In August 1999, one of our authors, Lennart Hasselgren from Uppsala University, and PT Editor-in-Chief Stephen Benka agreed on a joint program that allowed Physics Today to make good use of the accumulated books sent by book publishers for the magazine’s New Books list. These books are now donated to physics departments in developing countries. Since then, Physics Today has provided books to 26 universities in 21 countries, with Uppsala University covering the shipping costs.
Hasselgren has retired as head of the IPPS department at the university, and we now thank Ernst van Groningen for continuing the arrangement. Overseen by Tonya Gary (right), Physics Today packs more than 100 books every few months and arranges the shipping. The annual costs for this program exceed $15,000 and, for the past decade and a half, Uppsala has generously contributed over $200,000. The cooperative program has allowed us to affect current and future scientists in a direct way by assisting these schools with stocking their libraries with newer and more current books. These books have been graciously accepted by science departments in the following countries:
Bangladesh Eritrea Laos Sri Lanka
Burkino Faso Ethiopia Mali Suriname
Cambodia Ghana Peru Tanzania
Côte d’Ivoire Guatemala Rwanda Uganda
Ecuador Kenya South Africa Zambia
We are very proud to be a part of this venture, and we hope that in some small way we are furthering physics around the world.
