the Science at Florida Atlantic University. His reference of its own. On page 263 of the hardcover version, FBI agent Clarice Starling melody line generated by IBM stock recent work involves applying fractal is attempting to track serial killer Hannibal “the cannibal” Lecter by cross-checking new prices. In music, this enables one to analysis to financial variables, such as subscriptions to various cultural journals Lecter has subscribed to in the past. The only make a reasonably accurate guess as to seeming randomness in stock price pat- one mentioned by name? The Physical Review. what the next note might be in a given terns, as well as to digital mammography piece of music; it can also be used to Continued on page 8 3 APS News December 1999 OPINION

VIEWPOINT... LETTERS

International Collaboration: Happer to Remain on Princeton Team In a letter to APS News, Dan Kleppner pointed out that a recent article on MRI Cost Effective or a Give-Away? rare gas imaging had failed to mention that this new and valuable technique was by Irving A. Lerch, APS International Affairs conceived and developed by William Happer of Yale University. It falls to me to correct the corrector: Will Happer is a member of the Physics Department of t’s estimated that from 70% to as Let’s look at Princeton University and we have no intention of trading him to Yale! Imuch as 80% in the expansion of our how we distrib- Curtis G. Callan, Jr., Princeton University, Princeton New Jersey economy is technology-driven, uted these funds. derived from the most productive The bar graph be- Readers Reply to Chodos Regarding Foreign Students system of scientific innovation in the low summarizes In his back page article (APS News, October 1999), Alan Chodos claims that “the world. This is also true of our national the contributions ability to change this [perceived shortage of American physicists] rests very little with security. Science is indispensable to by agency. Set- professors in universities.” But professors can do a lot, because declining interest in the development and maintenance of ting aside NASA, physics stems largely from faculty disinterest in teaching. The hiring, pay, promotions the nation’s arsenals. The Department most of the funds and tenure of essentially every faculty member at PhD-granting departments is based of Energy’s Nuclear Stockpile are contributed by Irving A. Lerch nearly exclusively on research. Most departments are eager to hire promising research- Stewardship Program is central to the DoD, US AID, NSF and DoE (this ers, regardless of teaching skills. This imbalance has implications for K-12 education, for safety and reliability of American would be rearranged today if we ac- congressional and public attitudes, and for the much-lamented problems of physics. nuclear weapons and to our hope for count for the DoE and NSF Here at the University of Arkansas, we have demonstrated that attention to students a worldwide ban on nuclear tests. But contributions to the CERN Large Had- can have big payoffs. We have added two new applied BS tracks geared toward this program will fail without a ron Collider project). The inset graph immediate employment, broken our large introductory course into smaller sections continuing intense development effort illustrates the disciplines being sup- that combine lecture and lab, added a BA physics degree for students headed for based on cutting-edge science. And a ported (excluding the international careers in such non-physics fields as business and law, expanded our course for non- great deal of the science needed is space station). scientists, added two applied interdisciplinary MS programs and an MA degree for being pursued in fundamental non- It is certainly easy to point to the teachers, and paid greater attention to teaching and mentoring. The result? Physics weapons-related research around the importance of the geological sciences, course enrollments are up, the number of physics majors is up, and the physics bacca- world. physics, biomedicine and materials en- laureate graduate rate is up from an average of 2.5 per year during 1990-1997 to 12 in Science expresses the collective in- gineering to our national interest. But 1998, 13 in 1999 and 16 on track for 2000. telligence of humankind and it cannot while the study develops a framework Art Hobson, University of Arkansas be impounded by any nation. As is true for assessing the impact on national pri- of the world’s economy, so is science orities in science and technology, it When APS was founded at the turn of the last century, Europe was the world center global. Any impediment to the ex- does not answer the question of of physics. Americans went to Europe to learn physics, and the shift to America was the change of ideas serves only to isolate whether the return on investment is result at least in part of mass immigration of European physicists to the US in the 1930s. and degrade both international and warranted. The largest investments — Thus the internationalism of physics has been one of its characteristic, proud features domestic inquiry. But what are we to excluding the space program — are in and great strengths, and Americans have learned more than they have taught. Today, make of the return to the U.S. from its support of national security. America is a magnet for foreign physics students in part because of the wealth of international S&T investments over the If we ask ourselves what’s at stake federal funding available for physics. It is very hard, therefore, to understand why years? in this debate over the value of our Chodos expects increased federal funding to shift the national composition of physics Many of you may be familiar with investments in international coopera- students in favor of Americans. And it is not obvious that such a shift should be engi- the 1997 Rand Corporation Study by tion, we can make a relatively simple neered as a matter of policy. Once we start down the road of national selectivity in C.S. Wagner entitled, International Co- back-of-the-envelope calculation. In science, we move in the direction of quotas and other forms of restriction, such as operation in Research and a recent study of organizational com- characterized medical school admissions in the US in the 1930s, and which now are Development: an Inventory of US Gov- plexity, Barbara Drossel of the thankfully behind us. Assuming that to first approximation national groups contribute to ernment Spending and a Framework University of Manchester invoked a the pool of physics talent in proportion to their numbers, it is reasonable that students of for Measuring Benefits. The study re- model for productivity dependent Asian origin should be particularly numerous. We should be grateful that they favor American ports that in FY95, U.S. Government upon the numbers of partners in a schools as much as they do and that so many remain in this country. Our need for scientific support for international cooperation group and impediments to commu- manpower is such that currently 55,000 persons with special skills are exempted from our and development exceeded $3.3 bil- nication. Drossel assumes that group immigration quotas. In World War II, we learned from experience with nationals of Japanese lion. This constituted about 4.5% of the productivity per number of cooper- origin that national origin alone should not be a test of security risk, while native-borns like total annual federal research and de- ating individuals increases as the size Aldrich Ames and the Walkers did us incalculable damage. We need better tools for credibility velopment budget. Of this, of the group but is depreciated by assessment in security investigations — not a xenophobic manpower policy. three-quarters goes directly to support the costs of maintaining connectiv- Lawrence Cranberg, Austin, Texas research collaborations. Why do we ity within the group. This yields a spend so much on international collabo- very simple model where the pro- In his article concerning a shortage of American-born physicists for national secu- ration? Wagner enumerates four ductivity gain of a group per rity projects, Alan Chodos has ignored an obvious source of talent - those of us who reasons: member is proportional to the num- were working for the national security at the national labs and other federal and • scale of equipment or investment bers of members and is reduced by private laboratories but were laid off or forced into early retirement at the conclu- is large the square of the numbers of mem- sion of the SDI program. The question that occurs to me, however, is do we really • project is global bers. So long as the cost of need another large national effort on behalf of national security? • unique expertise is located maintaining the group is very much Bill P. Curry, Ph.D., EMSciTek Consulting Co. elsewhere smaller than the costs of communi- New DOE Polygraph Rules Don’t Protect National Security • mission of funding agency is to cation, group productivity will climb The Department of Energy’s proposed new polygraph policy should be of con- support international cooperation as members are added, eventually cern to many physicists. All APS members in particular should realize that polygraph I will add one other element: Self- reaching a peak and plunging nega- screening has no theoretical foundation and is without validity; anyone can be taught organized collaborations yield tive as more and more of the group’s to beat this type of polygraph examination in a few minutes. Any spies at our prodigious increases in productivity for resources go into maintenance. national laboratories will take those few minutes and more to learn to beat the the core activity, member scientists and As the cost of maintaining the group polygraph. The following sources should make this clear: cooperating institutions. Continued on page 5 Drew C. Richardson, testimony to the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, http://www.nopolygraph.com/drewtest.htm Charles R. Honts, “Counterintelligence Scope Polygraph Test Found to be Poor Discriminator,” Forensic Reports, 5 (1992), pp. 215-218. Scientific Validity of Polygraph Resting: A Research Review and Evaluation — A Technical Memorandum. Washington DC: U.S. Congress, Office of Technology Assessment, OTA-TM-H-15, November 1983. David T. Lykken. A Tremor in the Blood: Uses and Abuses of the Lie Detector. 2 nd ed. New York: Plenum, 1998. By substituting cheaper polygraph exams for more expensive background in- vestigations, the DOE is shirking its duty to protect America’s atomic secrets. The proposed rules fail to protect both national security interests and employees, and I urge the DOE to rescind its proposed polygraph rules and to use its discretionary authority to halt all polygraph screening of DOE and contractor employees. For an account of my personal experience with the polygraph — I was falsely accused of being a spy — see http://www.nopolygraph.com/captain_jones.htm George W. Maschke, University of California, Los Angeles

4 December 1999 APS News OPINION

zero Conceptualizing a New Degree gravity by Sheila Tobias

eginning in the 1990s, concern post-baccalaureate alternatives for science The 1999 Ig Nobel Prizes Bbegan to be expressed as to the and mathematics majors who don’t wish The 1999 Ig Nobel Prizes, presented underenrollment of university students to do medicine or engineering, or pursue for achievements that “cannot or in physics. In the U.S., where university a research PhD, but do not wish to leave should not be reproduced,” were students can switch in and out of majors science altogether. awarded at Harvard’s Sanders Theatre throughout their course of study, failure Until now, these students have had on September 20 before 1200 specta- to recruit is compounded by failure to nowhere to go, except directly into in- tors in a ceremony filled with hijinks, retain. U.S. colleges and universities have dustry where, as terminal BS or BA degree paper airplanes, and tea bags. The lost 16% of their first-degree physics holders they are housed in research labs Prizes were physically handed to the graduates in the last five years (24% in as techies. There is of course the MBA or winners by genuine Nobel Laureates the last 10 years), dropping from a law option. But for many of the students William Lipscomb (Chemistry ’76), nationwide annual graduating cohort of we are eager to serve, such post-graduate Dudley Herschbach (Chemistry ’86), Eric Workman 4,600 to 3,800 — a 40-year low — options cause them to have to reinvent Sheldon Glashow (Physics ’79), and Ig Nobel 1999, as seen from a vantage compared to the production annually of themselves as law or business students, point behind the winners and authority Robert Wilson (Physics ’78) before a figures on stage. 78,000 engineers. and to compete with students who, while paper-airplane-throwing audience of In fact, fewer than one-third of U.S. not well-schooled in mathematics or sci- 1200 people. Education, for mandating that children physics majors actually become “physi- ence, are able to compete with them in should not believe in Darwin’s theory cists” (as defined by the profession). the arts of advocacy and/or marketing. The event was produced by the sci- of evolution any more than they be- Research findings indicate that students do The Sloan Foundation — along with the ence humor magazine Annals of lieve in Newton’s theory of gravitation, not choose science in general, physics in Keck Foundation, the mathematics com- Improbable Research (AIR), and co- Faraday’s and Maxwell’s theory of elec- particular, because of “narrowness of munity, and local initiatives at a few dozen sponsored by the Harvard Computer tromagnetism, or Pasteur’s theory that study” and “inflexibility” as regards future universities — supports the new profes- Society, and the Harvard-Radcliffe Sci- germs cause disease. employment. Given these findings, per- sional master’s degree with hopes of ence Fiction Association. The evening haps a physics curriculum designed to positively impacting the science/math also featured numerous tributes to the MEDICINE: Dr. Arvid Vatle of Stord, prepare students for further physics study is pipeline in a number of ways: seed re- theme of “Heredity,” including a pa- Norway, for carefully collecting, clas- not the most appropriate curriculum for the form in graduate education more rade of descendants of famous sifying, and contemplating which kinds rest. Not just the teaching, textbook and labo- generally; keep non-research oriented stu- scientists, and a mini-opera (about hu- of containers his patients chose when ratory, but the physics curricula are being dents in the major; provide a cadre of man cloning) starring the Nobel submitting urine samples. increasingly subjected to review. Supported science-trained professionals useful to busi- Laureates and millenial mezzo-soprano CHEMISTRY: Takeshi Makino, president by national funding and by one another, we ness, industry and government; and bring Margot Button. Sheldon Glashow was of The Safety Detective Agency in Osaka, now have a large number of physicists — more science-trained people into the the prize in the annual Win-a-Date- Japan, for his involvement with S-Check, even Centers for Physics Education Research power centers which tend to be over- With-a-Nobel-Laureate Contest. The an infidelity detection spray that wives can — dealing with the “best practices” in the populated with professionals from the law event was televised live on the apply to their husbands’ underwear. teaching of physics and the training of phys- and finance communities. Internet. To see a video recording of ics instructors, as well as the productive uses Thus, the professional MS in science and the entire ceremony, go to the web BIOLOGY: Paul Bosland of The Chile of “project-based teaching,” “workshop phys- mathematics is characterized not only by site http://www.ignobel.org Pepper Institute, at New Mexico State ics,” and “peer instruction.” new subject matter, but also by new University, Las Cruces, New Mexico, for But is this enough? Will improved peda- pedagogies and new means of evaluating SOCIOLOGY: Steve Penfold, of York breeding a spiceless jalapeño chile gogy be sufficiently attractive to win back applicants for admission and matriculation. University in Toronto, for doing his pepper. the physics student who likes and does The new professional MS degree programs PhD thesis on the sociology of Cana- ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION: well at physics, but isn’t inspired by the are not identical. Some involve an emerg- dian donut shops. Hyuk-ho Kwon of Kolon Company of career options currently available? Some ing new field, such as bioinformatics; others PHYSICS: Awarded jointly to: Dr. Len Seoul, Korea, for inventing the self-per- of us who care both about the continued interdisciplinary study, such as computa- Fisher of Bath, England and Sydney, fuming business suit. health of physics and about the lack of tional sciences; still others, science/ Australia for calculating the optimal physics-trained professionals populating mathematics “plus” business, law, organi- PEACE: Charl Fourie and Michelle way to dunk a biscuit …and to… Pro- other fields (e.g. banks, Foundations, gov- zational theory and communication. New Wong of Johannesburg, South Africa, fessor Jean-Marc Vanden-Broeck of the ernment) think that, in addition to pedagogies are also being discussed, such for inventing an automobile burglar University of East Anglia, England, and improvements in teaching, some alto- as case studies within a modular schedule alarm consisting of a detection circuit Belgium, for calculating how to make gether new graduate degree programs are at the Keck Graduate Institute; a lab rota- and a flamethrower. a teapot spout that does not drip. called for, leading to careers related to tion through a variety of cutting-edge MANAGED HEALTH CARE: The late physics but not circumscribed by physics and research fields at the University of Arizona; LITERATURE: The British Standards George and Charlotte Blonsky of New its immediate applications. Those involved and, at Michigan State University, a series Institution for its six-page specification York City and San Jose, California, for in- in these new degree programs are calling of “basics for business” weekend short (BS-6008) of the proper way to make venting a device (US Patent #3,216,423) them “Professional Masters” intending there- courses tailor made for the background and a cup of tea. with to convey their equivalence (if not mindset of science/mathematics students. to aid women in giving birth — the congruence) with the MBA and LLD degrees. Like the MBA, which took nearly 40 SCIENCE EDUCATION: Awarded woman is strapped onto a circular table, It is easier by far to create new programs years to sell to students and employers, jointly to: the Kansas Board of Educa- and the table is then rotated at high within existing degree structures in higher these programs must be packaged and tion and the Colorado State Board of speed. education than to create new degrees. New sold. What we are after is a high-level edu- programs certainly have their challenges. cation in the science/mathematics They often involve wholly new techniques underpinnings of today’s and tomorrow’s Viewpoint, continued from page 4 or new applications of old techniques. They technologies, one that will offer graduates challenge the notion of who is the “expert” flexible careers at the interface of R&D, decreases from 5% to 9% of the pro- model may be further generalized to in a changing field, one in which no “expert” product development, regulatory affairs, ductivity gain parameter, the higher-order collaborations of groups received his or her degree. And quality con- intellectual property issues, marketing, fi- maximum group productivity declines of supergroups. Thus, research trol has to be imaginatively reinvented when nance and management. Let us hope by a factor of 3 and the optimum groups, institutional collaborations the lines between disciplines are blurred. Fi- students will perceive these opportunities group size declines from 14 to about and regional intergovernmental orga- nally there is the issue of pedagogy: how is the way we do and that employers will half. We can generalize this model to nizations may be examined. one to teach a new subject? provide innovative career pathways once examine the combination of groups to We have a long way to go before we Though often stimulated by the pres- they are in the work force. form larger collaborations of “super- can confidently assess the likely gains and sure of emerging fields, the creation of groups.” Using this model to examine costs of maintaining an international col- new degrees is not an inevitable conse- Sheila Tobias is the author or co-author the behavior of interacting groups we laboration for all but the largest projects. quence of new discoveries or new research of seven books on the subjects of mathemat- find that collaborations provide enor- But such assessments are possible and directions. In my view, a new degree has ics and science teaching and learning, mous increases in productivity. Over the early results support the economic to have its own dynamic and rationale to among them They’re Not Dumb, They’re a broad range of small group’s produc- foundations for vigorous international be supported by higher education admin- Different (1990), Breaking the Science tivity and connectivity parameters, the scientific collaborations. istrators and their stakeholders. Thus, the Barrier (1992), and Rethinking Science putative gains in productivity of the An expanded version of the article, in- new professional MS degree in the sciences as a Career (1995). A version of this ar- full collaboration can be impressively cluding references, can be found in the (and mathematics) is not to be construed ticle appeared in the November 1999 issue large. In fact, calculations for larger December 1999 APS News Online at as just a way of accrediting or institutional- of the European Journal of Physics. Infor- numbers of collaborating groups im- www.aps.org under the APS News button. izing or allocating scarce resources to one mation about Sloan-sponsored professional ply that rather large gains can be or more emerging fields. Rather, it is a MS programs can be found online at achieved for modest investments to Irving Lerch is the APS director of means of providing and legitimizing some www.ScienceMasters.com. bring these groups together. This international scientific affairs.

5 APS News December 1999

INSIDE THE BELTWAY MEETING BRIEFS A Washington Analysis Four Corners Section, October 1-2, Tucson, AZ The APS Four Corners Section held its second meeting at the University of Arizona in October, featuring contributions Sinking the Test Ban Treaty from all fields of physics. Friday afternoon’s plenary session featured Marlon Scully of Texas A&M University, speaking by Michael S. Lubell on Bose-Einstein condensates and their analogy to laser phase olitics generally follows a well- Scroll back to early September, when transitions, followed by a tour of the University Mirror Labo- Pdefined set of rules, but when hatred, the Senate returned from its summer re- ratory. The banquet Friday evening was followed by a public mistrust and partisanship dominate the cess. With Helms stymying all attempts lecture on cosmology and new evidence for the accelera- scene, as they clearly have in recent by Foreign Relations Committee Demo- tion of the expansion of the universe by Robert Krishner of Photo courtesy of Alaina Levine months, those rules get washed away like crats to bring the treaty up for Harvard University. Other highlights included a lecture on Harry Lustig tiny grains of sand in a pounding surf. consideration, Ranking Member Joseph the science behind the popular TV series “Star Trek” by Andre Bormanis, a con- The demise of the Comprehensive Biden (D-DE) took to the Senate floor, sultant on the series. Harry Lustig, APS Treasurer emeritus, provided a Test Ban Treaty bears stark testimony to threatening to tie up business until Re- comprehensive account of the founding and evolution of the APS since 1899 as the radioactive cloud that hangs over our publicans agreed to consider the treaty. part of the Centennial celebration. Saturday afternoon’s plenary session featured nation’s capital today. Here’s the inside Byron Dorgan (D-ND) joined the fray, speakers from each state in the section, covering a wide range of topics, including story. Judge for yourself. and as the rhetoric became more rancor- in-situ microscopy of the growth of quantum dot islands, statistics of the cosmic For more than two years, Republicans, ous, Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott density field, solar system studies, and the origin of universal scaling in biology led by Senate Foreign Relations Commit- (R-MS) sent out a clear signal that he was from molecules and cells to whales. tee Chairman Jesse Helms (R-NC), prepared to bring the treaty up for an bottled the Test Ban Treaty up by refus- immediate Senate vote, one that was Ohio Section, October 8-9, Dayton, OH ing to hold hearings. guaranteed to generate far fewer than The APS Ohio Section held its annual fall meeting at Wright State University in Ohio For more than two years, the White the 67 supporters needed for ratification. in October, hosted jointly with the Air Force Institute of Technology. The four House studiously avoided wooing GOP Democrats can count noses as well as lectures focused on the history of various physics disciplines in honor of the APS internationalists like John Warner (R- Republicans. So Senate Minority Leader Centennial and the 60th anniversary of the Ohio Section. On Friday afternoon, VA), Pete Domenici (R-NM) and Tom Daschle (D-SD) stepped in with a Norman Ramsey of Harvard University spoke on the history of atomic and mo- Richard Lugar (R-IN). Instead of care- promise to call off the attack dogs if Lott lecular beams, along with Lawrence Slifkin of the University of North Carolina who fully establishing a broad base of public withdrew his threat to schedule a vote. summarized the history of defects in solids. They were followed by a special social hour advocacy for the treaty, as President Reliable sources inside the ranks of the and a special Centennial display featuring a collage of photos on early educational Bush did for many months before he Senate Democrats reported that the as- physics apparatus taken by Kenyon College’s Thomas Greenslade, who was also the proceeded with the Persian Gulf War, sault on the GOP had been a carefully after-dinner banquet speaker. Saturday morning’s plenary session featured lectures by President Clinton sniped at treaty op- orchestrated political maneuver. The Nicolaas Bloembergen of Harvard University on the last century in nonlinear optics, and ponents almost whimsically, as the treaty, according to these sources, would Charles Slichter of the University of Illinois on the history of magnetic resonance. political climate dictated. not hit the policy agenda of either party Conservative Republicans, for whom until the spring of 2000, at the earliest. New York State Section, October 22-23, Brockport, NY hatred of the President has become man- With the tacit cease fire between the The APS New York State Section held its annual fall meeting at the State Uni- tra, sat back waiting patiently for the warring Senate factions in place, Capitol versity of New York at Brockport in October and focused on low-temperature opportunity to humiliate him. Their Hill debate on the treaty fizzled out. But, physics and nonlinear dynamics and chaos. Friday afternoon’s sessions featured chance came in October. Continued on page 8 lectures on aerogel and 3He-introducing disorder into a superfluid; the superfluid transition of 4He as a test of critical phenomena; the photophysics of silver halide nanoclusters; and the flow properties of granular matter. Kenneth Schlecht of Physics Nobel Laureates Support SUNY’s Chemistry Department spoke after Friday evening’s banquet on the ex- Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty citement of chemistry. On Saturday morning, the sessions covered such topics as nonlinear patterns in nature, swirling of superfluid films, laser cooling and Bose- he APS spoke out in October in support of the Comprehensive Test Ban Einstein condensation, and spatiotemporal organization during ventricular fibrillation. TTreaty (CTBT). APS President Jerome Friedman organized a letter signed by 32 physics Nobel Laureates, calling the treaty “central to future efforts to halt the Texas Section, October 28-30, Austin, TX spread of nuclear weapons.” Their sentiments were echoed in the New York Times The APS Texas Section held its annual fall meeting in October at the University on October 8 by world leaders Jacques Chirac (France), Tony Blair (England) and of Texas, Austin (UTA), featuring an opening plenary lecture on high-temperature Gerhard Schroder (Germany). The APS Council statement on the Comprehensive superconductivity by Paul Chu of the University of Houston. In addition to the Test Ban Treaty was issued almost three years ago. Despite such efforts, the U.S. usual technical papers in such subfields as statistical mechanics, nanoparticles, Senate voted against the CTBT (48-51) on Tuesday, October 12. The text of the femtosecond physics, and particle physics, Friday afternoon’s program included APS Council statement is below. two sessions on physics in industry, with lectures on flat panel display technolo- gies, chemical and physical characterization of semiconductors, micro-Raman analysis “On September 10, 1996, the United Nations overwhelmingly approved applications, and making integrated circuits on spherical surfaces. In honor of the the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), a treaty ending all nuclear testing, APS Centennial, the banquet speaker, David Gavenda of UTA, gave an overview of any yield, at any location, for all time. The United States, all other declared of the last 100 years of physics in the state of Texas. Saturday’s session on bio- nuclear weapon states, and a growing majority of the world’s nations have physics featured papers on optical spectroscopy and imaging for pre-cancer now signed that treaty. Although the date at which the CTBT will enter into detection and the use of multiphoton-excited fluorescence as a biological probe. force is not yet certain, the treaty is of extraordinary importance to the United In a more unusual area, another Saturday session focused on forensic science, with States and to the future of all humankind. talks on DNA analysis, drugs and toxicology, and fingerprint analysis. “The CTBT, the culmination of over 40 years of effort, ends the qualitative arms race among the nuclear states and is central to future efforts to halt the New England Section, November 5-6, Waterville, ME further spread of nuclear weapons. The promise to negotiate and put into The APS New England Section held its annual fall meeting at Colby College in force a CTBT was an essential pre-condition to achieving an indefinite extension November. Friday afternoon’s invited session focused on quantum technology of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) in May 1995. Ratification of the CTBT with lectures on quantum information and coherent control, followed by a ban- will mark an important advance in uniting the world in an effort to contain quet with a keynote address about the Keck Observatory by Gary Chanan of the and reduce the nuclear danger. University of California, Irvine. Saturday morning began with a session on physics “Having been the first country to develop nuclear weapons, having been in elementary school education, featuring lectures on developmental issues for a major participant in the nuclear arms race of the Cold War, and having grades K-8 and the use of bright light-emitting diodes to teach elementary grade played a leadership role in the NPT extension and the CTBT negotiations, it is levels about physics. The meeting closed with a session on novel semiconductors, appropriate and imperative that the United States ratify the Comprehensive with talks on organic LEDs and semiconductors. Test Ban Treaty at the earliest possible date. The Council notes that detailed, fully informed technical studies have concluded continued nuclear testing is Southeastern Section, November 7-9, Chapel Hill, NC not required to retain confidence in the safety and reliability of the remaining The APS Southeastern Section held its annual fall meeting in November at the nuclear weapons in the United States’ stockpile, provided science and University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, organized jointly with corresponding geo- technology programs necessary for stockpile stewardship are maintained. graphical sections from the Materials Research Society and the American Vacuum Society. This conclusion is also supported by both the senior civilian and military officials Invited sessions covered such topics as physics teaching and education, imaging with responsible for US national security. hyper-polarized gases, physics with high-intensity lasers, thermo-ferroelectric materials, “The Council of the American Physical Society, representing 40,000 free electron lasers, and nonequilibrium dynamics and spatial structure. On Monday, the academic, industrial, and laboratory physicists, endorses the CTBT, including AVS and MRS organized additional sessions on novel materials fabrication and on fabri- its extensive technical and procedural provisions to verify compliance with cation, processing and characterization of wide band-gap materials. In honor of the APS treaty requirements.” Centennial, the Centennial Timeline Wall Chart was on display throughout the meeting, An excellent analysis of the pros and cons of the CTBT was published by and Monday evening’s banquet featured a lecture by Richard Voss of Florida State Jeremiah Sullivan, University Illinois Urbana-Champaign, in the March 1998 University on fractals and scaling in nature, culture and finance. [Voss gave one of the issue of Physics Today. This article, plus others on CTBT, can be accessed popular physics talks for the Festival of Physics program held during the Centennial through the APS server at www.aps.org/public_affairs/ctbt.html. meeting in Atlanta in March; see page 3 for a full profile.]

6 December 1999 APS News Herzog Navigates Hectic Waters of Congressional Life on the Hill othing brought the reality of the try runs, and how to alternative fuel vehicles as examples. She earned her PhD in physics from the Uni- Nworld of the U.S. Congress into sharp have an impact on The latter is a natural extension of Herzog’s versity of California, San Diego. There she focus for APS Congressional Fellow Antonia the process,” she long-standing interest in energy use and its studied the transport properties of disordered Herzog as much as the day she was asked says. “And that type impact on the environment, evidenced by metallic and superconducting one-dimen- to draft a rationale for an upcoming vote on of knowledge is use- her past involvement in the San Diego chap- sional wires. She also gained valuable industrial the Senate floor a mere 15 minutes before ful no matter what ter of the Sierra Club to preserve the experience through a summer internship at the voting was scheduled to take place — you end up doing.” remaining coastal wetlands in San Diego Xerox Corporation, and held a postdoctoral Antonia Herzog concerning a proposed amendment she Herzog chose to County. As a member of Rockefeller’s staff, research position at the Salk Institute for Bio- knew nothing about. “It’s so important for work in Rockefeller’s office in part because she was able to help build co-sponsorship of logical Studies, investigating the organization members of Congress to make every floor of his longstanding interest in science and a bill to promote tax incentives to promote of neuronal circuits for visual information pro- vote,” she says of what she learned from the technology issues. At the time, he was the the use of alternative fuel vehicles, and to cessing. experience. “Their schedules are basically ranking Democrat on the Commerce work the legislation into the massive tax bill Ironically, Herzog didn’t use her specific ruled by when votes are going to occur, which Committee’s Science, Technology & Space presented to the Senate Finance Commit- knowledge of physics during her fellowship is rarely certain until the last minute.” Subcommittee, and he is currently the rank- tee. The bill was eventually vetoed by year on the Hill, but she still considers sci- Fortunately, not every day of her fellow- ing member of the Aviation Subcommittee. President Clinton, in large part because of ence fellows a necessary asset to Congress. ship year featured such last-minute But she also admired his idealistic decision to the Republicans’ proposed tax cut of $795 “What proved crucial was having an under- scrambling, although she admits, “Things do move to West Virginia some 30 years ago, billion, but “It was neat to be involved in standing and appreciation of the scientific operate constantly in crisis mode.” Herzog despite his privileged background, with something that was featured on the front process and enterprise, which few of the spent the last year as a special legislative hopes of assisting the population of this pre- pages of the Washington Post and New York many lawyers on the Hill possess,” she says. assistant in the Congressional office of Sena- dominantly poor region. In particular, she Times every day, even in a relatively minor For her part, she appreciated the network of tor John D Rockefeller IV (D-WV), juggling worked on legislation involving authorized capacity,” she says. former fellows currently working throughout such varied duties as preparing for hearings, funding increases for R&D, and to stream- Herzog came to the APS fellowship from government, academia and the private sec- organizing meetings, writing statements to line the technology transfer process from the American Association for the Advance- tor, and while her future plans are not yet be read from the floor, building support for government labs to the private sector, al- ment of Science (AAAS), where she served final, she ultimately hopes to remain in sci- pending legislation, and meeting with con- though none of her projects were voted into as a consultant. The experience introduced ence policy, possibly working for a non-profit stituents and lobbyists. “It’s not that you law. “My year was about small victories, mov- her to the various issues related to the ethi- science policy organization. “I firmly believe actually figure out how Congress works in a ing things forward and raising people’s cal, legal and policy implications of science that no matter where my career may lead, single year, but you do walk away with a awareness about issues I felt were impor- and technology, and convinced her that she this year will continue to have a profound much better understanding of how our coun- tant,” she says, citing R&D funding and wanted to make science policy her career. impact on it,” she concludes.

Wavelength Division Multiplexing: An Optical Communication Revolution Donald R. Scifres magine a business where user demand channels simultaneously. Each of these Each wavelength channel requires a sepa- Idoubles every six months. Imagine a wavelength channels can be pulsed or rate signal-generating transmission laser. business that draws new users at a far faster modulated at rates of up to 10 gigabits These are generally spaced on 100 GHz or rate than color TV, digital audio disks or per second (and even 40 gigabits per sec- 200 GHz spacings across the 1530 to 1570 VCRs. Imagine a business in which the rate ond or greater in experimental systems). nm gain bandwidth of the EDFAs. Up to ap- of improvement in technology capability This capacity to wavelength multiplex sig- proximately 100 wavelength channels exceeds the rate of advancement in silicon nals in one fiber has led to the tremendous provided by 100 distributed feedback semi- integrated circuits technology over the past increase in bandwidth available to power the conductor lasers can be used. 25 years. This hot business is the Internet, Internet around the globe. A fourth key product is a wavelength and optical communications is the Certain key products are required to make multiplexer. This allows the insertion of all technology base that speeds the Internet WDM possible (see Figure 1). The first is an the separate wavelength laser signals to information around the world. optical fiber with very low loss in the wave- be combined into a single fiber. Narrow Figure 2: Shown above is a high power (1.5 W) fiber Internet information (which is doubling length range of 1530 to 1570 nm. A second band dielectric stack filters are generally laser operating at 1455 nm. This allows amplification of 1550 nm optical signals through 20 km of standard every six months) travels through optical fi- key product is an erbium doped fiber ampli- used to combine the separate wavelength single mode optical transmission fiber via stimulated bers. Five years ago each optical fiber carried fier (EDFA) which amplifies each of up to signals into one fiber. Raman scattering (SRS). SRS amplification is expected to allow 40 Gb/sec transmission over many data via pulses of light at rates up to 2.5 giga- 100 wavelength channels identically every At the opposite end of the system from a wavelength channels to further enhance the bits per second. Today, fiber optic 100 kilometers in order to overcome the trans- transmission laser, a wavelength transmission capacity per fiber. communication systems are being installed mission loss in the optical fiber. Optical demultiplexer (which is a mirror image of rates up to 1 gigabit per second may over a where a single fiber has the ability to carry amplifiers operate based on the stimulated the multiplexer) separates the signals into 10-year time frame arrive at your computer information as much as 200 times faster than emission process. Each signal photon stimu- separate wavelengths of light. Each wave- terminal with the apparent ease and cost pro- was possible just five years ago. In fact, data lates the emission of 10 to 100 or more length then impinges on a fifth key product, vided by today’s telephone networks. rates as high as 3 terabits per second have identical photons from erbium atoms with the light receiver. Generally, the receiver In order to develop these advanced tech- been demonstrated. electrons excited to a high-energy state (which converts each wavelength channel nologies, there are many opportunities for This revolutionary capability is being through the absorption of photons at wave- back into electricity) consists of a PIN photo- cutting edge jobs with plenty of intellectual achieved with a technology known as wave- lengths of either 980 nm or 1480 nm. Due diode or avalanche photodiode and associated challenge. Some of the challenges involve length division multiplexing (WDM). WDM to stimulated emission, the amplified output high-speed electronics to interface the sig- developing new methods of amplification technology relies on the fact that optical fi- signal matches both the wavelength and pulse nal into the computer or electronic network. (see Figure 2 for Raman Amplifier), higher bers can carry many wavelengths of light shape of the input signal. All of these elements combine to send data transmission speeds, and smaller size, simultaneously without interaction between A third key product is the signal generat- information from one point to another via lower cost modules. All this may occur through each wavelength. Thus, a single fiber can ing transmission laser. Each signal laser emits fibers. However, for the purpose of redun- the transition from hybrid products with dis- carry many separate wavelength signals or light at a single precisely defined wavelength. dancy, reliability, capacity and cost efficiency, crete fibers, lenses and chips to fully optical mesh networks are now being built monolithic products that integrate these func- with the ability to route wavelength chan- tions onto a common substrate. In this manner, nels along multiple paths to get to their final applied physicists, optical scientists, and elec- destination. In order to accomplish this, prod- trical engineers will enable the wavelength ucts such as Add/Drop Multiplexers allow division multiplexing optical communications the insertion or separation of one or more industry to grow from a $1.6 billion market wavelengths from the many wavelengths in in 1997 to a $12 billion market in 2005. the fiber. This allows WDM systems to achieve the desired mesh network topology. Dr. Donald R. Scifres is chairman, CEO Finally, optical switches that allow dynamic and a founder of SDL, Inc., a company rerouting of separate wavelength channels specializing in fiber optics and lasers for are now being announced. These put in sight the communications, printing and ma- the final goal of a transparent fiber optical terials processing industries. Dr. Scifres network with minimal conversion of light has been issued over 100 patents, pub- back into electricity. Within five years, we lished over 300 technical papers and has anticipate that light will be able to flow like contributed to or edited several books in electricity does today through optical switches the field. Dr. Scifres has also won a num- and routers to the proper network destina- ber of industry awards including the APS Figure 1: Key components in a WDM system. tion. As a result, low cost, high-speed data at George Pake Award in 1997.

7 APS News December 1999 Creating Art from Classical and BELTWAY BRIEFS Quantum Chaos series of prints OSTP Seeks Public Comment on Definition of Research Adepicting images Misconduct derived from classical The Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) is seeking comment and quantum chaos is on a proposed uniform, government-wide definition of research misconduct. currently on exhibit in Public feedback to OSTP on the proposal must be postmarked no later than the cafeteria at the DECEMBER 13, 1999. The result of four years of consideration and extensive American Center for consultation with the primary federal R&D agencies, OSTP and the National Physics in College Science and Technology Council have drafted a single definition of research Park, MD. Created by misconduct that will apply to all federally-sponsored research, along with uni- Eric Heller, a physicist form guidelines for conducting fair and timely investigations into allegations of at Harvard university, misconduct, which appeared in the October 14 issue of the Federal Register. the exhibit was Research misconduct, as defined in the proposal, comprises “fabrication, originally displayed as falsification, or plagiarism in proposing, performing or reviewing research, or in part of the APS reporting research results.” Each of these terms is then defined in more detail. Centennial meeting’s It is noted that “research misconduct does not include honest error or honest Festival of Physics in

differences of opinion.” A finding of research misconduct requires that “there March in Atlanta, GA. Photo by Barrie Ripin be a significant departure from accepted practices of the scientific community The prints were Eric Heller stands beside one of his creations at APS Headquarters. for maintaining the integrity of the research record; the misconduct be committed produced on an Epson intentionally, or knowingly, in reckless disregard of accepted practices; and the 3000 inkjet printer from computer data image Heller is standing beside in the allegation be proven by a preponderance of evidence.” The entire notice can generated in Fortran, Matlab and photo above depicts a Westervelt be found online at http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/fedreg/a991104c.html, Mathematica. resonator, in which a plane wave under “Science and Technology Policy Office, Notices”. [Item courtesy of Audrey Heller’s interest in the field of chaos impinges from below on a wall with a Leath, AIP Public Information] began with his investigation of standing small slit. Beyond the wall is a circular quantum waves in a stadium shaped mirror which causes narrow resonances Report Urges State Department To Place Higher Value on box, specifically the periodic orbits to form at certain energies. Because S&T Expertise generated by a classical particle the hole in this system is slightly off In October, members of a National Research Council committee unveiled a bouncing around the box. This “stadium center, this resonance wavefunction long-awaited blueprint for improving scientific and technical expertise within billiard table” is shown on page 1. The has an asymmetrical shape. the State Department. The report was requested last year by Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, in response to concerns both within the State Department and from the science community that the department lacked the capability to foresee relevant developments in science and technology and incorporate those Festival Profile: Fractals, continued from page 3 issues into its foreign policy-making process. “As the world becomes more to improve the diagnostic ability of radi- science, are not something we can prove technologically interdependent, the trend at the State Department has been to ologists, particularly in the early detection to be true. Rather, they are those we downplay science and technical expertise. It’s time to reverse that trend,” said of breast cancer. This is an area where early have not yet proven to be false,” says Robert Frosch, chair of the NRC Committee on Science, Technology and Health diagnosis has particular importance in terms Voss of his lifelong work. “Everything we Aspects of the Foreign Policy of the United States, which issued the report. The of increasing life expectancy, but to date do is useful, but not quite correct; it is an committee’s recommendations focus on raising awareness of the importance of the diagnosis of breast cancer from X-ray approximation to the real world.” He S&T at all levels of the department. While it calls for improvement of the mammograms has proven to be an ex- often closes his lectures with a quote by department’s in-house S&T capability, the report recognizes the reality of budget tremely difficult perceptual process. Pablo Picasso: “Art is the lie that helps us constraints and also suggests tapping into outside expertise, including a S&T Advi- “Science is a series of approximations. see the truth.” In his eyes, this is just as sory Committee, and rotating specialists from other departments and agencies. What we call the great equations of true of science as it is of art. Entitled “The Pervasive Role of Science, Technology and Health in Foreign Policy: Imperatives for the Department of State,” the full 111-page report can be pur- chased from the National Academy Press at 1-800-624-6242 or http:// national-academies.org. [Item courtesy of Audrey Leath, AIP Public Information] Inside the Beltway, continued from page 6 planners at the other end of Pennsylva- Nobelists. It became the hair trigger Robb Introduces Bill for New Category of High-Tech Workers nia Avenue had different thoughts. needed for an immediate vote on treaty In September, Senator Charles Robb (D-VA) introduced the Helping Improved For some time, according to White ratification. Technology Education and Competitiveness Act (HITEC Act) (S. 1645), new leg- House insiders, presidential advisors had Majority Leader Lott addressed the islation that would establish a five-year pilot program allowing non-immigrant been split on how to handle the treaty. Senate early Wednesday morning, tak- aliens completing an advanced degree in mathematics, science, engineering, or One group urged delay, possibly until ing most of his colleagues by surprise, computer science at a U.S. college or university to apply — through an employer after the next election, when the GOP’s when he asked for unanimous consent willing to provide a job with total compensation of $60K or more per year — for visceral hatred of the White House oc- to schedule a vote. The Democrats were a new five year “T” or “Tech” visa. The bill was co-sponsored by democratic cupant would be not be the dominant in a bind. Most of them had long called Senators Tim Johnson (D-SD), John Kerry (D-MA), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Joseph factor. for Senate action: How could they ex- Lieberman (D-CT) and Charles Schumer (D-NY). The HITEC Act requires partici- Another group argued that there was plain to their constituents that they had pating companies to pay a $1000 per visa fee on applications for the T-visa and a political advantage to be gained by forc- opposed the vote? In the end, none of $500 for visa extensions or to change employers. The fees would be used to help ing a vote. This group saw the outcome them did. fund public-private partnerships between schools and businesses to improve K- as a “win-win” situation. In the unlikely As members debated Lott’s motion, 12 math, science and technology education. event that the treaty passed, the President Joseph Lieberman (D-CT) and Pete Robb’s bill is the latest piece of legislation introduced in response to industry would claim credit. If the more probable Domenici worked furiously behind the lobbying to raise the H-1B visa cap on entry of high tech guest workers. A H- scenario of treaty defeat became the real- scenes to get the vote postponed. Can- 1B visa bill is expected shortly from Presidential-hopeful Senator John McCain ity, the Democrats would have a prime cellation of the Nobel event, scheduled (R-AZ). Senate Republican leaders have indicated that they are unlikely to issue for the 2000 campaign. for the following Wednesday, was key. move forward H-1B visa increases this year, but Senator Gramm (R-TX) and A third group, bolstered by outside But the “win-win” group at the White others are hopeful that measures will receive early consideration in 2000. The non-proliferation advocates, argued in House held sway, and the President re- full text of the bill and current status can be found online at: http://thomas.loc.gov/ favor of a vote, because they genuinely fused to back down, according to an aide. cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d106:s.01645: believed that they could win it, even Predictions that the treaty wouldn’t though the White House had done little even get a majority of Senators to sup- Final A-110 Revision on Access to Research Data spade work and Senate Republicans were port it only fueled the partisan fires. In October, the Office of Management and Budget issued the Final Revision loathe to give the President credit for When the vote finally occurred, the treaty of the Circular A-110 administrative requirements to comply with a law “to anything if they could help it. failed 48-51, with but four Republicans require Federal awarding agencies to ensure that all data produced under an Matters came to a head the last week voting in favor of it. award will be made available to the public through the procedures established in September. Under the questionable The GOP Clinton-haters had made under the Freedom of Information Act.” This legislation came about through pretext of scheduling a bipartisan event, their point, and the Democrats had their the efforts of Senator Richard Shelby (R-AL), with the support of Senate Major- the White House came into possession campaign issue. The treaty was the big ity Leader Trent Lott (R-MS). of a letter that had been signed by thirty- loser. The October 8 issue of the Federal Register has a thorough discussion of the two Nobel Laureates [See page 6] Stanley Greenberg, a prominent revisions in this regulation. OMB was charged with the revision of the circular, and advocating treaty ratification. The letter, Democratic pollster, observed that the received over 12,000 comments since it first proposed changes in early February addressed to all members of the Senate, White House took a huge risk in pursu- — an extraordinary response to an OMB regulation. The revision went into effect had not been released, pending Senate ing its strategy. While it is true that eighty on November 8, 1999. It applies to grants and other financial assistance provided Foreign Relations Committee action, percent of the American electorate sup- to institutions of higher education, hospitals, and non-profit institutions, from all which had remained stalled. ports the treaty, the issue is buried so far Federal agencies, but not to procurement contracts. For the entire citation, see On Tuesday, September 30, Senate down on the public’s wish list, that the Management and Budget Office/Notices at http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/ Republicans got wind of the planned campaign pay-off may be nil. Time will fedreg/a991008c.html. [Item courtesy of Richard Jones, AIP Public Information] White House event featuring the tell whether Greenberg’s right.

8 December 1999 APS News

APS 2000 Election Results, continued from page 1 CHAIR ELECT OF THE well as the Director of the Interdisciplinary have been devoted to explaining the origin continuing the Society’s efforts to articulate NOMINATING COMMITTEE Center for Laser and Photonics Research. Song of the new conducting phase found in a di- the breadth and diversity of physics, and to CURTIS G. CALLAN, JR. was recently elected the 21st and first woman lute 2D electron gas. communicate the beauty, excitement, and Princeton University president of the Association of Korean Physi- In his candidate’s statement, Phillips cited impact of physics to the general public. Callan is Profes- cists in America. Her present research interests three areas he believes merits particular at- sor of Physics and include nanotechnology and ultrafast phe- tention by the APS, its officers and elected STUART J. FREEDMAN Chairman of the nomena, especially widegap semiconductor representatives, because of their potential for University of California at Berkeley Physics Depart- quantum structures, epitaxial growth, char- concrete action. These include the need for Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory ment at Princeton acterization, and device fabrication. diversity in the physics community; the edu- Argonne National Laboratory University. He In her candidate’s statement, Song cited cation of students to the notion that a physics Freedman is an works in theoreti- the growing internationalization of the Soci- major opens more doors than it closes; and a experimental physi- cal elementary ety, and the continual advancement of need for efficient lobbying to increase the cist working in areas particle physics information technology that is accelerating level of research funding for condensed mat- of nuclear and par- and his research has covered a wide range the development of professional exchanges ter physics, particularly theory. ticle physics. He has of topics, including the phenomenology to a level previously inconceivable, and held a joint appoint- of K-meson decays, the role of the prompting a reassessment of the role of the MARGARET M. MURNANE ment in the renormalization group in QCD and the use APS in fostering this growing international University of Colorado Berkeley Physics of string theory to explain black hole en- character. In Song’s view, one of the biggest Murnane joined Department and tropy. He received his PhD from Princeton challenges the APS faces is that of making JILA and the Depart- the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in 1964, and then held an assistant professor- physics and physicists more relevant to soci- ment of Physics at the Nuclear Science Division since 1991. His re- ship in the Harvard Physics Department and ety while preserving the pursuit of the most University of Colorado search focuses on problems related to the a long-term membership at the Institute for fundamental understanding of the nature of in August of 1999. fundamental weak interaction, symmetry Advanced Study. In 1972, he returned to the physical universe. “I believe the APS Prof. Murnane re- breaking, neutrino mass, and particle searches. Princeton as Professor of Physics and has re- should embrace diversification and ceived her BS and MS Freedman received his PhD in 1972 from mained there ever since. Apart from his multidisciplinary approaches in physics edu- degrees from Univer- Berkeley for his experimental test of Bell’s teaching and research, he has been active cation with courage and conviction, for such sity College Cork, inequality with a two-photon cascade in for many years in advising U.S. government evolution does not necessarily lead to the Ireland, and her PhD degree in physics from atomic calcium. He was instructor and lec- agencies on the applications of science and de-emphasizing of fundamental research in the University of California at Berkeley in turer working in nuclear physics at Princeton technology to national security problems. the traditional subfields known to academia, 1989. She remained at Berkeley for one year University until 1976 when he left to be- In his candidate’s statement, Callan dis- but is instead vital to the survival of physi- as a postdoctoral fellow, before joining the come assistant professor at Stanford cussed the enormous changes both in the cists and physics education,” she wrote. “In faculty of physics at Washington State Uni- University. He joined the Argonne Physics intellectual content of the science itself, fact, I believe that the physics community versity in 1990. In 1996, Professor Murnane Division in 1982, and the University of Chi- and in the societal and funding context in will begin to realize that diversification is at moved to the University of Michigan. Prof. cago in 1987, jointly with Argonne, returning which it lives, and the challenges these the very root of fundamental research, and Murnane’s research interests have been in to Berkeley in 1991. present to the APS and the physics com- that the study of physics could not have pro- ultrafast optical science. In particular, her In his candidate’s statement, Freedman munity in general. “Finding people with gressed to today’s levels of understanding work has made it possible to generate vis- spoke of how the role of physics in the high- the necessary qualities of intellect, energy without such diversification in the past.” ible and x-ray pulses of a few cycles in tech world of the next millennium, its and judgement to lead the APS, and con- duration, using extreme nonlinear opti- relationship to society, and the character of vincing them to stand for office, is more PHILIP PHILLIPS cal interactions. She is a past recipient basic research are changing dramatically. He critical today than it ever has been,” he University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign of the APS Simon Ramo Award. cited two challenges in particular facing the wrote. “The future health of our Society is Born in In her candidate’s statement, Murnane APS: public education and outreach, and glo- dependent on the judgement and activism Scarborough, To- looked to the 21st Century and the many balization. “A scientifically illiterate society is of today’s Nominating Committee.” bago, Phillips opportunities for physicists to impact the totally inappropriate for the 21st century, and received his PhD science and technology of the new the APS should strengthen its resolve for ef- GENERAL COUNCILLORS from the University millenium, including advances in nanoscale fectively advocating a sensible scientific of Washington in structures, laser manipulation of matter, and component in the education for every young JIN-JOO SONG 1982. After two computational. She suggested the APS pro- American,” Freedman wrote. Similarly, “Com- Oklahoma State University years at the Univer- mote meetings in rapidly changing fields, by munication technologies and the emerging Born in Seoul, sity of California at providing more opportunities for multi-disci- global economy provide us with the oppor- Korea, Song re- Berkeley, he served on the faculty in the plinary meetings, by advertising new tunity of creating a truly international ceived her PhD in chemistry department at MIT until 1993, discoveries and their impact on society as community of scientists and scientific re- experimental solid- when he moved to the University of Illinois much as possible, and by supporting in- search, and we should take a leading role state physics and at Urbana-Champaign. His research is in theo- creased participation of industry to broaden toward insuring that physics continues to quantum electron- retical condensed matter physics with a career-choices for students. She also supports develop as an international enterprise.” ics from Yale special emphasis on explaining experimen- University in 1974. tal observations that challenge the standard She worked at MIT paradigms of transport and magnetism in dis- LBL Scientists Introduce New as a post-doctoral research associate, and later ordered and correlated electron systems. was on the faculty of the University of South- While he has worked on numerous prob- Microscope for Characterizing Materials ern California. In 1987, Song moved to lems such as the size and disorder esearchers at Lawrence Berkeley with a thin metal shield designed to screen Oklahoma State University where she now dependence of the Kondo effect, bi-critical- National Laboratory (LBL) have out all but the evanescent microwaves from holds the positions of Regents Professor of R ity in quantum spin glasses, and pair-tunneling developed a new thumb-sized microscope being generated at its tip. “This feature is Physics and Noble Professor of Photonics, as in quantum dots, much of his recent efforts that operates on the same principles as a crucial for high resolution quantitative CD-player, using microwaves rather than microscopy,” says Xiang. “If both evanescent visible light. Dubbed a Scanning and propagating microwaves had to be Nobel Prizes, continued from page 1 Evanescent Microwave Probe (SEMP), this considered and calculated, as is the case for a trillionth of a second between the be- plants during the process of photosyn- unique new instrument can be used to all other types of microwave probes, the ginning and end of a reaction. It has also thesis. simultaneously characterize critical quantitative microscopy would be provided a way for controlling the courses Veltman and Zewail are fellows of the electronic properties along with impossible.” The interaction between of chemical reaction and developing de- APS. Zewail was awarded the APS Earle topography in a wide assortment of evanescent microwaves and the sample sirable new materials for electronics. It Plyler Prize in 1993 and the Herbert materials. Xiao-Dong Xiang, a physicist surface gives rise to a resonance frequency has provided insights on the dissolving Broida Prize in 1995. Although not an APS in LBL’s Materials Sciences Division, and quality-factor changes in the resonator of liquids, corrosion and catalysis on sur- member, nonetheless, Gerardus ‘t Hooft described the instrument in a paper he that are recorded as signals. These signals faces (see Physics Today, October 1999, received the 1979 Dannie Heineman delivered at the APS Centennial meeting can be measured, and the measurements p. 19); and the molecular-level details of Prize. in Atlanta last March. plugged into equations that translate them how chlorophyll molecules can efficiently The SEMP uses near-field microwaves to into a measurement of the sample’s complex convert sunlight into useable energy for —Philip F. Schewe, AIP Public Information measure the electrical impedance of electrical impedance, with a spatial resolution materials with submicron resolution — a of 100 nanometers. APS Staff Serve at Local ‘Soup Kitchen’ critical property for the electronics industry. The SEMP can be used on conductors By measuring the interaction between and insulators as well as semiconductors. evanescent microwaves generated off an ultra It has applications in any situation in which Staff donated and distributed sharp-tipped probe and the surface of the there is a need to characterize a material’s lasagna, sandwiches, cookies and material, Xiang and his colleagues can not electrical properties as a function of electric other foods to needy people near only map electrical impedance across the or magnetic fields, optical illumination, or APS headquarters in Maryland this Fall. face of the material, they can simultaneously temperature variations. The basic map the topography of its surface, another technology has been licensed to Ariel critical factor for manufacturing chips and Technologies, but Xiang and his colleagues other electronic devices. continue to refine the device, and are The SEMP’s probe is connected to a high currently building a low-temperature version quality-factor microwave resonator equipped to enable them to study superconductors.

9 APS News December 1999 Announcements

APS/AIP 2000-2001 APS MASS MEDIA FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM CONGRESSIONAL SCIENCE FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM Applications are now being accepted for the 2000 summer APS Mass Media Fellowships. In affiliation with the popular AAAS program, the APS is sponsoring THE AMERICAN PHYSICAL SOCIETY AND THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF PHYSICS are accepting applications for their 2000-2001 Congressional Science Fellowship two ten-week fellowships for physics students to work full-time over the summer Programs. Fellows serve one year on the staff of a Member of Congress as reporters, researchers, and production assistants in mass media organizations or congressional committee, learning the legislative process while they nationwide. lend scientific expertise to public policy issues. PURPOSE: The program is intended to improve public understanding and appreciation of science and technology, and to sharpen the ability of the fel- QUALIFICATIONS include a PhD or equivalent research experience in lows to communicate complex technical issues to non-specialists. physics or a closely related field. Fellows are required to be U.S. ELIGIBILITY: Priority will be given to graduate students in physics, or a citizens and, for the AIP Fellowship, members of 1 or more of the closely related field, although applications will also be considered from AIP Member Societies. A stipend of up to $49,000 is offered, in outstanding undergraduates and post- doctoral researchers. Applicants should addition to allowances for relocation, in-service travel, and health possess outstanding written and oral communication skills and a strong interest insurance premiums. Applications should consist of a letter of in learning about the media. intent, a 2-page resume, and 3 letters of recommendation. TERM AND STIPEND: Following an intensive three-day orientation in early June PLEASE SEE our websites (http://www.aip.org/pubinfo 1999 at the AAAS in Washington, DC, winning candidates will work full-time through or http://www.aps.org/public_affairs/fellow.html) for mid-August. Remuneration is $4500, plus a travel allowance of up to $1,000. detailed information on applying. If qualified, Mail application materials, which must be received by January 15, 2000, to: applicants will be considered for both programs. APS Washington Office All application materials must be postmarked by ATTN: Mass Media Fellowship Program January 15, 2000, and sent to: APS/AIP 529 14th Street NW, Suite 1050 Congressional Science Fellowship Programs, c/o Washington, DC 20045 Erika Ridgeway/APS Executive Office One Information on application requirements can be found at http://www.aps.org/ Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740-3844. public_affairs/Media.html

Y2K MARCH MEETING TUTORIALS, Prize and Award Nominations WORKSHOPS & SHORT COURSES OTTO LAPORTE AWARD Endowed by the friends of Otto Laporte and the Division of Fluid Dynamics. TUTORIALS Purpose: To recognize outstanding research accomplishments pertaining to The following eight half-day tutorials will be the physics of fluids. offered on Sunday, March 19, 2000, just prior Send FIVE (5) copies of the nomination package with the name of proposed to the APS March Meeting in Minneapolis, MN: candidate and supporting information to: Joel Koplik; Levich Inst T-1 M; CCNY- CUNY; 138th St & Convent Ave; New York NY 10031. Phone (212) 650-8162; 8:30 AM - 12:30 PM Fax (212) 650-6835; email [email protected] T1 Cellular Automata Simulations with DEADLINE: January 18, 2000 Mathematica FLUID DYNAMICS PRIZE T2 High Temperature Superconducting Power Supported by friends of the Division of Fluid Dynamics and the American Applications Institute of Physics journal Physics of Fluids. T3 Physics of Optical Communications Purpose: To recognize and encourage outstanding achievement in fluid T4 Biological Fluorescence Imaging dynamics research. Send FIVE (5) copies of the nomination package with the name of proposed 1:30 PM - 5:30 PM candidate and supporting information to: Joel H Ferziger; Dept of Mech Engr; T5 Achieving High Performance in Numerical Computations on RISC Stanford University; Stanford CA 94305. Phone (650) 723-3615; Fax (650) 725- Workstations and Parallel Systems 3525; Email [email protected] 2000 18, JANUARY DEADLINE: T6 Silicon Quantum Dots: Fundamentals and Application to Advanced and Deadline: January 18, 2000 Future Nanoelectronic Devices T7 Advanced Magnetic Resonance Technologies in New Frontiers of Science JAMES CLERK MAXWELL PRIZE IN PLASMA PHYSICS T8 The Changing Roles of Researchers in Industrial and Applied Physics Sponsored by Maxwell Technologies, Inc. Purpose: To recognize outstanding contributions to the field of plasma physics. CAREER WORKSHOPS Send FIVE (5) copies of the nomination package with the name of proposed Sunday evening, March 19, 6:00pm - 9:00pm, the APS will offer a free Career candidate and supporting information to: Jeffrey Friedberg; Dept Of Nuclear Workshop run by the Career Services Division of AIP. Engineering; MIT; Room 24-107; Cambridge, MA 02139. Phone (617) 253-8670; Fax (617) 257-7437; Email [email protected] DPOLY SHORT COURSE TO FOCUS ON POLYMER THIN FILMS Deadline: April 1, 2000 The APS Division of Polymer Physics (DPOLY) will hold a short course on adhesion and other issues in polymer thin films and coatings as part of the 2000 APS March AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN PLASMA PHYSICS RESEARCH Meeting, to be held on Saturday and on Sunday morning, March 18-19 in Minneapolis, Established with support from friends of the Division of Plasma Physics. MN. The science and engineering of polymer thin films and coatings has numerous Purpose: To recognize a particular recent outstanding achievement in plasma industrial applications, including adhesives, composites, fillers, and tissue implants. physics research. Send FIVE (5) copies of the nomination package with the name of proposed The course will provide an overview of recent developments in this area, such as candidate and supporting information to: Earl Marmar; NW17-119; MIT; 77 polymer-surface dynamics and interfacial rheology; macromolecular physics of Massachusetts Ave; Cambridge MA 02139. Phone (617) 253-5455; Fax (617) 253- biological surface interactions; the glass transition of thin films; simulation methods 0627; Email [email protected] and theory; and dewetting and coating of interfaces. Deadline: April 1, 2000 See Meeting Announcements for more information and enrollment instructions. OUTSTANDING DOCTORAL THESIS IN PLASMA PHYSICS AWARD Established originally as the Simon Ramo Award and endowed in 1997 by General Atomics Inc. Y2K Spring Meeting Deadlines Purpose: To provide recognition to exceptional young scientists who have performed original thesis work of outstanding scientific quality and achieve- March Meeting (www.aps.org/meet/MAR00) ment in the area of plasma physics. Send FIVE (5) copies of the nomination package with the name of proposed DEADLINE: APRIL 1, 2000 Abstract Submission Deadline ...... 12/03/99 candidate and supporting information to: Linda Vahala; 138 Nina Ln; Early registration deadline ...... 01/14/00 Williamsburg VA 23188. Phone (804) 683-4968; Email: [email protected] Receipt of postdeadline abstracts ...... 02/04/00 Deadline: April 1, 2000 Housing ...... 02/17/00 NICHOLSON MEDAL FOR HUMANITARIAN SERVICE Late Registration Deadline ...... 02/18/00 Sponsored by friends of Dwight Nicholson. April Meeting (www.aps.org/meet/APR00) Purpose: To recognize the humanitarian aspect of physics and physicists. Send FIVE (5) copies of the nomination package with the name of proposed Abstract Submission Deadline ...... 01/14/00 candidate and supporting information to: Herbert L Berk; RLM 11.326 Dept of Phys; Early registration deadline ...... 02/18/00 Univ of Texas, Institution for Fusion Studies; Dean Keaton & Speedway; Austin, TX Housing (APS hotel blocks released) ...... 03/31/00 78712. Phone (512) 471-1364; Fax (512) 471-6715; Email: [email protected] Deadline: April 1, 2000

10 December 1999 APS News Announcements

CAUGHT IN THE WEB Volunteers Sought for APS Initiative on Notable information on the World Wide Web March Meeting: www.aps.org/meet/MAR00 Inter-American Cooperation in Physics April Meeting: www.aps.org/meet/APR00 The APS jointly through its Office of International Affairs, The APS Committee Prize & Award Recipients: www.aps.org/praw/ on International Scientific Affairs (CISA), and the Forum on International Physics New APS Fellows: www.aps.org/fellowship/ (FIP) is presently pursuing an initiative designed to promote increased Inter-American cooperation in physics. Fractal Gallery: sprott.physics.wisc.edu/fractals.htm As one component of the overall Inter-American physics cooperation effort, A Century of Physics timeline: timeline.aps.org the APS is currently seeking to identify volunteers who are interested in making Playground Physics: www.aps.org/playground.html contacts and establishing collaborations and working relationships with physicists Phys. Rev. Focus: focus.aps.org in Latin America and Caribbean. A list of such volunteers is now being compiled Physics Limericks: www.aps.org/apsnews/limericks.html that will be available as a Directory both on the APS Web site and in a hard-copy form that will be directly distributed to physics departments in Latin America and Amazon Books: www.aps.org/memb/amazon the Caribbean. 100 Years of the APS - Exhibit & History: www.aps.org/apsnews/history.html The purpose of the new directory is to provide initial contact information that Wacky Patents: colitz.com/site/wacky.htm can be used by Latin American and Caribbean physicists for the purpose of identi- fying potential lecturers, research collaborators, teachers, students, etc. who would be willing to visit and work for varying periods of time in a host country. Naturally, any details involving partial or full support of travel and living expenses in the host MAKE SURE WE HAVE IT RIGHT! country would be arranged on an individual basis directly between the prospec- The 2000-2001 APS Member Directory will be compiled in tive visitors and their hosts without any involvement on the part of the APS. January 2000. Please check your directory listing online Additionally, while there is an emphasis on identifying individuals with Spanish or (www.aps.org/memb) or on your latest member invoice and Portuguese language skills, individuals who do not possess such skills but who are forward any necessary changes to [email protected]. Updates may personally motivated to interact with Latin American and Caribbean physicists are also be given to a Membership Representative at 301-209- still encouraged to complete and submit the form for inclusion in the Directory. 3280 or faxed to 301-209-0867. All requests should be All APS members who are interested in being included in this directory of po- received no later than December 17, 1999. tential scientific collaborators with Latin American and Caribbean counterparts are requested to provide the following information:

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11 APS News December 1999 THE BACK PAGE Christmas and the Scientist in the Technological Age by Roger Highfield

hristmas is a time for the crunch of the subject, I was unprepared for the All the while the old certainties seemed Csnow, spiced wine, and tinseled breadth and depth of the insights that to have been squashed flat by the steam trees. Christmas is a time for giving, would eventually emerge. Take those hammer, steamboat, and steam train. The meeting friends and feasting. Christmas flying reindeer, Santa’s red and white color resulting turmoil in society made the tra- is a time for carols, family gatherings, scheme and his jolly disposition, for ex- ditional Christmas message of charity gaudy greeting cards, and all the jollity ample. They are all probably linked to more relevant than ever. Emerging com- of the seasonal spirit. Christmas is also a the use of hallucinogenic toadstool in munications technologies, from speedy time for science. ancient rituals. I can add that Santa was railways to the telegraph, paved the way Chemists are hard at work in the born with a genetic predisposition to for that message to be disseminated and Christmas kitchen. Experts on thermo- become obese and now suffers from dia- homogenized for mass consumption, dynamics have drafted equations to help betes. He does not live at the North Pole, forging much of what we think of today us cook turkeys to perfection, scanners preferring the warmth of an island off as the traditional festivities. have scrutinized steaming plum pud- the coast of Turkey. There, panting at The tumultuous 1840s also saw an dings, and pharmacologists have traced his side, you will find Rosie — not Rudolph important token of the rising influence the baroque metabolic pathways of the — the reindeer. of science: the birth of a specific label brain to explain why chocolates can be I was at first puzzled by how Santa for the burgeoning army of individuals so addictive. Meteorologists study every could fly in any weather, circle the globe at work in this field. William Whewell, a aspect of the snow cycle that provides a on Christmas Eve, carry millions and mil- polymath who was a Fellow of the Royal seasonal sprinkling, from the seeding of lions of presents, and make all those Society, coined the word “scientist” in ear- an ice crystal high in the sky to the traces rooftop landings with pinpoint accuracy. nest in his two-volume book The of past Christmases buried deep in the The answer lies in his unprecedented Philosophy of the Inductive Sciences. snowpack. Climatologists are plundering research resources and expertise across The word was of dubious legitimacy in automobile. As a result of the this record to help predict white Christ- a range of fields, spanning genetic engi- philological terms, a hybrid of Latin and development of the internal combustion mases far into the future. A handful are neering, computing, nanotechnology, and Greek, and was attacked (wrongly) as engine, the silent night, holy night now even concocting outlandish schemes to quantum gravity. My experience under- “an American barbarous trisyllable.” But throbs to the sound of traffic. The stillness guarantee that each and every Christmas mines the idea that the materialist insights the pressure to put a name to this in- of the snowy landscape shown on so is white. Psychologists tease out the hid- of science destroy our capacity to won- creasingly influential group was many Christmas cards is marred by the den agenda of the Christmas card and der, leaving the world a more boring overwhelming. groan of the snowplow. The search for what it reveals about our social status. place. For me, the very reverse is true. I At the same time that the scientist was the Bethlehem star is now obscured by Anthropologists hunt for the foundation can still remember the day when, as a born, an eminent and extraordinary indi- a haze of photochemical smog. Another of the celebration in pagan rituals that child, I first became convinced that Santa vidual, Henry Cole, decided to reduce newfangled device, the wireless, appears took place before the birth of Christ, did not exist. Now, by refracting the Santa the burden of writing Christmas greeting on one 1929 Christmas card, which during long winter nights when our an- myth through the prism of science, he letters by taking advantage of another features a Santa apparently mesmerized cestors feared that the sun would never seems more real than ever. development he’d had a hand in: the in- by the crackling message it is receiving return. I believe that science and technology troduction of the penny post in 1840. over the ether. Radio would become the I have been investigating the science can even shed a little light on a deeper His invention, the first Christmas card, was first mass medium to reinforce the of Christmas for more than a decade. question: where did Christmas come from published in 1843 and cost a shilling, the tendency for Christmas to be a festival When I first began to take an interest in in the first place? Peel back the wallpa- equivalent of a day’s wages for a laborer. held behind closed doors. When Santa per of centuries and you will find that After two decades, the price fell dramati- reached for a cool soda pop in a Coca- the festival is an amalgam of influences cally thanks to one of the technological Cola advertisement that appeared during — German, Dutch, English, American and inventions of the day, cheap color lithog- the Christmas season of 1937, he was Festive Formula other traditions, both religious and pa- raphy, and Christmas cards entered the again a technological pioneer. The source For those who like to plan their gan — that emerged over the millenia. mass market. of his refreshment was a refrigerator, even Christmas in advance, here is a little Even today, the traditional Christmas Cole regarded the card as the folk art though iceboxes were still being used formula that can reveal the day of hoopla is far from a homogenous phe- of the Industrial Revolution, and it ulti- by most American households that year. the week that Christmas Day falls nomenon, taking place alongside mately became the greatest popularizer Santa can now be found in on in any year (including leap Kwanzaa, an African-American harvest of now-standard Christmas iconography, cyberspace. The last time I checked, years) after 1600. holiday, and the eight-day Jewish celebra- with designs ranging from bizarre char- there were hundreds of Santa home 1. Write down the year you’re tion of Hanukkah. Together they acters with pudding heads to mannequins pages for children’s email. Digitized im- interested in, e.g., 1998. Split this constitute the annual celebration. in period costume, as well as the more ages of Santa now scud about the web number into its century number C Part of the reason winter festivities conventional mistletoe, robins, holly and of international computer networks ev- (19) and its year number Y (98). went global can be found 150 years ago, fireside scenes. Not only were the cards ery Christmas. One day these images may 2. Now divide C by 4 and keep at the tail end of the Industrial Revolu- printed on paper, but they were also even supplant the traditional Christmas just the whole-number part of the tion. It was then that the “Christ’s Mass”, gilded, frosted, and dressed with satin or card. However, I believe that an emailed result, K. In this case K=19 [div] the church service that celebrates the birth fringed silk. Some were even made to Santa, spouting digital “ho, hos” and sea- 4 = 4.75, which is rounded off of Jesus Christ, along with a wealth of squeak. Through the evolution of one of sonal greetings, would still honor the spirit to 4. other traditions, entered the scientific age the card’s most familiar characters, it is in which Henry Cole first dreamed up 3. Do the same for Y, giving a new of mass communication, transport, and possible to trace the influence of scien- the card — as a practical way to marry figure, G. [G = 98 [div] 4 = other technologies. This collision be- tists, engineers, and technologies on our mass communication and art. 24.5, rounded off to 24] tween ancient tradition and the age of way of life. I am, of course, referring to Cole would be amazed and gratified 4. Now work out the value of D, science and technology was particularly the many depictions of the fat man with by the extent to which his little inven- using the formula D = 50 + Y significant in Victorian Britain where, dur- the white beard. tion has caught on today. A century and + K + G - (2 x C) ing a single decade, there was a striking A silk-fringed card published in 1888 a half later, science is still altering the very [D= 50 + 98 + 4 + 24 - 38 = coincidence of events of significance for reveals how by then, Santa had resorted nature and fabric of the celebrations 138] science and the annual celebrations. to the latest communications technology through the introduction of new technol- 5. To work out the day of the week, The 1840s saw a dizzying rate of to improve the links with his market. The ogy, whether cloned Christmas trees, the divide D by 7 and write down change in society due to efforts across a figure shown on the card seems to be Internet, or those infuriating cards that the remainder, R. [138 [div] 7 = proliferating range of disciplines. In the engaged in what can only be described play carols over and over again. The fu- 19 with a remainder of 5, or world of science, there was Darwin’s as a conference call, listening to the si- ture of Christmas and Hanukkah in our Friday] Use the following table to ideas on natural selection, Joule’s work multaneous demands for presents from increasingly technological age seems as- determine the day of the week: on thermodynamics, and Faraday’s stud- an assortment of children. Only the pre- sured. R = 0 ...... Sunday ies of magnetism, light and electricity. In vious decade, Alexander Graham Bell had Roger Highfield earned a D.Phil in R = 1 ...... Monday the sister disciplines of engineering and patented the telephone had made it all chemistry from Oxford University and R = 2 ...... Tuesday technology, there were developments in possible. is currently science editor at the Daily R = 3 ...... Wednesday factories, machine tools, and information By the 1890s Santa had decided to Telegraph in London, England. The R = 4 ...... Thursday technology. Babbage was hard at work give up his sleigh and reindeer, above is adapted from his book The R = 5 ...... Friday on his difference engine and a web of preferring to haul his gifts around by “the Physics of Christmas, published in R = 6 ...... Saturday telegraph lines spread across the nation. new monstrosity from France,” the 1998 by Little Brown & Company.

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