October 2010 Volume 19, No. 9 www.aps.org/publications/apsnews Physicist in the Running APS NEWS for Congress A Publication of the American Physical Society • www.aps.org/publications/apsnews Page 5

Michael Turner Elected Next APS Vice-President Plans Afoot for Topical Group APS members have elected Turner received his PhD from Stan- Laboratory. Currently, Turner is the On the Physics of Climate Michael Turner, current Director ford University. There, he began to Chairman of the Board of the As- During the summer, APS re- two petitions differs in detail, with of the Kavli Institute for Cosmo- explore the connections between pen Center for Physics, a member ceived two independent requests the Callan proposal defining the logical Physics at The University of particle physics and astrophysics of the NRC’s Board on Physics and for the formation of a topical group scope as the physics of “climate and Chicago, as the Society’s next vice- and cosmology. In 1983, he and Astronomy and of the Governing focusing on the physics of climate. the environment”, and the Cohen President. As the newest member Edward W. (Rocky) Kolb created Board of the NAS, and a Director One was presented by APS Fellow petition emphasizing that the topical of the presidential line, Turner will the Theoretical Astrophysics group of the Fermi Research Alliance, Roger Cohen, who had privately group should not be concerned with become APS President in 2013. at Fermilab. Turner also is the re- which manages Fermilab for the circulated a petition to that effect “matters of policy, legislation and By a decisive margin, the voters cipient of an honorary doctorate Department of Energy. and obtained the 200 member sig- regulation”, both expressed a com- also adopted an amendment to the from Michigan State University. “I am pleased, honored and natures needed to bring it to Coun- mon goal (quoting the Cohen peti- APS constitution establishing four humbled,” Turner said, “The APS cil. The other came as an initiative tion) of providing “a mechanism for permanent international councilors. is the premier physics organization of Council itself, which at its April physicists … to learn about and ex- In addition, Pierre Meystre of the in the world, and I am honored that meeting had authorized APS Presi- change views on the science, and to University of Arizona and Haiyan my colleagues think me worthy of dent Curtis Callan to poll the mem- generally advance the physical un- Gao of Duke were elected as gen- this important position. That being bership on their support for such derstanding, of terrestrial climate.”. eral councilors. Lars Bildsten from said, I suddenly have the realization a group; an email petition sent by Since Council would certainly not the Kavli Institute for Theoretical that I have my work cut out for me him to the members of DCP, DBP, approve two separate topical groups Physics at the University of Cali- for the next four years.” DCOMP, DAMOP and DFD in ear- on this topic, the leadership decided fornia Santa Barbara was elected Turner added that he plans on ly August quickly received almost that it would be best to attempt to Chair-elect of the Nominating focusing on a variety of issues dur- 800 signatures. form a “joint” topical group, focus- Committee. ing his tenure. He said that he es- “It’s clear that there is a great ing just on the physics issues inher- Turner assumes office in Janu- pecially wanted to emphasize the deal of enthusiasm among the APS ent in climate science. According to ary of next year, replacing Robert importance of making physics an membership for the formation of a Callan “We wanted to address what Byer of Stanford, who moves up exciting and rewarding career for topical group on the physics of cli- is obviously the core concern of our to become President-elect. At the young people, and to ensure that mate,” said Kate Kirby, APS Execu- members. I also have no problem same time, current President-elect the APS continues to be a strong tive Officer. “There are a number of with leaving the policy issues for Barry Barish of Caltech will suc- advocate for basic research not opportunities for the physics com- another venue: the science is chal- ceed Curtis Callan of Princeton as Michael Turner just in physics, but for science as munity to make substantial contri- lenging enough, and worthy of our APS President. Callan will remain a whole. He also wants to look at butions to science in this area.” undivided attention.” on the APS Council and Executive From 2003 to 2006 Turner led ways to improve workforce diver- Although the language of the PLANS continued on page 4 Board as past-President. the Directorate for Mathemati- sity in the field of physics and con- Turner has been a faculty mem- cal and Physical Sciences at the tinue to emphasize the importance Member Input Needed for Historic Sites ber at the University of Chicago National Science Foundation, and of science to the public. The committee in charge of across the country, with two more since 1980. With training in gen- from 2006 to 2008 he was Chief “The scientific opportunities to- the APS Historic Sites initiative scheduled to be installed by the eral relativity and particle physics, Scientist of the Argonne National ELECTION continued on page 7 is reaching out to the member- end of this year. ship and asking for future site rec- “The basic idea is that phys- ommendations. In doing so, the ics is probably as important as Two Women Chosen as Blewett Scholarship Recipients members of the committee hope anything that has ever happened APS recently announced this von Humboldt Foundation Fellow- there was a clear path for her to to broaden their pool of potential in American history, and people year’s recipients of the M. Hil- ship for her postdoctoral research. follow with her career, but the sites to include places they may really don’t understand it,” said dred Blewett scholarship. Chosen While at a conference in Eu- move proved to be a serious inter- not have otherwise considered. committee chair Ben Bederson, by the Committee on the Status rope, Drichko met Peter Armit- ruption. The initiative, started in 2005, adding the aim was also, “to ed- of Women in Physics, the two age, an assistant professor at Johns “You are changing your life aims to raise public awareness ucate the public of what physics are Natalia Drichko at The Johns Hopkins University. The two start- completely in every possible kind of the importance of physics by has accomplished in America and Hopkins University and Marija ed traveling together and soon fell of way,” Drichko said, “The big commemorating important peo- to give physicists pride in what Nikolic-Jaric at the University of in love. thing was kind of just to find a way ple and landmarks. Already they they have accomplished.” Manitoba. to adjust to everything.” have dedicated plaques at 19 sites SITES continued on page 3 The scholarship is dedicated to A year and a half ago, Drichko helping women who are returning gave birth to her daughter. Even Apker Finalists Meet in Washington to research careers that had been after moving and while caring for interrupted for family or other rea- her child, she continued working sons. The scholarship is a one-year to finish up the projects she had grant, which can be renewed, of up started in Germany. However, tak- to $45,000 for use towards a wide ing care of her new family mem- range of necessities, including ber meant Drichko would have equipment procurement, stipend, to take time away from research. travel, tuition, and dependent care. The whole time she knew that she This is the sixth year the scholar- would return to research; it was al- ship has been awarded. ways just a question of when, not After taking time off to move Natalia Drichko if. half-way around the world and She was fortunate that The start a family, Natalia Drichko has “It’s kind of a romantic story in Johns Hopkins University had a returned to condensed matter re- a way. I was still living in Europe large condensed matter depart- search. and he was living here,” Drichko ment and she would be able to She is originally from Rus- said. carry on research similar to what sia and earned her MSc from St. The two decided to get married she had been doing in Europe. She Photo by Shelly Johnston Petersburg State University in and move to the United States. found the faculty at the University Each year, APS selects two recipients of the Apker Award for outstanding re- 1996 and her PhD from the Ioffe It was a hard decision at first for friendly and helpful, but starting search by an undergraduate. To determine the recipients, a number of finalists are chosen, and then interviewed by the selection committee. This year, the Physico-Technical Institute, also Drichko to leave her research and up from scratch was a huge ef- seven finalists met with the committee in Washington on September 3. They in St. Petersburg, in 2002. She move to the other side of the At- fort, and she needed funding to are, left to right: Chia Wei Hsu (Wesleyan University); Martin Blood-Forsythe was studying organic conductors lantic. She had only been to the begin. She found information for (Haverford College); Erik Petigura (UC, Berkeley); Benjamin Good (Swarth- and superconductors and traveling United States twice before, once the Blewett scholarship online and more College); Patrick Gallagher (Stanford University); William Throwe (MIT); and Christopher Chudzicki (Williams College). The recipients will be an- back and forth between Russia and for a conference, and once while applied. nounced on the APS website and in a later issue of APS News. Germany as part of the Alexander visiting Peter. Back in Europe BLEWETT continued on page 4 2 • October 2010 APS NEWS

Members This Month in Physics History in the Media “We can only speculate what understands…Theorists are start- October 18, 1933: Louis de Broglie elected to Academy they mean and wonder just what ing to say, ‘What’s going on?’ But ne of the weirdest aspects of life on the quantum the Annales de Physique in 1925–all 100 pages. The adaptive advantage the (songs) that’s what the evidence points to. scale is the fact that all particles sometimes be- paper made de Broglie’s career, since he had thus far may give the whales in their evo- It’s a challenge for the physicists O have like waves. Max Planck first proposed the notion mostly been known as Maurice’s younger brother. lution.” and a challenge for the solar peo- of quanta in 1900 to explain blackbody radiation, and, Word spread rapidly throughout the physics commu- Roger Bland, San Francisco ple too.” with Einstein’s additional insights in 1905, this led to nity, earning the admiration of Einstein himself, who State University, UPI, August 9, Peter Sturrock, Stanford, on the resolution of the longstanding debate over whether wrote that de Broglie had “lifted a corner of the great 2010. mysterious variations observed in light is a particle or wave: it is both. But this strange veil.” “To me, this challenges the radioactive decay that might be characteristic is not limited to photons. The French A graduate student at the University of Gottingen integrity of science…They say tied to the sun, TheAtlantic.com, physicist Louis de Broglie extended the notion of par- named Walter Elsasser suggested a possible experi- they reached these conclusions August 25, 2010. ticle/wave duality to electrons in 1925. ment to detect the matter waves: shining a beam of that have enormous consequences “It’s really about the ques- Born in 1892 in Dieppe, Prince Louis-Victor- electrons through a crystal. The crystal’s lattice-like on the political and international tion: to whom does the American Pierre-Raymont was the younger son of the 5th duc structure provides a built-in array of “slits” narrow stage. As a scientist and scholar, I Dream belong? Does it belong to de Broglie, one of the oldest noble families of France. enough to scatter the electron waves. felt it was my duty to check their all of us, or a privileged few?” He was a lively, charming, and precocious child, ac- The experiment was performed in 1927, by Bell conclusion.” Rush Holt, US House of Rep- cording to letters written by his elder sister, with a pro- Labs physicists Clinton Davisson and Lester Germer, Seung-Hun Lee, University of resentatives, running for reelec- nounced flair for the dramatic. He fa- and by George Paget Thomson of the Virginia, on why he disagrees with tion, The Star-Ledger, September vored blue jackets with breeches and University of Aberdeen in Scotland. the South Korean government’s 3, 2010. buckled shoes at dinner, and memo- The electrons didn’t reflect from the assessment that a North Ko- rized entire scenes from classical the- surface along straight lines, like tiny rean torpedo sank the battleship “It is perhaps a bit rich for ater to recite for guests of the family. balls. Instead, the crystal served as a Cheonan in March, Time, August Hawking to make God redun- His sister envisioned a shining three-dimensional diffraction grat- 18, 2010. dant after granting him/her/it a future as a statesman for the young ing and there were sharp peaks in the celebrity cameo at the end of his “Maybe the huge black holes at Louis, given his love for history and intensity of the diffracted beams that multimillion-selling­ ‘A Brief His- the center of the Milky Way and politics. When his father died in 1906, occurred at predictable angles. tory of Time’.” other galaxies are bridges to dif- his older brother Maurice took him in The Nobel Committee praised Graham Farmelo, Science ferent universes.” and sent him to study at the Lyćee de Broglie’s courageous foresight Museum, London, The Daily Tele- Nikodem Poplawski, Indiana Janson de Sailly. Louis excelled in in championing this view when it graph, September 3, 2010. University in Bloomington, The French, history, physics and philoso- awarded him the 1929 Nobel Prize “When dropped into a new en- phy, “indifferent in mathematics,” in Physics. “When quite young you Washington Post, August 24, 2010. Prince Louis de Broglie vironment, rats will explore for a and not good at drawing and foreign threw yourself into the controversy “The Earth is 4.7 billion years while, form a mental map, then languages, but no one subject held his full attention. raging over the most profound problem in physics. old and it has taken that long to ac- De Broglie studied history and law at the Sor- You had the boldness to assert, without the support cumulate helium reserves, which stop wondering. But humans ask, ‘Why am I in this cage? How bonne, thinking he would join the civil service, but of any evidence whatsoever, that matter had not only we will dissipate in about 100 then he became enthralled with theoretical physics, no a corpuscular nature but also a wave nature. Experi- years… One generation does not did I get here? Where’s the near- est decent coffee?’ To understand doubt influenced in part by Maurice, also a physicist. ments came later and established the correctness of have the right to determine avail- In fact, Maurice maintained his own home laboratory your view.” ability for ever.” cosmology is to understand where we fit in.” at the family residence in Paris. Louis attended Henri In 1932, de Broglie became chair of theoretical Robert Richardson, Cornell, Poincaré’s lectures on electrodynamics, thermody- physics at the Sorbonne University, where he taught Leonard Mlodinow, Caltech, UPI, August 24, 2010. namics, and related subjects, but it was his chance for 33 years. His lecture notes were beautifully writ- The New York Post, September 5, reading of the report of the first Solvay Conference on ten, but he was deemed an uninspiring lecturer, prefer- “It’s an effect that no one yet 2010. quantum theory that ignited his imagination, and he ring to read monotonously from his notes, although PhysTEC Alumni Go Out and Teach chose to make physics his career. his weekly seminar in theoretical physics proved more But first Louis had to complete his mandatory mili- popular. He continued his research in the field of wave Thousands of physics teachers All told, nearly 200 people tary service, just as World War I broke out. Thanks mechanics, which gave rise to various applications, swarmed the streets of Portland have gone through the program to Maurice’s influence, Louis spent much of the war including the development of electron microscopes. Oregon in late July for the annual since its inception in 2001. The at the radiotelegraphy station at the foot of the Eiffel He later tried to develop a causal model to re- AAPT conference. Among them education department of APS is Tower, maintaining the equipment for sending wire- place the probabilistic models of quantum mechanics, were graduates of the APS-run now conducting a wide-ranging less transmissions. When the war ended, he worked which was refined by David Bohm in the 1950s and PhysTEC program, which seeks study to find out what people who with Maurice on the latter’s experiments on x-rays known as the de Broglie-Bohm theory. While most of to raise the bar for physics teach- have been trained by the program and the photoelectric effect, so ably explained by Al- his colleagues embraced the notion that the statistical er education programs across the are doing. Past surveys, conduct- bert Einstein in 1905. He published his first papers on nature of atomic physics was all that could be known, country. ed each year by contacting the the underlying quantum theory of that work. de Broglie believed that “the statistical theories hide PhysTEC helps to support col- heads of the programs at partici- In 1923, de Broglie later wrote, “After long reflec- a completely determined and ascertainable reality leges and universities that have pating universities, have shown tion in solitude and meditation, I suddenly had the behind variables which elude our experimental tech- put together physics education that the large majority have gone idea… that the discovery made by Einstein in 1905 niques.” programs aimed at undergradu- on to teach science. The ongoing should be generalized by extending it to all material On October 18, 1933, de Broglie was elected to ates who plan on becoming sci- study will be more in-depth, and particles and notably to electrons.” Even a simple the French Academy of Sciences, and became its per- ence teachers. Led by APS in will contact past participants di- water wave is granular at the atomic level, he rea- manent secretary when he was 50–a position he held conjunction with the American rectly. soned, since it is composed of the coordinated mo- until the age of 83. And he became the 7th duc de Association of Physics Teach- The most recent survey found tion of a horde of water molecules. All “particles” and Broglie in 1960 when his brother Maurice died. He ers and the American Institute that 84 percent of people who had all “waves” were in fact a mix of both. Because their also published many popular books on physics, earn- of Physics, the program recruits gone through the program are ei- “wavelengths” were so small, such “matter waves” ing him UNESCO’s first Kalinga Prize for popular- future science teachers–mostly ther currently teaching or actively wouldn’t affect the macro-world; their effects would izing physics in 1952. He never married, and died in undergraduates–and prepares seeking employment as a teacher. only appear at the atomic scale. Louveciennes on March 19, 1987; his title passed to a them with strong content and ex- In total, 62 percent of participants This work became his doctoral thesis, published in distant cousin. But his mark on physics remains. perience with interactive teaching go on to teach physical science methods. PHYSTEC continued on page 3

Series II, Vol. 19, No. 9 and, if possible, include a mailing label from a recent is- General Councillors ADVISORS October 2010 sue. Requests from subscribers for missing issues will be Robert Austin, Elizabeth Beise*, Marcela Carena*, honored without charge only if received within 6 months Marta Dark McNeese, Katherine Freese, Nergis Maval- Representatives from Other Societies APS NEWS © 2010 The American Physical Society of the issue’s actual date of publication. Periodical Post- vala, Warren Mori, Jorge Pullin Fred Dylla, AIP; David M. Cook, AAPT age Paid at College Park, MD and at additional mailing International Councillor International Advisors Coden: ANWSEN ISSN: 1058-8132 offices. Postmaster: Send address changes to APS News, Belita Koiler Membership Department, American Physical Society, Louis Felipe Rodriguez Jorge, Mexican Physical Society Editor•...... Alan Chodos One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740-3844. Chair, Nominating Committee Robert Mann, Canadian Association of Physicists Staff Science Writer ...... Michael Lucibella Angela Olinto Art Director and Special Publications Manager...... Kerry G. Johnson APS COUNCIL 2010 Staff Representatives Design and Production...... Nancy Bennett-Karasik Chair, Panel on Public Affairs Alan Chodos, Associate Executive Officer; Amy Flatten Proofreader...... Edward Lee President Robert Socolow Director of International Affairs; Ted Hodapp, Director Curtis G. Callan, Jr.*, Princeton University Division, Forum and Section Councillors of Education and Diversity; Michael Lubell, Director APS News (ISSN: 1058-8132) is published 11X yearly, Subscriptions: APS News is an on-membership publi- Neil Cornish (Astrophysics), P. Julienne (Atomic, Public Affairs; Dan Kulp, Editorial Director; Christine monthly, except the August/September issue, by the cation delivered by Periodical Mail. Members residing President-Elect Molecular & Optical Physics), Mark Reeves (Biological Giaccone, Director, Journal Operations; Michael American Physical Society, One Physics Ellipse, Col- abroad may receive airfreight delivery for a fee of $15. Barry C. Barish*, Caltech Physics), Nancy Levinger (Chemical Physics), Arthur Stephens, Controller and Assistant Treasurer lege Park, MD 20740-3844, (301) 209-3200. It contains Nonmembers: Subscription rates are available at http:// Epstein (Condensed Matter Physics), David Landau news of the Society and of its Divisions, Topical Groups, librarians.aps.org/institutional.html. Vice-President (Computational Physics), James Brasseur* (Fluid Administrator for Governing Committees Sections, and Forums; advance information on meetings Robert L. Byer*, Stanford University Dynamics), Gay Stewart (Forum on Education), Amber Ken Cole of the Society; and reports to the Society by its commit- Subscription orders, renewals and address changes Stuver*, (Forum on Graduate Student Affairs), Michael tees and task forces, as well as opinions. should be addressed as follows: For APS Members– Executive Officer Riordan (Forum on History of Physics), Stefan Zolner* Membership Department, American Physical Society, Kate P. Kirby*, Harvard-Smithsonian (retired) (Forum on Industrial and Applied Physics), Herman * Members of the APS Executive Board Letters to the editor are welcomed from the member- One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740-3844, Winick (Forum on International Physics), Philip “Bo” ship. Letters must be signed and should include an ad- [email protected]. Treasurer Hammer (Forum on Physics and Society), Steve Rolston dress and daytime telephone number. The APS reserves For Nonmembers–Circulation and Fulfillment Divi- Joseph W. Serene*, Georgetown University (Emeritus) (Laser Science), Ted Einstein (Materials Physics), Wick the right to select and to edit for length or clarity. All cor- sion, American Institute of Physics, Suite 1NO1, 2 Editor-in-Chief Haxton (Nuclear Physics), Marjorie Corcoran (Particles respondence regarding APS News should be directed to: Huntington Quadrangle, Melville, NY 11747-4502. Gene D. Sprouse*, Stony Brook University (on leave) & Fields Physics), John Galayda (Physics of Beams), Editor, APS News, One Physics Ellipse, College Park, Allow at least 6 weeks advance notice. For address David Hammer* (Plasma Physics), Scott Milner (Poly- Past-President MD 20740-3844, E-mail: [email protected]. changes, please send both the old and new addresses, mer Physics), Heather Galloway* (Texas Section), Bruce Cherry A. Murray*, Harvard University Barrett (4 Corners Section) APS NEWS October 2010 • 3

PHYSTEC continued from page 2 Washington Dispatch to students in grades K-12, while of new physics teachers have A bimonthly update from the APS Office of Public Affairs another 15 percent are teaching no degree in physics, and less another subject to K-12 students. than 15 percent of middle school ISSUE: Budget and Authorization Environment The program emphasizes teachers teaching a physical sci- Appropriations Update teaching techniques that draw ence majored in the subject. As of the deadline for APS News, Congress has made very little progress on the Fiscal Year 2011 Appropriations bills. students into an active learn- Gay Stewart of the Univer- Neither the House Energy & Water (E&W) bill, which funds the operations of the Department of Energy (DOE), nor the House Commerce, Justice, Science (CJS) bill, which contains the funding for the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the ing role. Jessica Clanton went sity of Arkansas has been with National Institute of Standards & Technology (NIST), have passed the full Appropriations Committee. through the program while at the program since its inception the University of Arkansas at and has kept tabs on the issues The House E&W subcommittee bill provides $4.9B for the DOE Office of Science, a $4M decrease from FY2010 enacted Fayetteville. After she graduated that her PhysTEC graduates have level and $221M less than the Administration request. However, with Congressionally Directed Projects (AKA: earmarks) taken into account, the Office ofS cience actually receives a $55M increase. The House CJS bill provides $7.4B for the NSF, with a masters in physics in 2007, faced. She said that oftentimes equal to the President’s request and $497M above FY 2010, while the NIST Core Programs receive $674M, $35M below the she took a job teaching courses at graduates have had to confront Administration’s request of $709M and $59M above FY 2010 with earmarks taken into account. the college level at the Arkansas both budget issues in the schools State College Mountain Home. where they teach and the lack of The Senate is more advanced in the appropriations process, with the full Senate Appropriations Committee having voted on most of their individual bills. The Senate E&W bill provides $5.0B for the DOE Office ofS cience, $142M above FY 2010 with “It gave me a student-centered an existing science education in- earmarks taken into account. The Senate CJS bill provides $7.35B for NSF and $688M for the NIST Core Programs, again approach to teaching,” Clanton frastructure. minus earmarks. said. “Students have to be in- “A high quality science class- volved in the classroom in order room takes a lot of effort,” Stew- However the chamber is not expected to make any additional progress before the end of the fiscal year. Given the highly partisan environment in the House and Senate and the expectation that the majority will lose seats in the November mid-term to learn…The idea of having stu- art said, “A lot of administrators elections, it is likely that Congress will pass a Continuing Resolution (CR) until the end of the calendar year. If either or both dents participate in the classroom don’t seem to realize what they’re chambers of Congress change party control, the CR could remain in effect for the entire Fiscal Year 2011. came from PhysTEC.” doing when they give someone Vera Ananda went through four different science classes to America COMPETES Reauthorization In the July issue of APS News, we reported on a complicated series of events that accompanied a contentious House the two-year program at the Uni- teach.” passage of America COMPETES Reauthorization. We also noted that before APS News went to press, the Senate had not yet taken any action. On July 22nd, after several delays, the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation finally held a mark-up of S. 3605, the Senate version of COMPETES Reauthorization.

In contrast to a five-year authorization provided in the House version, the Senate Commerce Committee’s bill provides only a three-year authorization. The reduction was meant to address Republican concerns that the House bill is too expensive. We have, since that time, heard that such concerns have not completely been satisfied. Limiting the authorization to three years reduces the amount provided for NSF and NIST by $18.9B. However, the cost of the three-year Senate bill is actually higher than cost of the first three years of theH ouse bill. For example, at the end of three years, the House NSF authorization is $8.77B, while the Senate total is $9.94 billion. Therefore, the faster growth rate in the Senate bill compensates for the elimination of authorizations for FY14 and FY15.

The Senate Commerce Committee bill does not yet include authorizations for the DOE Office of Science or NSF science, technology engineering, and math education. The Energy and Natural Resources Committee and the Health, Education, Labor, Pension (HELP) Committee will attach titles covering those activities prior to any floor action.

The Senate bill does contain language on scientific publishing, as does the House bill. Both direct the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) to create an Interagency Public Access Committee. But the Senate bill provides more specific direction to the working group, requiring it to take into account the inherent variability among scientific disciplines, the distinction between scholarly publications and digital data and the role that scientific publishers play in the peer review process including the attendant costs and added value. The bill also stipulates that any new public access policies cannot supersede existing public laws applied to federal science agencies. The APS Washington Office–as it did in the case of the House bill–played a key role in having the Senate bill direct OSTP to recognize “the role that scientific publishers play in the peer review process in ensuring the integrity of the record of scientific research, including the investments and added value that they make”. Photo courtesy of Vera Ananda Vera Ananda in the classroom Commerce Committee staff have said that the full Senate will not take up S. 3605 before the November mid-term elections, leaving little time for consideration before the end of the session in December. versity of Colorado at Boulder PhysTEC has grown and Be sure to check the APS Washington Office’s Blog, Physics Frontline (http://physicsfrontline.aps.org/), for the latest news graduating in 2006 with a BA in evolved over time as more in- on the FY11 Budget. physics and a teaching certificate. stitutions have gotten involved. Today she is teaching science to It has grown to include the dis- ISSUE: POPA Reports sixth, seventh and eighth grad- semination of materials and The Energy Critical Elements Study Group, which is examining the scarcity of critical elements for new energy technologies, ers at the Greenlee K-8 School in models for successful physics held its second meeting in September at the APS Washington Office. The meeting focused on policy considerations and Denver. She received the Noyce teaching, the greater integration the development of the report recommendations. scholarship offered to juniors and of physics departments into the The Electric Grid Study Group, which has examined the technical challenges and priorities for increasing the amount of seniors in PhysTEC programs in training of physics teachers and renewable electricity on the grid, finalized its report over the summer. It received unanimous approval from POPA. The 2005. the establishment of a network report will be released this fall and can be found on the APS website at that time. “If it weren’t for the Noyce for physics teachers, to interact The Direct Air Capture Study Group’s report is currently going through the external review process. program, I probably would have and share techniques with each had to take out loans and possibly other. If you have suggestions for a POPA study, please visit http://www.aps.org/policy/reports/popa-reports/suggestions/index. wouldn’t have been able to finish “The PhysTEC Program has cfm and send in your ideas. college,” Ananda said. She added developed into a successful pro- ISSUE: Media Update also that “I really enjoy how the gram that should be widely em- PhysTEC program keeps you ulated.” said Valerie Otero, an APS members were busy during the past several months writing op-eds and letters to the editor in support of funding for science. connected after you graduate.” associate professor of science She has traveled to the AAPT education at the University of In July, the Arizona Star and Lincoln Star newspapers published letters by Pierre Meystre, professor at the University of Arizona, and Timothy Gay, professor at the University of Nebraska. In their letters, they urged their senators to support the meeting in Alberta, Canada in Colorado at Boulder. reauthorization of the America COMPETES Act. 2008 and the Physics Teacher “It’s an effort to improve the That same month, the Salt Lake Tribune newspaper published an op-ed by William Evenson, a retired physics professor Education Coalition conference physics teacher preparatory pro- and university administrator at Brigham Young and Utah Valley universities. He also called upon his senators to support the earlier this year in Washington, grams across the United States, COMPETES legislation. DC with the help of the program. primarily by working with our In September, the Honolulu Star Advertiser featured an op-ed by Pui Lam, chair of the Physics Department of the University The PhysTEC program started constituents across the phys- of Hawaii (Manoa-Honolulu), on the importance of funding key scientific agencies to meet the state’s 70 percent renewable as a response to growing con- ics community,” said Monica energy goal by 2030. cerns about the state of science Plisch, the assistant director of education in grades K-12. Re- education at APS. “Ultimately Log on to the APS Public Affairs Web site (http://www.aps.org/public_affairs) for more search conducted by the Ameri- we’re hoping for a change in at- information. can Institute of Physics and the titude in physics departments to SITES continued from page 1 Department of Education respec- see physics teacher education as The committee is specifically history of physics. Such sites can One such site, due to be dedicat- tively has shown that two-thirds a part of what they do.” looking to the membership for include places associated with ei- ed on October 15th, is the Bronx more suggestions than the five- ther experimental or theoretical High School of Science in New 2010, the fiftieth anniversary of found on the initiative’s website members of the committee may work that dramatically impacted York, which has produced an as- the first successful demonstration at http://www.aps.org/programs/ have been able to come up with the field. Sites can also highlight tonishing seven Nobel laureates in of the laser. A picture of the event outreach/history/historicsites/ themselves. the lives of individuals who have physics. appeared in the July APS News Members who are interested in “We’re only five people, what played major roles in physics his- “That’s more than most coun- (available online). suggesting a location for the com- do we know?” Bederson said, tory. tries,” Bederson said. Other sites have included the mittee to look at can find a link on “There are thousands of APS So far the sites chosen have Another site recently commem- birthplace of the Physical Review the initiative’s website or can send members and there may be vital reflected a wide range of physics orated was the Hughes Research at Cornell, the first cyclotron at an email to any of the members of sites that we don’t know about, or disciplines. The committee mem- Laboratories in Malibu California University of California Berkeley, the committee. The official nomi- may be only vaguely aware of.” bers have also made an effort to where Theodore Maiman built the the invention of the transistor at nating form can be found at http:// The committee members are include less well known sites that world’s first working laser. The Bell Labs, and the discovery of the www.aps.org/programs/outreach/ looking for sites with either a na- have historic merit that the public plaque honoring this achieve- first antiparticle at Caltech. The history/historicsites/nomination. tional or local significance to the might not necessarily be aware of. ment was installed on May 16th, full list of selected sites can be cfm. 4 • October 2010 APS NEWS

Carbon Tax Unrealistic Letters Roger W. Cohen’s letter in the If not simple and prepared well, loopholes. Let the two suggestions July APS News suggests that there taxes (carbon or otherwise) are also win or lose (or even co-exist) on Internationalization Insults Professionalism are two reasons for favoring a car- wasteful and corruption prone. The their own merits, such as the eco- As discussed in the June 2010 port physicists worldwide and to bon tax over a cap-and-trade system. number of businesses and individu- nomic study Cohen cites. APS News, the recently proposed foster international collaboration.” Cohen first cites a Yale study into an als involved in tax fraud or avoid- Misleading adjectives aside, constitutional amendment seek- I see absolutely no point, except optimal economic policy for reduc- ance is evidence enough of a system all proposed policies to mitigate ing CO emissions, which favors a susceptible to dishonesty. Even if ing to address the alleged prob- perhaps from some artificial polit- 2 CO emissions must necessarily be lem that the APS has a governing ically-correct optical perspective, progressively increasing carbon tax, properly designed, poor implemen- 2 viewed in light of the ability of Con- body which is “overly domestic” to internationalize our governing and secondly calls cap-and-trade tation and enforcement of a carbon certainly seemed to solve a prob- body any more than it already is. schemes "wasteful and corruption tax would open the scheme to fur- gress to pass them. Could you con- lem. Unfortunately, it struck me The logical conclusion seems to prone". This second point is disin- ther corruption and exploitation. In vince everyone, in today’s econom- that the problem being solved was be that we are unable to sensibly genuous; to attribute these two ad- short, there is no guarantee that the ic climate, to accept another tax? a perceived “political correctness” cooperate with other national or jectives solely to cap-and-trade pro- carbon tax will be any more efficient issue and not a problem of intrinsic international entities because our posals prevents a serious and honest than the current tax system with its Tomasz Kott deficiency in the structure of the governmental structure isn’t suf- comparison. multitude of rebates, refunds, and Silver Spring, MD APS governing body. The society ficiently international. Frankly, is, after all, the American Physical I find that insulting to the profes- Column Displays Faulty Reasoning Society. Moreover, a key element sionalism that our Society has his- In his Inside the Beltway col- into the economy.” According to In the case of the unpaid-for in the Society's mission statement torically displayed. umn “The Passion of Politics” this logic, cashing my paycheck benefits, yet more money is tak- clearly mandates that we “... coop- in the August/September APS and stealing someone’s money erate with international physics so- Robert G. Lanier en, by government force, from News, Michael S. Lubell asserts after beating him to death should cieties to promote physics, to sup- Livermore, CA people who earned it and given to that Republicans’ opposition to rationally be considered on the those who did not earn it. In the the extension of unemployment same footing–both “inject money case of keeping the tax cuts, the Bury, Don’t Burn benefits (without incurring new into my pocket.” Of course,this people that produced the wealth Many promising high-tech the buried wood would represent spending) contradicted their de- ignores the morality of obtaining methods for carbon sequestration long-term sequestered carbon. sire to keep the Bush tax cuts in the money and the long-term con- keep it. are presently being developed, but The industrialized world has been place–and therefore was based on sequences of either action, while one low-tech method is as simple inadvertently sequestering car- “emotional” thinking. After all, just connecting similar sounding Frank Loreti as deciding to bury discarded bon for some time by including he reasons, “both inject money strings of words, out of context. Pittsburgh, PA wood rather than burn it. Cleared discarded wood in dry landfills. Business Majors Need to be Seduced brush, old pallets, wood from As a complement to the present I would like to add to the beau- engineering majors, but rather the Maria Ronay demolished buildings, etc., are scientific and engineering efforts, tiful article by Sacha Kopp [Back all too many future business ma- San Francisco, CA commonly burned worldwide as encouraging people everywhere Page, August/September APS jors. No need to tell them anything Ed. Note: A discussion of a means of disposal. When wood to “bury, don't burn” discarded News] that another attraction of a else, but that many of the “quants” whether physicists contributed decomposes or burns, short-term physics education is that physics on Wall Street are PhD’s in phys- to the financial meltdown can be wood would be a relatively cheap sequestered carbon is returned to is arguably the most quantitative ics, making piles of money (and found (online) in the December, and easy way to sequester carbon. the atmosphere. Nothing is more discipline of the natural sciences. having neatly contributed to the 2008 Back Page by H. Eugene low-tech than digging a hole, and He should however not try to financial meltdown). Stanley. if it is deep enough and/or capped Philip Ugorowski lure away prospective biology and to stay dry, approximately 50% of Manhattan, KS Need to Cut Back on Production of Physicists BLEWETT continued from page 1 I would like to offer a contrar- the physics community would be has driven down real remunera- “This is an amazing oppor- “The challenge of research was ian viewpoint regarding Sacha better served by adopting a model tion, job satisfaction, and will- tunity,” Drichko said. “It helped definitely missing there,” Nikolic- Kopp’s interesting Back Page similar to the medical profession, ingness to promote physics. The enormously because I can do the Jaric said, “I knew I had to just article on enlarging physics pro- where there is no undergraduate tenacious and fortunate who have research I am very much interest- go back to what I loved to do the grams. I completed my PhD in equivalent degree (or perhaps some stable positions have paid very ed in at a great university.” most.” High Energy (Neutrino) Physics in loosely coupled “pre-physics” de- dearly to get them–be it at uni- She has started researching Nikolic-Jaric continued to 1998. I elected not to stay in aca- gree), application to the graduate versity, national lab, or otherwise. magnetic ordering in materials re- work at pulling together her cred- demia and instead pursued a ca- level is highly competitive, and This only fosters that lack of pas- lated to unconventional supercon- its at Simon Fraser University in reer in private enterprise. While in accrediting new graduate PhD pro- sion that the author so eloquently ductivity. With the funds she plans Vancouver. In 2007, the death of school I initially sympathized with grams is deliberately constrained touches on in his article. to set up a lab to investigate the her step-father delayed her PhD the goals of the academic commu- by the community. In short, this get-the-numbers properties of these superconductors, defense an additional semester. In nity to increase interest and enroll- Consider the pre-med student. game has not benefited physics including a Raman spectrometer that January of 2008, she was able to ment in undergraduate and gradu- They know a priori they cannot nor physicists. I am certain ALL other researchers in the university defend her thesis and earn the PhD ate physics. As I’ve become older practice in the medical field unless of your readers have colleagues could use as well. started years earlier. and hopefully wiser (and started they pursue some form of post- who have yet to find job satisfac- The second Blewett scholar- She said the Blewett scholar- educating my own children) my graduate work. Similar facts hold tion after 10, 15 or even 20 years ship recipient, Marija Nikolic- ship had given her a tremendous perspective has come full circle. true for the physics undergrad, yet in the field. Jaric, after completing her long psychological and financial boost. There are far too many phys- the departments feel compelled to So how realistic is it to expect delayed PhD, has been able de- “One of the big worries, which ics programs & physicists (both contrive a message as to why it's them to sincerely recommend a vote herself to her research and is how are we going to pay for the undergrad & grad) being produced worthwhile–rather than address it degree (not to mention a career) in is looking forward to a career research, is gone now,” Nikolic- that are pursuing too few job op- for what it frankly is in reality: a physics? We physicists are throw- as a physicist. She is currently a Jaric said. portunities, and sustained efforts pre-physicist degree. ing sand in the wind by increasing post-doctoral research fellow at After receiving her PhD, she to increase enrollment only serve With respect to faculty and enrollments. We should be DE- the University of Manitoba in started her post-doctoral work to make matters worse for both staff the current push-for-numbers CREASING them for the better- Winnipeg, where she is studying at the University of Manitoba graduates (at all levels) and fac- mode undermines them at every ment of all. biophysical flow cytometry. This researching the behavior of ro- ulty. turn. Churning out new graduates is her second year being awarded tating asymmetrical particles in To alleviate this problem, and and PhD’s at a rate 10-15x greater Jean George the Blewett Scholarship. electrical fields. Since then she greatly enhance study in the field, than the community requires them Austin, TX In 1996, Nikolic-Jaric was just has moved into other aspects of PLANS continued from page 1 weeks away from defending her biophysical flow cytometry, ex- A topical group is like a mini- up members, elections for officers members in place, representing a thesis when she and her husband ploring the physical properties of division: it organizes sessions at the can take place and the new topical range of APS units. received devastating news. He had biological material in the context March and April general meetings group can commence its indepen- Committee chair Friedman says been diagnosed with a rare and ter- of microfluidics. of the society and often puts out a dent existence. that he is hopeful that it will be minal type of brain tumor. Already With the scholarship she has newsletter for its members. It has a Callan said that his first step in possible to submit bylaws for ap- juggling her thesis, pulling togeth- been able to travel to different ac- governance structure similar to that constituting an organizing commit- proval at the November meeting of er academic credits from multiple ademic conferences, including the of a typical APS unit and its offi- tee was to recruit a distinguished APS Council. Given the enthusi- universities and caring for her APS March Meeting and the up- cers are elected by the topical group and effective chair, and that he was asm for this initiative that has been four-month-old son, Nikolic-Jaric coming MicroTAS in the Nether- membership. The next step in the fortunate in having been able to expressed by APS membership, a made the difficult choice to put lands. She also attended the Sum- creation of the new topical group is convince Nobel laureate and for- new topical group on the physics her degree on hold for a while. mer School of Nanotechnology in to constitute an organizing commit- mer APS President Jerome Fried- of climate could be open for busi- After her husband’s death the fol- Edmonton. tee whose charge will be to define man of MIT, one of the signers ness sometime early in 2011. Cal- lowing year, she moved back to In addition to her research as the precise “area of interest” (and of the Cohen petition, to serve in lan commented that he hoped this Canada to be closer to her parents. a postdoc, Nikolic-Jaric has been name) of the topical group, draft its this important capacity. With this TG would go a long way toward While away, she volunteered at helping the graduate students she bylaws and determine how it will key element in place, Callan pro- reducing the tensions that had been her son’s elementary school, help- is working with. Many of them, initiate its activities. Once these ceeded to ask other signers of the raised within the society by the cli- ing to teach math through games. especially the women, have the plans have been approved by Coun- two petitions to serve as members mate issue …. and also that its ser- Though she enjoyed working with same questions about juggling cil, APS members will be invited to of the committee. The response has vices would no longer be needed the students, she wanted to finish careers and families that Nikolic- join (upon payment of dues of $8!) been very positive and he expects by the time the year 2111 rolled her degree and return to research. Jaric confronted as a student. and once there are at least 200 paid- to have a committee of about eight around! APS NEWS October 2010 • 5

Run For Office: Just Follow the Law and Leave the Spherical Cow Jokes Behind By Alaina G. Levine Politics, says Ruth McClung, since August 24, 2010, when she November. “I’m glad grassroots lems [in politics] are extremely think it’s necessary, but grabs physicist and Republican candi- emerged victorious from the pri- beat money,” she says. complex,” she posits. “In Wash- at the chance to make a good- date for the House of Represen- mary, garnering 50% of the votes The 28-year-old, who works ington, they don’t look at [prob- natured point. “I know you don’t tatives in Tucson, Arizona (7th in a five-person field, she is more for a government contractor, lems] from 360 degrees, they look have to be a rocket scientist for district), is like “A Tale of Two threw her hat in the ring because at [them from] one angle…physi- this post,” he jokingly argues, Cities”: it is the best of times and she didn’t care for the selection cists like to look at problems from “but I know it couldn’t hurt.” the worst of times. “You meet of candidates who consistently 360 degrees, lay out the facts and Fortune references his for- some people who are the best peo- vied for her vote, she says. It was see what’s going on.” mer professor, Congressman and ple in the world,” she explains, a gradual decision to run because And there’s another positive physicist Rush Holt, who “makes such as a Tribal Council member “I was very tired of no one on the –good PR. Her campaign slo- the case…that a scientific back- who “I knew cared and wanted to ticket who even remotely repre- gan, “Maybe it does take a rocket ground is needed. So many issues do the best for his people.” sented me,” she continues. “It’s scientist,” stands out among the that Congress deals with have a And there is also the seedy extremely frustrating on election hackneyed “Vote for” cacophony scientific or technological issue side. “I’ve had people try to day that there is no one to vote that has become all too common associated with them” that it’s buy my vote off,” she admits. for”. in every race. And McClung, re- valuable to have representatives “[That’s] something that really hit So she set her sights on Capi- ally is a rocket scientist. But just who are well-versed in the sci- me hard.” tol Hill, and already her physics how beneficial or essential is be- ences, he says. But McClung is undivided in skills have come in handy. She ing a rocket scientist and/or a “There is no requirement that her resolve to serve her district, senses that her sharpened abil- physicist to serving the public as the Auditor come from a particu- an area in southeast Arizona Ruth McClung ity to delineate facts and distin- an elected official? lar profession…The current Au- covering 22,872 square miles guish problems from as many Nat Fortune, a 49-year-old as- ditor retiring used to be a profes- and larger than Rhode Island, than looking forward to an excit- viewpoints as possible gives her sociate professor of physics at sional boxer,” Fortune says. But Delaware, Hawaii, Connecticut ing race when she faces incum- an edge: “You can’t always have Smith College running for Au- “you need someone analytical, and New Jersey combined. And bent Democrat Raúl Grijalva in a perfect solution because prob- ditor of Massachusetts, doesn’t LAW continued on page 6

Focus on APS Sections Symbolic farewell New England Section Played Trailblazing Role By Lidia Smentek Editor’s Note: This article by persons who were associated dur- and the middle of the 17th cen- By Eric Betz Lidia Smentek is a sequel to her ing their lives with the cathedral tury, when the so-called Swedish Editor’s Note: This is the first life Morse would also co-found the earlier discussion of Copernicus’s in Frombork inherited the same flood covered Varmia (the district of an occasional series of col- MIT Acoustics Laboratory, become remains in a Viewpoint column in sequence of mtDNA. These are: of Frombork), and Copernicus’ umns highlighting the history and the first director of Brookhaven the May, 2009 APS News (avail- bishop Łukasz Watzenrode (broth- library was stolen. In the context achievement of APS Sections. and the MIT Computation Center, able online). er of the astronomer’s mother), of these historical facts, a new There are currently nine sections, and eventually serve as President Recently Wiesław Bogdanow- Andrzej Kopernik (astronomer’s question arises: did no one dur- covering most of the United States of APS, President of the Acoustical icz of the Polish Academy of Sci- brother) and Nicolaus Copernicus. ing these 100 years read or look at and parts of Canada. Society of America and board chair ences, together with his team, It is therefore impossible to distin- these books stored now in Uppsa- For many students and research- of the American Institute of Phys- wrote in the Proceedings of the Na- guish the genetic material of these la? Is it not possible that the hairs ers working in isolated areas, re- ics. He had imagined a format that tional Academy of Sciences 1: three persons. and the remains 13/05 belonged gional sections define the APS would have two distinct groups of Taking all data into consider- Copernicus’ brother’s burial to a different canon, a successor experience, but the idea wasn’t in talks at each meeting, one for 10 ation, i.e., the identical genetical place has not been definitely estab- of Copernicus, or another bishop, place from the society’s beginning. minute contributed talks and an- profiles in the skeletal remains lished, but after he had officially who was studying the books, and It wasn’t until February of 1932 other for invited speakers, and the and reference hairs along with the moved from Rome to Frombork in eventually was also buried in the that an APS council approved a Physical Review would then print other anthropological and archeo- 1506, he still spent the majority of cathedral? constitutional amendment–as pro- each speaker’s abstract for the so- logical information, we conclude time back in Rome; and it is specu- As a consequence the prob- posed by the then 29 year old MIT ciety as a whole to read. that the skeletal remains derived lated that he died there. It is known ability that indeed Copernicus’s Faculty member Philip M. Morse– “The meeting was a very suc- from the St. Cross Altar tomb at for sure, however, that Bishop remains have been found is lower to allow a New England section as cessful one,” Morse wrote to a col- Frombork Cathedral are those of Łukasz Watzenrode and Coperni- than 33.3%, even assuming that the first regional group. Sections league the week of the section’s the great Polish astronomer, Nico- cus were buried in the Frombork the genetic analysis was performed were his brainchild from start to first meeting in Amherst, Mass., laus Copernicus. This is the end of cathedral! with 100% reliability. finish and he laid out the roles of “the day was fine and the trees had a search that has lasted for at least One does not need to be an ex- On the 19th of February 2010 the officers, drafted the section’s a grand colouring. People came 2 centuries… pert to see that the only conclusion in Toruń, Copernicus’ birthplace, purpose, wrote its first set of by- from all over, several from Maine, Is it really the end of the search? that may be derived from the match in the same cathedral where he laws and then lobbied to get it ac- a number from Troy and several The reference hairs mentioned of mtDNA of both samples (hair was baptized, the sarcophagus cepted. from New York City. There was above were found by chance in the and bones) is that they belonged to with the remains was guarded by a “The currents have turned in considerable discussion of most books stored in Uppsala, Sweden, either the same person, or to two delegation of different professions the American Physical Society,” of the ten minute papers, and a lot since they were taken as a war tro- different persons who were related and ages, including representatives wrote APS Treasurer George Pe- of discussion of all the invited pa- phy in 1626 from Frombork, Po- via the maternal branch. of the young generation. There gram at the time. “The constitution pers.” land; they previously belonged to As a consequence, even assum- were flowers, candles, coat of arms now provides and the council will Among those ten minute talks Copernicus while he was a canon ing that somehow it is possible to and Gregorian hymns in the back- encourage the establishment of re- was one given by Karl Compton there. The same sequence of mtD- prove that the hairs found in Up- ground. A crowd paid respect to gional sections.” and another by Percy Williams NA was found in the hairs and bone psala are indeed those of Coper- Copernicus, the pioneer of a new As Morse described it in an Bridgman on the effects of pres- remains, catalogued anonymously nicus (which has not been done), intellectual era. The remains were open letter to APS members that sure on the electrical resistance of as 13/05, found in the Frombork the match of their mtDNA with on their way to Frombork Cathe- year, the focus of sections should various metals. Nearly 15 years cathedral. those of 13/05 does not answer dral to be finally put to rest forever. be two-fold: “to provide a point of later Bridgman would win the However, since mtDNA is in- the question whose remains were Now we know that it was only contact between research workers Nobel Prize in physics for related herited only from the female line, found, the astronomer's or his un- a symbolic farewell organized for in physics and workers in fields al- work. Other Nobel Prize winners the genealogical tree of Copernicus cle's, since the two men share the Copernicus by citizens of Toruń; lied to physics (i.e. teachers); and like Nicolaas Bloembergen and leads to the conclusion that three same genetic code. The mystery just a symbolic good-bye from his to relieve the overcrowding of the Edward Purcell have also called of Copernicus’ grave is still NOT town. national meeting programs.” the section home. 1 W. Bogdanowicz, M. Allen, W. solved! How was it possible then Lidia Smentek is at the Institute A distinguished administrator, While the dues have increased Branicki, M. Lembring, M. Gajewska to announce to the world that Co- of Physics, Nicolaus Copernicus Morse was a strong first leader of substantially from the initial 75 and T. Kupiec, Genetic identification pernicus’ grave has been found? University, Toruń, Poland and the the New England Section and his cents and membership has grown of putative remains of the famous as- tronomer Nicolaus Copernicus, PNAS More than a century lapsed be- Department of Chemistry, Vander- groundwork was copied by all the from 79 to well over two thousand, 106, 12279 (2009). tween Copernicus’s death in 1543 bilt University. sections that would follow. Later in NEW ENGLAND continued on page 7 6 • October 2010 APS NEWS

LAW continued from page 5 Congressman Ehlers Retires thorough, [who is] working from tant sexism. “I’m a physicist and “We don’t want countries we basic principles of what ought I’ve been in a very male-dominat- don’t like looking down on us to be accomplished and reason- ed area but have not felt sexism,” from space–it’s a defense issue,” able to achieve. A physicist has she says. In fact, she has found akin to holding a higher ground all those skills particularly in the physics to be “open to women,” in a battle, she says. “I believe broader modeling of the process especially young women like her. it would be a mistake to ignore and sense of the process.” In ad- But politics has been another space.” dition, it helps to have patience matter. “I told someone I was McClung has already started and familiarity with law, and the, running for office and they said contemplating the committees on um, Law: “Someone who’s ever ‘there are too many women in which she would serve if elect- taught thermodynamics knows Washington’.” Another time, “I ed. Unsurprisingly, she covets it will never be completely effi- was told if I want to be in poli- decidedly-scientifically-slanted cient.” tics I can’t have children, that a House committees, such as Sci- Fortune, a member of the woman in politics has no business ence and Technology, Energy and Green-Rainbow Party, has also with children. I never heard that Commerce, and the House Select discovered that his teaching ex- in science and can’t imagine that Committee on Energy Indepen- Photo by Brian Mosley perience has helped him better ar- being told to a man,” she says. dence and Global Warming. She There are currently 3 physics PhDs serving in Congress. The longest-serving ticulate messages to his constitu- Yet the small-mindedness of says that this is where her physics is APS Fellow Vern Ehlers, Republican from Michigan, first elected in a special ents. “Being a physics teacher, I a few of the people is clearly not education will be singularly valu- election on December 7, 1993 and to eight full terms thereafter. Ehlers recently certainly have some confidence enough to shake her. able. “I think my services could announced his decision to retire after his current term ends, and a reception was in public speaking,” he states. “It’s a very rewarding experi- be very useful because of the sci- held in his honor this summer on Capitol Hill. In the photo, Ehlers (left) chats with APS President Curtis Callan and APS Director of Public Affairs Michael Lubell, “I know there are many ways to ence, running for office,” Mc- entific background I bring and I while Congressman Frank Wolf of Virginia (center) passes by. communicate and each person Clung acknowledges. “You will can talk to experts…I don’t know has different ways of communi- learn a lot more than you thought, much about geology, but I could cating… I have to pay attention. some of it good, some of it bad. definitely understand what a ge- Forty-one Students Receive Students and voters are not blank And we all grow as people the ologist is saying.” Minority Scholarships slates–they have their own opin- more we learn.” For the scientists who want ions and ideas and you have to As a physicist, she already to serve their fellow citizens APS has announced the recipi- arship from a website that lists understand those…” is counting on her unique back- through elected office, McClung ents of its Scholarship for Minority available scholarships. Having McClung has found encourag- ground to aid her in helping her has simple advice: “If you want Undergraduate Physics Majors for long been interested in seeing how ing and humorous elements in her constituents. Her scientific pri- to run,” she offers, “surround the 2010 school year. Forty-one the universe works, Leu wanted to pursuit for office. “For the most orities include support for diverse yourself with good people. It’s students from schools across the go into physics and possibly be- part, it’s been very positive to be energy sources, NASA, and sci- too big–it has to be more than country have been assigned men- come a researcher for NASA. Two a scientist running for office,” she ence and mathematics educa- you. I could not do it alone.” tors and given some financial sup- summers ago, she participated in declares, but laughs that there tion. “I’m a huge proponent of port to assist them as they pursue MIT’s Women’s Technology Pro- have been some interesting mo- nuclear energy,” McClung says. their physics degrees. gram, a four week course for fe- ments that only a fellow physicist “You can’t get cleaner energy The scholarship, first set up male high school students to get may understand. “I’m a geek–I than nuclear energy and it’s the in 1980, aims to raise the num- hands-on engineering experience. tend to act like a geek,” McClung second cheapest form.” With the ber of underrepresented minor- Over this last summer, she had confesses. This involves, among Palo Verde Nuclear Generating ity students in physics. It is open an internship at NASA’s Jet pro- other concerns, tending to con- Station located in her district, “I to students who are majoring or pulsion lab, where she was able centrate more on facts than one’s would like to sell the power to planning to major in physics and to work on three different proj- appearance. “You wake up [and] other states.” Additionally, she are African-American, Hispanic ects. She contributed to the design don’t always care what your hair would like to investigate using American, or Native American US of the landing radar for the next looks like” because you’re think- nuclear power for desalination, citizens or permanent residents. Mars rover, took temperature and ing about an issue, she says. And something that could be practical “It’s important because it en- pressure readings of the surface of as a scientist, she approaches po- in a state noted for its arid lands courages and supports minority the red planet, and helped collect litical problems from a stance that and limited water supply. students’ interest in physics,” said data from a live experiment as the is more “in depth, more geeky.” She’s supportive of research Arlene Modeste Knowles, the Cassini probe sent radio signals Nat Fortune McClung received her bach- she calls “off the grid”: The ham- scholarship administrator. “I think through the atmosphere of Saturn. elors in physics in 2004 from mering, tinkering, and investigat- Fortune, who was first elected it also helps the students’ confi- “It was really nice to see phys- the University of Arizona, is ing of the off-the-clock geeks who to his town of Whately’s school dence in themselves to know that ics in the real world,” Leu said. the daughter of a physicist who contribute to major technological committee in 2003, was re-elect- APS, a leading physics society, Another recipient, Olivia worked for the DOE, DOD, and innovations, such as the personal ed in 2006 and 2009, and current- recognizes and supports them.” Smarr, likewise is looking towards private industry, and is married to computer or even the airplane. ly serves as its chair, has further All the scholarship recipients the skies with her physics degree. a physicist with a master’s in the “You never want to discount what suggestions for politically-mind- get a pair of mentors to help guide “I really really like astrophys- subject and an MBA. She has not someone’s working on in their ed physics pros. “I would encour- them through the first two years ics; I think that physics is a field encountered resistance concern- garage or lab,” she remarks. “The age everyone to run for school of school. One mentor is a mem- that has endless possibilities for ing her pedigree, although “be- government doesn’t even have to committee or town committee. ber or former member of the APS learning,” Smarr said. “Physics is ing in physics I want to use ex- get involved.” Or get appointed to a general of- Committee on Minorities in phys- the study of everything.” amples from physics, and people And as for the cosmos, she fice–not so much because you’re ics. The other is someone from the A native of the D.C. Metro- [have told me] to tone down the says “I’m a huge fan of NASA. a physicist but because of civic university’s physics department to politan area, Smarr is starting her ‘science-type’ talk.” She recalls I want to balance the budget, but duty,” he says. be on hand to help guide the stu- first year at Stanford University. how in one of her first speeches, I don’t think we should give up But he cautions: “Running for dent as he or she works towards She said that while the physics an awkward aura arose in the space, if for no other reason the office is a lot like doing research. a bachelor's degree. In addition, program at her high school was room after “I told a science joke technology we get from NASA… It takes several times to actually Modeste Knowles stays in close not the strongest, she’s been able (the spherical cow joke) and no- NASA and the military are the do it right.” contact with the recipients, each of to augment it with extracurricular body got it...People came up to two areas of the government that Alaina G. Levine is a science whom is required to meet the chair activities. For the last three sum- me afterwards and said you know, give us wealth (both monetary writer and President of Quantum of their physics department. mers she’s been interning at NA- ‘Ruth, that’s too geeky. You have and intellectual) in society.” Success Solutions, a leadership The scholarship is merit-based. SA’s Goddard Space Flight Center to lay off that.’” In addition, McClung affirms and professional development The APS Committee on Minori- in Maryland. There she contrib- The most surprising and per- that space, and in particular, lunar consulting enterprise. She can ties, which picks the recipients, uted to the search for exoplanets, haps unsettling aspect of running projects, must be pursued (with be contacted through www.alai- looks for candidates with strong helped analyze the binary star sys- for office, McClung concedes, fiscal responsibility) for another nalevine.com. Copyright, 2010, grades, good recommendations, tem PDF-144, analyzed data from- has been her encounter with bla- crucial reason: national security. Alaina G. Levine. and either formal or informal re- high energy x-ray binary stars and search experiences. plotted the interactions of comets “Also the enthusiasm and pas- with the Sun. In October 2009 2010-2011 APS Minority Kretz, Ian David Wagner, Alan Benjamin sion for physics and a potential she was invited to the lawn of the Scholarship Recipients La Placa, Rolando Luis Williams, Benjamin Michael physics career is always helpful,” White House to help teach astron- Leu, Sarah Noelle said Modeste Knowles. omy to middle school students for New Students Martinez, Daniel D Renewal Students Students who received the President Obama’s star party. Alexander, Ronald Deshaun Medina, Michael Karl Catanach, Thomas Anthony scholarship have said that having She said that the scholarship Allen, Eric Pierre Ndousse, Kamal Kuango Easley, Justin mentors is a big help. will both help her out financially, Batie, Margo Alexandra Pardo, Kristina M Frasier, Johari Menelik Boyd, Clifton Samuel “It’s really nice to have that ex- and provide a strong support net- Planell-Mendez, Ivette Mylette Geyer, Guy Calhoun, Richard Andrew tra support because it can be kind work through her mentors. Resendiz, Gustavo Kelsey, Ashley Simone Chaves, Jason Reis of scary going into your first year,” “I think it was also a good way Rodriguez, Roberto Alexis Lee, Christina C. Cook, Brent Keith Rowe, Ebony Nicole said Sarah Leu, a freshman at MIT to get involved with the American Molina, Mallory Elyse Cruz, Peter J Segert, Simon Nicholas from Pasadena, California. “It’s Physical Society because I know Emerick, Andrew James Smarr, Olivia Kamil Ojeda, Steven Matthew nice having the support that you it’s something I should get in- Gray, Iris Soto, Priscilla Nicolette Quintana, Chris need.” volved with as a physics major and Johnson, Carrine Marie Turner, Brandon Reyna Liriano, Maritza Del Carmen Leu first heard about the schol- as a physicist,” Smarr said. Jones, Jeremy Villar, Victoria Ashley Starr, Jessica Montoya APS NEWS October 2010 • 7

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What is Reviews of Modern Physics and how could it benefit me? Recently Posted Reviews and Colloquia ach year APS members may receive a letter in the mail from Quantum information with Rydberg atoms APSIT, the American Physical Society Insurance Trust, offer- E M. Saffman, T.G. Walker and K. Mølmer ing a range of insurance products. APS is the original society of the Insurance Trust, established in 1969, to provide early and mid-career The hyperfine states of most atomic systems are well isolated members with a convenient source for high quality insurance coverage from the environment and can thus store quantum informa- at an affordable price. tion reliably. However, in order to process such information (to build, for instance, a quantum computer), atoms must in- APSIT offers six insurance products: teract with each other. In typical atomic systems, those inter- • term life • personal accident actions are too weak. This review shows how by exciting the • 10 year level term life • hospital indemnity atoms to Rydberg states one can obtain very strong interac- tions which can then be used to carry out quantum gates, or • disability income • long term care to generate many-particle entangled states. The paper also Insurance plans are underwritten by the New York Life Insurance Com- explains recent exciting experiments in which some of those features have been demonstrated. pany and administered by Herbert V. Friedman, Inc. Both in terms of the coverage offered and the low-cost premiums, APSIT products are http://rmp.aps.org very competitive with other providers and are worth consideration. APS believes that the Society’s continued participation in APSIT is a benefit to our members and encourages everyone to learn more about APS Division of Plasma Physics the products.

November 8-10, 2010 Hyatt Regency Hotel Chicago, IL ELECTION continued from page 1 day are different, but just as excit- recent NRC panels. He was a “Interdisciplinary research, in- ing as ever, from building a quan- member of the NSF’s Mathemati- ternational collaborations and co- Looking for: tum computer to figuring out dark cal and Physical Science Advisory operation among scientists across • a job? energy to solving the biggest prob- Committee from 2004 until 2007. the world are becoming ever lems our planet faces – energy and Bildsten teaches an upper level more important. Physicists have a • the ideal climate. But there are issues that physics course and is a member of long and productive tradition for candidate? must be addressed on the practi- the Board of Directors of the Dos fruitful international collabora- Let the APS/DPP cal side if physics is to remain at- Pueblos Engineering Academy tions, but many more possibilities tractive and rewarding, including Foundation. Bildsten’s theoretical abound,” Gao said in her candi- Job Fair do the workforce diversity in physics, the research spans the fields of stellar date’s statement. work for you! bumpy and uncertain career path astrophysics, gravitational wave Meystre is currently a Regents from postdoc to a permanent posi- phenomena, and stellar explo- Professor of Optical Sciences and Register today at: http://www.aps.org/careers/ tion, and modernizing the physics sions. Physics at the University of Ari- employment/jobfairs/index.cfm curriculum,” Turner said. “Leadership matters, and I will zona. He holds the Chair of Quan- The new amendment to the work to identify those capable of tum Optics, and is Director of the For more information contact Alix Brice constitution will increase the num- addressing the breadth of issues B2 Institute. He received his PhD at 301-209-3187 or at [email protected]. ber of international councilors that facing society today, from educat- from the Swiss Federal Institute serve on the Council. Currently a ing our youth, to ensuring that sci- of Technology in Lausanne, and single councilor representing all entific breakthroughs continue to the Habilitation in Theoretical the international members of APS sprout from our colleges, universi- Physics from the University of is elected every two years. The ties and national and private labo- Munich. Following a postdoctoral Congressional amendment will eliminate this ratories. Candidates for election position at the University of Ari- Science position, and instead convert four to leadership positions in the APS zona Optical Sciences Center and of the eight general councilors to must have this breadth,” Bildsten nine years as a staff scientist at the Fellowship international councilors who will said in his candidate’s statement. Max-Planck Institute for Quantum serve full four year terms. This Gao is a professor of Physics at Optics in Germany, he returned to way, members will be asked to Duke University, and a Changji- the University of Arizona in 1986. THE AMERICAN PHYSICAL SOCIETY is currently accepting applications for elect one new general councilor ang Lectureship Chair Professor His research includes theoretical the Congressional Science Fellowship Program. Fellows serve one year on the staff of a and one new international coun- at Tsinghua University. She re- quantum optics, atomic physics, senator, representative or congressional committee. They are afforded an opportunity cilor each year. ceived her Ph/D in Experimen- and ultracold science as well as to learn the legislative process and explore science policy issues from the lawmakers’ APS international programs tal Nuclear Physics in 1994 at renewable energy and smart grid perspective. In turn, Fellows have the opportunity to lend scientific and technical administrator Michele Irwin said Caltech. She joined Duke Univer- research and development. He expertise to public policy issues. the change was prompted in large sity in 2002. Her research focuses has published over 280 refereed part by the fact that 25 percent of on understanding the structure of papers. Meystre is past-Chair of QUALIFICATIONS include a PhD or equivalent in physics or a closely related field, a the society’s membership lives the nucleon and exclusive nucleon the Division of Atomic, Molecular strong interest in science and technology policy and, ideally, some experience in applying outside the United States. and nuclear processes at high en- and Optical Physics of the Ameri- scientific knowledge toward the solution of societal problems. Fellows are required to be “Our international members, ergies in terms of quark and gluon can Physical Society, past-Chair U.S. citizens and members of the APS. of which we have a lot, didn’t feel degrees of freedom. of the National Research Council that they were represented and She has served on the Program standing committee on atomic, TERM OF APPOINTMENT is one year, beginning in September of 2011 with their needs were met,” Irwin said. Committee and Fellowship Com- molecular and optical science, participation in a two week orientation sponsored by AAAS. Fellows have considerable Bildsten is a permanent mem- mittee of the Division of Nuclear and currently serves on the NRC choice in congressional assignments. ber of the Kavli Institute for Theo- Physics of APS, Panel on Public Board on Physics and Astronomy retical Physics and a professor Affairs of APS, and the Advisory “Physics is going through ex- A STIPEND is offered in addition to allowances for relocation, in-service travel, at the University of California, Committee of the Institute for traordinary developments, with and health insurance premiums. Santa Barbara. He received his Nuclear Theory. Currently, she is exciting advances at all frontiers PhD in theoretical physics from a member of the editorial board of our field, from the lowest to APPLICATION should consist of a letter of intent of no more than 2-pages, a Cornell University in 1991. Bild- of Progress in Physics, and is an the highest extremes of energy 2-page resume: with one additional page for publications, and three letters of reference. sten served on two panels during associate editor of the European and power, from the smallest to See http://www.aps.org/policy/fellowships/congressional.cfm. the previous Decadal Survey of Physics Journal A. She is the Vice the largest spatial dimensions, and Astronomy and Astrophysics and President of the Overseas Chinese from the shortest times to the age All application materials is a member of its current com- Physics Association, and a Fellow of the Universe,” Meystre said in must be submitted online mittee. He has served on many of the APS. his candidate’s statement. by January 14, 2011. NEW ENGLAND continued from page 5 Morse’s original vision of lively ings are of course the group’s main ly meet jointly with AAPT.” diverse area and a diverse range of aging, and study of biological discussion and promoting “the dif- purpose, but physics education is The section now includes mem- schools,” said Parker. systems at the nanoscale. Recent fusion of the knowledge of phys- also still a priority. bers at more than 40 universities in This year’s October meeting insights into the teaching of phys- ics” continues to guide the New “People come to see their col- six states including storied institu- will be at Brown University in ics, as well as teaching workshops, England section–and indeed every leagues, hear plenary talks, and tions like Yale, Harvard and MIT, Rhode Island and will focus on will also be showcased. “Another other APS section–to this day. As give their students the chance to as well as a number of smaller issues in Nanobiophysics. Ac- current New England Chair and present,” said Parker, “but a side distinguished schools like Middle- cording to the program “plenary New England Nobel Laureate, Yale Professor Peter Parker de- purpose is to support the develop- bury and Wesleyan. “It’s an inter- sessions will highlight leading Leon Cooper, will be the banquet scribes it, the twice-yearly meet- ment of teachers, and we frequent- esting section in that it covers a research in the manipulation, im- speaker. 8 • October 2010 APS NEWS The Back Page

n April, 2010, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, restraint on the opposing side was lacking. In short, the Ireleased the Nuclear Posture Review Report, part of opposing commander would have seen even a conven- the ongoing process of periodic reviews of US defense Invisible Nukes tional threat against his position as sufficient cause for a strategy, arsenals, and deployments.1 In May, the Admin- nuclear response simply because he was assigned tacti- By Irving A. Lerch istration published an inventory of its strategic weaponry. cal nuclear weapons as part of his arsenal and had the And, of course, political figures on the right immediately authority to use them to accomplish his mission. criticized the review as an impermissible weakening of So why does the Nuclear Posture Review avoid any US defense while many on the left saw it as more of the same mention of tactical nuclear weapons? Russia has an estimated old saber rattling. arsenal of 3,000-4,000; the US 1,700-3,300 (a few hundred of The report was notable more for what was left unsaid than which are stationed in several NATO countries); China about for any tweaking of the nation’s strategic nuclear posture. An 400; with another 300-400 in the hands of Israel, France, India entire class of nuclear weapons–tactical nukes–was exempted and Pakistan.5 The future is unbounded with Iran and North from the review. Korea joining the club. Historians David G. Coleman and Joseph M. Siracusa re- Ostensibly our European allies are nervous should we tam- port a conversation recorded in the Kennedy Administration per with this arsenal because the NATO force structure and cabinet room between the President and General Shoup, Com- operations plans assume the availability of tactical nuclear mandant of the Marine Corps, October 29, 1962, the day after weapons. But if the use of even small nuclear weapons inevi- Nikita Khrushchev formally agreed to pull Soviet nuclear mis- tably brings on incalculable escalation, how can we afford not siles out of Cuba.2 General Shoup wondered aloud whether to confront the issue? What madness prompts us to pretend the Russian defenders on the ground in Cuba would have used that Armageddon comes in labeled packages of 10 kilotons 6 tactical nuclear weapons against US forces. No one knew Photo by Barrie Ripin or larger? whether such weapons were stationed in Cuba but the possi- tober, 1962, I was ordered to McCoy AFB just outside Or- Fifty years ago, the US had a dizzying array of so-called bility could not be ignored. Kennedy’s response was, “… my lando to help prepare for an airborne assault. The air transport battlefield nukes, ranging in yield from a little over 10 tons guess is, well, everybody sort of figures that, in extremis, that was to stage at McCoy and I was to join my airborne infantry of TNT to a kiloton (with larger munitions being considered). everybody would use nuclear weapons. The decision to use company en passant enroute to the combat drop zones in Ori- These munitions were fired from medium range artillery com- any kind of nuclear weapon, even the tactical ones, presents ente Province in the Republic of Cuba. This was my introduc- monly found in Division and Corps formations to 2-man mu- such a risk of getting out of control so quickly, that there’s a tion to the Cuban Missile Crisis. nitions teams. Some warheads were designed for use in modi- …” The unspoken conclusion is clear: the consequence would McCoy was the assembly point for the various staffs–air fied rocket-propelled anti-tank recoilless rifles such as those be nuclear holocaust. force, navy, army–and U2s flew in and out on routine recon- deployed in an airborne infantry company (called the Davy Implicit in this exchange and in the scholarly literature naissance missions over Cuba. Successive waves of para- Crockett, the warhead weighed 23 kg and had an explosive purporting to examine the tenets of nuclear war, analysis and troopers were to assault the missile storage and deployment yield of 10 tons). Such devices are light-weight, small and theory are the only tools available to attempt to depict the sites roughly a day in advance of the main seaborne assault. therefore portable and easily concealed. The field artillery as- steps leading to and the consequences resulting from the use The C-130 and C-123 troop transport squadrons had been mo- signed to infantry divisions consisted of 155 mm towed and of nuclear weapons–strategic or tactical (after all there is only bilized from reserve units with little airborne operations expe- self-propelled howitzers, and the atomic shell they fired (the one historical example extant). Entire strategies and arsenals rience and every detail had to be checked multiple times. But W48 linear implosion-type warhead) weighed a mere 58 kg of necessity are based on theory. The post WWII era is punctu- on this occasion, none of the commanders mentioned tactical and had a yield of 72 tons. Today there are many thousands ated with the rise of game theory and other forms of scholar- nuclear weapons. No one dreamed of deploying let alone us- of these weapons spread over several continents (some in the ship designed to define, predict, and prepare for nuclear war. ing them. Presumably this was a reflection of Kennedy’s cau- inventories of unstable states) and their whereabouts are dif- But as one scholar has warned: “Because they are essentially tion against the provocative deployment of such weapons in ficult to divine. And while strategic warheads are encumbered men of ideas, the civilian scholars of strategy have been over an emergency operation. with complex fail-safe mechanisms engineered to prevent impressed with the potential transferability of theory to the The situation turned increasingly grim on October 27 when unauthorized detonation, the same cannot be said of tactical world of action.”3 a U2 out of McCoy was shot down over Cuba. The pilot, Ma- weapons. In the early 1960s the 101st and 82nd airborne divisions jor Rudolf Anderson Jr., was killed. He would be the first–and Nonetheless Vietnam and the wars we are fighting today were organized into a rapid-deployment force (called the Stra- as it turned out–the last casualty of the crisis. The war had were and are played out in nuclear-free precincts. Yet the frus- tegic Army Corps) to respond to “brush-fire” wars that were turned “hot” and we were convinced that the invasion order trations of Vietnam caused many to push for the use of tacti- beginning to bedevil US military planners. Hot spots were flar- was imminent. We did not anticipate Khrushchev’s offer the cal nuclear weapons to seal the South from the North and to ing in Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Africa, South America, following day to dismantle the missiles (for some vague quid prevent the invasion of large formations of North Vietnamese and the Caribbean (Cuba). In order to test the capabilities of pro quo) and that Russian ships were turning away from the military units (a reality only at war’s end after US forces had these ground forces, periodic exercises called “Swift Strike” quarantine line. withdrawn). This issue was addressed with uncompromising were conducted, which invariably included mass parachute Also, we did not know that a heavily equipped Russian di- finality in a famous Institute for Defense Analysis report dated jumps of both airborne divisions. vision occupied the area our airborne units were to assault. 1967.7 The conclusions of the study were recorded in the first In 1962 I was a young infantry officer in the 101st tem- But even more dangerous was the fact, subsequently acknowl- several pages and were unequivocal: porarily assigned as liaison with airborne corps headquarters edged by the Russian commander on the ground in Cuba (in The overall result of our study is to confirm the generally during a “Swift Strike” exercise in North Carolina. My du- a conference in Moscow, 1989, attended by senior US, Cuban held opinion that the use of TNW [tactical nuclear weapons] in ties as liaison obliged me to attend the daily corps operations and Russian participants in the crisis),4 that he had an arse- Southeast Asia would offer the US no decisive military advan- briefings and planning sessions and I was on hand when the nal of tactical nuclear weapons and was prepared to use them tage if the use remained unilateral, and it would have strongly corps commander, a three-star general, approved a plan of at- on the seaborne troops that would storm ashore the day after adverse military effects if the enemy were able to use TNW tack for the following day. The scenario had the two divisions the airborne assault. There could be no doubt that the airborne in reply. The military advantages of unilateral use are not deployed in a foreign country confronting an opposing heavily troops could have been destroyed on the ground by the heavily overwhelming enough to ensure termination of the war, and armored force of larger size although presumably we had the armored and entrenched Russians and the follow-on seaborne they are therefore heavily outweighed by the disadvantages of advantage of sizable naval and air support units. The objec- invasion could have been vaporized. eventual bilateral use. tive was to break out of battlefield containment and to move The question attending all deployments of tactical nuclear For the moment we are permitted to bleed our enemies and onto terrain more congenial for maneuver and resupply. To do weapons–and a topic of intense discussion on the day that be bled in return without the ominous shadow of tactical nukes this, the operations staff recommended the use of five tacti- General Shoup and President Kennedy had their exchange obscuring the battlefield. The risk, however, has been relocat- cal nuclear weapons to isolate the battlefield, destroy enemy was who was in control? Who would decide if and when to ed from the war zones to the homeland. We must ask anew reserves and immobilize the enemy’s main formations. I was use them? If not the commander on the ground, then who? If whether the threatened use of such weapons against states like surprised to learn that the ground commander had authority the decision was in the hands of the political leadership, wasn’t Iran or North Korea provides any military or political benefit. over nuclear weapons. The general concurred with his opera- this a tacit admission that the use of any nuclear weapon, how- It is here we should be considering reductions–or better yet a tions staff and the mock attack went forward. The exercise ever small, was of strategic import? Indeed, subsequent stud- total ban–if we are to reduce the danger of nuclear prolifera- umpires unanimously agreed that the corps had won the day. ies would demonstrate that if the President had to authorize tion. Except … there was never any discussion of what the en- the use of tactical nukes in a war zone, then the situation on While we wait for an answer, time does not favor us. emy would do when his forces were destroyed, or what the po- the ground would radically change in the time it took to study Irving A. Lerch served as APS Director of International Af- litical leadership of the invaded country would do in response. and authorize a request for use. For example, if a command fairs from 1993 to 2003. Certainly, countless war games played at that time suggested was being assaulted by superior forces it was unlikely that a 1.http://www.defense.gov/npr/docs/2010%20Nuclear%20Posture%20Re- that such an attack with tactical nuclear weapons would esca- view%20Report.pdf decision would be forthcoming before the enemy would close 2. David G. Coleman and Joseph M. Siracusa, Real-world nuclear deter- late uncontrollably. Why was the corps commander allowed to with our forces or occupy proximal urban areas, thus barring a rence: the making of international strategy, Praeger (June 30, 2006) fantasize this outcome? Perhaps the designers of the exercise nuclear response (for practical and policy reasons, cities were 3 Colin S. Gray: What RAND Hath Wrought, Foreign Policy, 4 (1971), pp. decided that the “enemy” had no allies and was certainly not 111–129 considered strategic targets). In short, there is no such thing 4. Allyn, Bruce J., James G. Blight and David A. Welch, eds. (1992) Back to part of the Soviet bloc. Then, too, the tactical nuclear weapons as a tactical nuclear weapon. In fact, the rapid response force the Brink: Proceedings of the Moscow Conference on the Cuban Missile Crisis, of the day assigned to corps and divisions were small, nomi- January 27-28, 1989, Lanham: University Press of America. itself was a strategic tool. 5. nally well below a kiloton in yield and presumably below the http://www.nti.org/e_research/e3_10a.html President Kennedy would have been forced into a nuclear 6. See the November 2001 Fourth Freedom Forum Report, Uncovered danger threshold for nuclear war (although some larger war- exchange had the invasion of Cuba gone forward (as he feared). Nukes: Arms Control and the Challenge of Tactical Nuclear Weapons, at http:// heads–as large as a megaton–had been proposed for “tactical” www.fourthfreedom.org/Applications/cms.php?page_id=27&exp=1 The strategic game would have played out on the ground with 7. use by theater commanders). F.J. Dyson, R. Gomer, S. Weinberg and S.C. Wright, Tactical Nuclear tragic consequences. In this light, Kennedy sought to avoid a Weapons in Southeast Asia, Institute for Defense Analysis, Jason Division, Fast forward two months, to October, 1962. nuclear confrontation at all costs short of fatally compromis- March 1967 (available http://www.nautilus.org/archives/VietnamFOIA/report/ Just after midnight sometime during the third week of Oc- ing US security. What he could not have known is that similar dyson67.pdf)

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