Education Outreach A P S N E W S Insert JANUARY1998 THE AMERICAN PHYSICAL SOCIETY VOLUME 7, NO 1 APS NewsTry the enhanced APS News-online: [http://www.aps.org/apsnews] Langer Chosen as APS Vice- Shuttle Physics President in 1997 Election embers of The view, page 2). M American Physi- In other election re- cal Society have elected sults, Daniel Kleppner of James S. Langer, a profes- the Massachusetts Insti- sor of physics at the tute of Technology was University of California, elected as chair-elect of Santa Barbara, to be the the Nominating Com- Society’s next vice-presi- mittee, which will be dent. Langer’s term chaired by Wick Haxton begins on January 1 , (University of Washing- when he will succeed ton) in 1998. The Jerome Friedman (Massa- Nominating Committee chusetts Institute of selects the slate of candi- Technology), who will dates for vice-president, become president-elect. general councillors, and Langer will become APS president in its own chair-elect. Its choices are then 2000. The 1998 president is Andrew Sessler voted on by the APS membership. Beverly (Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory) (see inter- K. Berger (Oakland University), Cynthia McIntyre (George Mason University), Roberto Peccei (University of California, Life APS member, Roger K. Crouch, a payload specialist aboard the 83rd flight of the Los Angeles), and Helen Quinn (Stanford United States Space Shuttle, Columbia, volunteered to take with him an APS paperweight Inside Linear Accelerator Center) were elected commemorating the 100 year anniversary of the electron and 50 year anniversary of the News as general councillors. transistor. The framed paperweight and certificate of authenticity (pictured here) as well Communication, APS Centennial Are as a collage of pictures from the mission prepared by NASA were formally presented to Sessler’s Top Priorities in 1998 ................. 2 Incoming APS President Andrew Sessler outlines Vice-President APS Executive Officer, Judy Franz, and Treasurer, Thomas McIlrath at the American his priorities for the Society in the coming year. James S. Langer was born in Pittsburgh Center for Physics on November 20, 1997. The momento is on display at APS The Sad Story of Heisenberg’s in 1934. He received his Ph.D. in math- headquarters in College Park, MD. Doctoral Oral Exam .................................... 3 ematical physics under the supervision of Heisenberg almost failed his PhD thesis defense. R.E. Peierls at the University of Birmingham, IN BRIEF ....................................................... 3 England in 1958. He joined the Physics De- continue to play a leading role among U.S. However, he also emphasized a more The Department of Energy (DOE) announced the team that will operate Brookhaven. partment at Carnegie Mellon University scientific societies in making the case for important and challenging underlying is- Michels Gains Broader Perspective in 1958. In 1982, he became professor of adequate and stable national investments sue: that of maintaining the vitality of During Fellowship Year .............................. 4 physics and a member of the Institute for in research; (2) to maintain the health of physics as an intellectual discipline, which Outgoing APS Congressional Fellow spent the past Theoretical Physics at the University of the APS meetings and especially its jour- he believes can be best accomplished by year learning the ins and outs of Washington politics. California, Santa Barbara, serving as its nals, in light of the move towards broadening the horizons of physics be- Optical Storage, Atom Traps Featured at Annual Laser Science Meeting ................. 5 director from 1989 to 1995. The 1997 re- electronic publications; and (3) to sustain yond a fixed set of research topics. In Optical and laser scientists from around the world cipient of the APS Oliver E. Buckley Prize, broad-ranging outreach and educational particular, he cited the plethora of phys- gathered in Long Beach, California, for the ILS- Langer’s research generally has been in the programs to keep the public better in- ics-based instrumentation and the rapidly XIII Conference. theory of nonequilibrium phenomena in formed about physics research, and increasing power of computers that have Endorsement of Senate NRIA-1998 Bill condensed matter. His specific areas of encourage young students to consider ca- given rise to a rich array of fascinating Culminates Year-Long Efforts By APS .... 6 The APS officially endorsed a bipartisan Senate interest have been quantum many-body reers in physics. (Continued on page 4) Bill that calls for a doubling of federal funding theory of transport in solids, the kinetics for scientific research over the next decade. of first-order phase transitions including LETTERS TO THE EDITOR ........................ 7 nucleation and spinodal decomposition, Three APS Constitutional Amendments Approved Lipkin on nuclear superconductivity. dendritic pattern formation in crystal The 1997 ballot also included three constitutional amendments, approved by ZERO GRAVITY ........................................... 7 growth and, most recently, the dynamics The 1997 Darwin Award goes to a high flyer. the APS Council upon recommendation of the APS Committee on Constitution of earthquakes and fracture. FELs, Biological Physics Featured at and Bylaws. All three were approved by more than 80% of the votes cast. Specifi- Langer’s most recent national commit- SESAPS Meeting ......................................... 7 cally, the stated APS objective was amended to better articulate the Society’s tee service includes stints as chair of the The highlights of the 63rd Annual APS Southeast- concern for science education and public affairs and to include activities in those ern meeting at Vanderbilt University. APS Division of Condensed Matter Phys- areas. Article II of the Constitution now reads, “In the firm belief that an under- Chiral Perturbation Theory, Discrete ics; chair of the APS Nominating standing of the nature of the physical universe will be of benefit to all humanity, Symmetries Highlight Committee (1995); chair of the Physics 1997 Nuclear Physics Meeting .................. 8 the Society shall have as its objective the advancement and diffusion of the knowl- Section of the AAAS (1992); and chair of The latest research topics featured at the annual fall edge of physics.” meeting of the APS DNP. the Panel on Research Opportunities and The remaining two amendments concerned the value of the variable (X) as it Two APS Publications to be Needs, Materials Science and Engineer- applies to units losing representation on Council. The first (Article VIII) was Discontinued ............................................... 8 ing Survey, National Research Council Physical Review B-rapids and Physical Review intended to stabilize the Council representation of several APS units with mem- (NRC) (1986-89). Abstracts will be discontinued. bership levels that fluctuated near the value of X, which is 3% of the total APS In his candidate’s statement, Langer APS James C. McGroddy Prize for New membership. The second (Article IX) applies the same policies to the APS geo- identified three outstanding responsibili- Materials ....................................................... 8 graphical sections. For details see APS News, February and June 1997. The APS Council voted to establish the APS James ties of the APS and its leadership: (1) to C. McGroddy Prize for New Materials. APS Nomination Forms ............................. 9 Nomination for APS Fellow/Nomination Ballot Two Young Physicists to Receive 1998 APS Apker Awards ................................... 10 FREE Access to Reviews of Modern Physics Online Anna Lopatnikova and Cameron Geddes were named recipients of the 1998 Apker Award for their research achievements as undergraduates. The APS is pleased to announce that Reviews of Mod- announced as it becomes available. Please visit RMP- Announcements ................................. 11 ern Physics was released on the World Wide Web on online at http://rmp.aps.org. Questions and comments December 8, 1997 and will be accessible to all users are welcome and should be sent to the APS Associate The Back Page ................................. 12 Bernard Ortiz de Montellano on the problem of free of charge until July 1, 1998. APS members who Publisher at 301-209-3202 (telephone), 301-209-0844 post-modern multiculturalism and scientific illit- wish to continue to access RMP-online after July 1, 1998 (fax), or [email protected] (e-mail). eracy. may register a subscription. Pricing information will be SPECIAL EDUCATION INSERT APS News January 1998 Communication, APS Centennial Are Sessler’s Top Priorities in 1998 Andrew Sessler (Lawrence Berkeley turn ultimately helps us improve our com- The upcoming APS Centennial Laboratory assumed the APS presidency munication with the general public, which Q celebration in 1999 will undoubt- on January 1st, 1998. In the following is, after all, one of our primary missions. edly require a great deal of planning interview, he outlines his prevailing and effort in the coming year. concerns and priorities for the Society in How has the Society evolved in the coming year. Q terms of how it interprets its mis- Absolutely. The Centennial sion over the last 100 years? A celebration is our number one If you had to pick one over-riding priority for 1998. We have a team in place Q theme to define the underlying Over the years the APS has evolved now, with Brian Schwartz and Franmarie common denominator for your priorities