August/September 2001 NEWS Volume 10, No. 8 A Publication of The American Physical Society http://www.aps.org/apsnews Keeping the Promise: Phys Rev Completes Online Archive The Physical Review be explored. The earliest volumes institutions and others to link to Online Archive or of the journals can be examined at APS publications, both current ma- PRL Gets a PROLA is now com- length, in detail and at ease. Histo- terial and PROLA. Authors are also plete: every paper in rians and biographers can track the free to mount their Physical Review New Face every journal that APS expansion of the knowledge of papers on their own sites. has published since physics that took place over the PROLA is composed of scanned 1893 (excepting the previous century in Physical Review. images of the printed journals, op- present and past three Research published in Physical Re- tical character recognition (OCR) years, which are held view by any particular author or material, and a searchable separately for current group or institution can be col- richly-tagged XML bibliographic subscribers) mounted lected and perused with a search database. Each year, another year online in a friendly, of PROLA and a second search of of this material is added to PROLA Bob Kelly/APS powerful, fully search- PROLA team at APS Editorial Office in Ridge, NY: Louise current content. Journalists can ac- from the current subscription con- able system. The project Bogan; Paul Dlug; Mark Doyle, Project Manager; Maxim cess physics Nobel Prize winning tent; 1997 was added in January took just under ten Gregoriev; Gerard Young; Rosemary Clark. papers when these have been pub- 2001, 1998 will be added in 2002 years from earliest con- lished in Physical Review, which is and so forth. Some ardent readers ception to reality. fragile tomes can get the rest they very often the case. Hyperlinked ci- of Physical Review feared that the PROLA functions primarily as an deserve, while the robust new tations (to LANL archive preprints online conversion and (in some infinitely more useful replacement PROLA versions beam out to re- and papers in journals of other cases) subsequent removal of older Starting in July Phys Rev for some 200 feet and 1,600,000 searchers’ and students’ desktops. publishers through CrossRef, in ad- hard copy journals from libraries Letters began featuring pictures on its cover. This is the pages of archival APS journals, the Because it held the copyrights for dition to APS) allow examination of meant the end of pleasant brows- July 2 issue, showing an image early volumes of which are dete- individual articles, APS was able to influences on significant papers, ing, but in fact, PROLA greatly of a Bose-Einstein condensate riorating. Librarians have bring the archive back to life and and forward citations show the facilitates casual perusal. By clicking after free expansion in a welcomed PROLA, noting that offer it to libraries and individuals impact that these papers had on fu- on the Browse button, readers can magnetic field gradient. Three Physical Review is one of the few in this durable form. ture research. A simple but access the complete Physical Review distinct components are observed corresponding to physics journals of whose older With the completion of PROLA, sophisticated, intuitive link man- collection from any location, at any different spin states. copies are still in active use. These additional uses for the archive can ager encourages authors, See PROLA on page 6 APS Journals, Services Receive High Movin’ On Up Marks From Members in Survey The APS received high marks A snapshot of membership employment, 2001 for its member services in the lat- est membership survey. Physics Today, 2% 51% University, University Affiliated Research, online journals and meeting infor- Other Academe mation, lobbying and outreach 23% 24% Government, Federally Funded R & D efforts, and APS News were among Mike Stephens/APS the most frequently cited benefits. Industry, Consulting, Self-Employed 51% 23% In the membership survey, 58% of physicists responding classified APS News as In terms of demographics, results “very valuable” to them, up dramatically from 39% five years ago. An additional 2% Other, Non-Profit, Medical Services indicate a shift back towards em- 24% 28% rated it “valuable”. Enjoying the good news are (l to r): Barrie Ripin, who ployment in basic research and was editor 1995-1999, and current staff members Alicia Chang, Jennifer academia among newer members, Ouellette, Richard M. Todaro and Alan Chodos. with increased representation of women and a higher percentage of future Web-based studies of mem- attracted by low dues for students retirees among the total APS mem- bership demographics. This is and recent graduates. In fact, most APS Selects 27 as 2001-2002 bership. supported by respondents, nearly members who joined in the last two Since 1990, the APS Committee half of whom said they preferred years are students, reflecting out- Minority Scholarship Recipients on Membership has conducted sur- to receive email notifications about reach efforts by the Society to attract veys of U.S. members every five APS programs and events over any more younger members to the APS. The APS has awarded Corpo- $2,000, which may be renewed years or so to monitor changes in other means. According to the current sur- rate Minority Scholarships to 27 once, and each renewal scholar- the membership and their profes- Demographically, among em- vey results, most members have students who are majoring or plan- ship consists of $3,000. sional concerns, in order to update ployed members, those who joined very positive responses about the ning to major in physics. Since its Corporate scholar Julian member services and benefits, and within the last two years are signifi- APS, with the majority of respon- inception in 1980, the program has Holder, a student at Poly Prep in to understand changes in member- cantly more likely to be doing basic dents finding membership dues helped more than 290 minority Brooklyn, New York, was drawn to ship demographics. This latest research, and slightly more likely reasonable. Physics Today contin- students pursue physics degrees. physics through a childhood fasci- survey was performed via the Web to work in academia than more se- ues to receive high marks from APS Nineteen new scholars and eight nation with how mechanical for the first time, and Roman nior APS members. The number of members, cited by virtually all re- renewal scholars were selected. devices such as airplanes worked, Czujko, Director of Employment retired members has doubled over spondents (96%) as a valuable Each new scholarship consists of See SCHOLARSHIP on page 3 and Education Statistics for the the last ten years. Employed mem- membership benefit. Other valued American Institute of Physics, re- bers with temporary visas has risen benefits among employed physi- ports that it performed to 7% of the total membership, cists and student members were HIGHLIGHTS comparably to paper surveys in the compared to 2% in 1996, while the online APS meetings information past. “Vigilance in updating email representation of women is up to (86%), APS online journals (79%), This Month in Zero Gravity addresses with the Web-based 9%, compared to 6% in 1996. and APS News (86%). In fact, APS Physics History Feline Physics questionnaire resulted in a remark- Most employed members recall News was rated much more highly 2 Faraday and Electromagnetism 5 able 45% response rate, joining the Society to keep up than the survey conducted five comparable to a 49% response rate with the community of physicists years ago, reflecting, among other in the 1996 paper survey,” he says. and breaking developments in things, editorial changes in graph- He believes that continuation of their fields. However, among stu- ics and style to increase readability frequent email updates will allow dent members, the majority were and visual appeal. AIP Emilio Segrè Visual Archives See Member Commentary on page 3 See SURVEY on page 3 2 August/September 2001 NEWS “Members in the Media” This Month in Physics History “We think we know most of what exists in our local neighborhood, and there September 4, 1821 and August 29, 1831: Faraday and Electromagnetism isn’t anything which is a good candidate for producing these enormously high- energy particles. So it’s a bit of a mystery where these are coming from.” —David Saltzberg, UCLA, on plans to use the moon as a high-energy neu- British scientist Michael Fara- experiments in his basement labora- trino detector, Space.com, May 14, 2001 day—the man who would tory at the Royal Institution which ✶✶✶ contribute so much to our under- culminated in his discovery of elec- “Pythagorean mathematics was based largely on deriving relations from standing of electricity and tromagnetic rotation—the principle whole numbers and using them to describe everything in the universe. To magnetism—had relatively humble behind the electric motor. the Pythagoreans, the world order was a number and therefore the gen- beginnings. He was born Septem- However, in the ensuing decade, eration of a world order was the same as the generation of a number.” ber 22, 1791 the son of a local Faraday’s opportunity for doing —Ian T. Durham, University of St. Andrews, on the origin of the cosmologies blacksmith in the area of London original research was severely cir- of Eddington, Dirac and Milne, Science News, May 26, 2001 now known as the Elephant and cumscribed, although he quickly ✶✶✶ Castle. He attended day school and became known as one of the out- “Imagine that you’re in a boat lost at sea. You know that there is an learned the rudiments of reading, standing scientific lecturers of his island nearby, but you can’t see it because it’s just beyond the horizon.