HISTORY NEWSLETTER CENTER FOR HISTORY OF PHYSICS NIELS BOHR LIBRARY & ARCHIVES Volume 48 (2016), Number 2 FLASH! NEW DESIGN AND EXPANDED CONTENT FOR TEACHING GUIDES ON WOMEN AND MINORITIES IN THE PHYSICAL SCIENCES By Greg Good, Director, Center for History of Physics It is good sometimes to stop and mark an ac- That was in 2012. Over the next four years, intern Fiona Muir from England and gradu- complishment. That is especially true when the staff of the Niels Bohr Library & Archives ate research assistant Emily Margolis (Johns a project has taken four years to mature and and the Center for History of Physics worked Hopkins University) built a list of books and be ready to share. The AIP “Teaching Guides with a series of teams of summer interns articles to explore the background on wom- on Women & Minorities” tell stories of wom- in the Society of Physics Students’ summer en and minorities in physical science and en who have built accomplished careers in intern program, with the addition of grad- they mapped out some preliminary lesson science and engineering; of African Ameri- uate students in history of science and li- plans. Their work was so productive that in can experiences in the scientific community brary science, for a few intensive months 2014, the team grew to two SPS interns – during World War II and during the Civil Rights each year. I advised the students to select Simon Patané (from Vassar) and Jacob Zal- Movement in the 1960s; kind (from Shippensburg and of Latino scientists. Ex- University) – and two grad plore and engage with the research assistants – Serina fifty-one lesson plans and Hwang Jensen (then at the accompanying material University of Maryland) and that are on the Center for Sharina Haynes (then at the History of Physics website University of South Caro- at https://www.aip.org/his- lina). In 2015, the team in- tory-programs/physics-his- cluded SPS interns Connor tory/teaching-guides-wom- Day (Agnes Scott College) en-minorities. and Brean Fontain (Drexel), and grad research assistant This historical project was Joanna Behrman (Johns inspired by a contemporary Hopkins). And lastly, the challenge. Science educa- wrap-up 2016 team includ- tors, science policy special- ed SPS interns Victoria De- ists, and statistical research- Tomasso (CUNY Macaulay ers, all of whom care about The new teaching guides pages now includes advanced search features and filters. Honors College at Hunter women and minorities in the College) and Samantha physical sciences, know we need to attract their goals carefully so that the work would Spytek (Virginia Tech), and grad research and support a diverse and inclusive group of reach a clear stopping point by summer’s assistants Stephen Neal (University of Wis- young people in the sciences. My question end. In 2015, the student team produced consin-Madison) and Lance Burch (Florida was (and remains), what role can history of a proto-type site that was evaluated by a State University). science play? How can historians help? weeklong teachers’ workshop. The 2016 team worked with our web designer, Nathan The Center for History of Physics will con- The goal, I thought, was to get beyond the Cromer, to come up with a cleaner presenta- tinue improving and expanding this proj- few famous names – Marie Curie, Benjamin tion of the lessons. They also went through ect. In 2017 we will be gathering feedback Banneker – to a much more varied and tex- every lesson plan. They made improvements and suggestions, leading workshops on the tured set of stories. My goal was to provide in some, and sent a few back to the hopper use of the Teaching Guides, and working to a richer vocabulary for teachers and students for reconsideration by future teams. spread the word about this new teaching to explore the ways gender, race, and other resource. Please recommend other topics distinctions have affected lives and careers in In 2013, our first team began exploring what for future additions to the lesson plans. science. it would mean to produce lesson plans. SPS AIP Member Societies: Acoustical Society of America • American Association of Physicists in Medicine • American Association of Physics Teachers • American Astronomical Society • American Crystallographic Association • American Meteorological Society • American Physical Society • AVS: Science and Technology of Materials, Interfaces, and Processing • The Optical Society • The Society of Rheology IN THIS ISSUE... Flash! New Design and Expanded Content for Teaching Guides on Women and Minorities in the Physical Sciences . 1 Historical Astronomy Division, American Astronomical Society . 3 Forum on the History of Physics . 4 Report on the 2nd International Conference on The History of Physics, Pöllau, Austria . 5 AIP’s Early-Career History Conferences Bear Fruit . 6 Newton, Leibniz, and the Catholic Church: the Italian way to the Age of Enlightenment . 7 American Meteorological Society Awards History of Meteorology Doctoral Fellowship for 2016-2017 . 8 AIP Grant-in-Aid Recipient Receives National Dissertation Award in Brazil . 8 Niels Bohr Scientific Correspondence to be Digitized. 9 Oral Histories of Distinguished Women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM). 10 History Center Awarded Substantial NASA Grant . 11 Melanie Mueller Named New Director of the Niels Bohr Library & Archives. 12 Changing Faces, Changing Titles. 13 Help us Rename and Test Updates to ACAP! . 13 Back to School with the Emilio Segrè Visual Archives . 14 The ‘Forman Collection’ in NBL&A . .16 AIP’s Oral Histories on the International Stage . 16 Lyne Starling Trimble Science Heritage Public Lectures now an AIP Tradition . 18 2015-2016 Additions to the NBL&A Archival Collections. 19 Broadening the Community for History of Physical Science. 19 Documentation Preserved. 20 2 History Newsletter | Volume 48, No. 2 www.aip.org/history-programs HISTORICAL ASTRONOMY DIVISION, AMERICAN ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY By Kenneth. S. Rumstay, HAD Secretary-Treasurer The American Astronomical Society (AAS), Saturday) at the Gaylord Texan Resort and vance the field of the history of astronomy. founded in 1899, currently has over 7,000 Convention Center in Grapevine, Texas. This award is named in memory of Donald E. members and six specialized divisions. The The HAD meeting will be held that Tuesday Osterbrock, a long-time and remarkably ac- Divisions for Planetary Sciences (formed in through Thursday. A typical HAD meeting tive member of HAD. In addition, each year 1968), Dynamical Astronomy (1969), High consists of two special sessions in which in- HAD invites graduate and undergraduate Energy Astrophysics (1969), Solar Physics vited speakers present on a particular topic. students to apply for a Student Travel Award (1969), and Laboratory Astrophysics (2012) At last year’s meeting we had, not surprising- of $500, in support of travel to present a pa- draw their membership from the ranks of ly, an excellent session entitled A Celebration per at the January meeting. professional physicists, mathematicians, of the Centenary of Einstein’s General Relativ- For further information about the Histori- geologists, and engineers. The Historical ity. There are also one or two (or sometimes Astronomy Division was created in 1980 for more) regular sessions for contributed oral the purpose of advancing interest in topics presentations, and usually a poster session relating to the historical nature of astrono- (though the number of poster submissions my. Astronomy is, of course, one of the old- is usually very small). And, of course, there est of mankind’s intellectual pursuits! is a business meeting on the second day. In addition, there are often HAD sessions at spring meetings of the AAS, or in conjunc- tion with meetings of other divisions. A A HAD awards two prizes, in alternate years. The LeRoy E. Doggett Prize for Historical Astronomy is awarded in even-numbered S years to an individual who has significantly influenced the field of the history of astron- The HAD plaque, proudly displayed at every HAD omy by a career-long effort. The prize is a meeting. Painted in 1996 by member Ronald American Astronomical Society (AAS) logo memorial to LeRoy Doggett, who was an Schorn, the plaque is based upon Albrecht Durer’s expert in calendars, archaeoastronomy, and 1500 woodcut The Astronomer. Photo courtesy of At the time of writing, the Historical Astron- planetary theory. A highly regarded member Kenneth S. Rumstay. omy Division (HAD) has 298 members. Many of HAD, he was serving as its secretary-trea- are professional historians of science, but surer at the time of his passing in 1996. The cal Astronomy Division, please consult our most are astronomers with a deep interest Donald E. Osterbrock Book Prize is awarded website at https://had.aas.org/ or write to in the rich history of astronomy. Member- in odd-numbered years to the author or au- me at [email protected]. We would love to ship dues are nominal: Regular Members thors of a book judged to significantly ad- have you join us! (who must be members of the AAS) pay just $15 per year. Members of other profession- al societies may become Affiliate Members for $20 per annum. Affiliate membership is restricted to members of professional orga- nizations actively concerned with historical astronomy (such as the History of Science Society, the Society for the History of Tech- nology, the American Historical Associa- tion, etc.). Affiliate Members enjoy the same rights and privileges as other members ex- cept that they are not eligible to hold elec- tive office within the division. HAD meets each year in January, in conjunc- tion with a biannual meeting of the Amer- ican Astronomical Society (the other being in June). Typically the AAS meeting runs from Sunday evening (with an opening re- ception) through Thursday, though circum- Some of the speakers at the January 2015 HAD meeting in Seattle.