November 1995 Physics Today Contents


Articles:

Special Issue: X Rays 100 Years Later

Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen and the Glimmer of Light

A faint fluorescence spied out of the corner of a man's eye in a darkened laboratory heralded the discovery, one hundred years ago, of "a new kind of rays" that would revolutionize physics and medicine -- Howard H. Seliger

Recent Applications of X Rays in Condensed Matter Physics

Advances in x-ray source brightness, detector efficiency, x-ray optics and computing power promise to make the second century of x-ray applications in condensed matter physics as exciting as the first -- Jens Als-Nielsen and Gerhard Materlik

X Rays in Molecular Biophysics

An atom-by-atom understanding of life processes is emerging from a flurry of experiments fueled by synchrotron sources and DNA technology -- Wayne A. Hendrickson

X Rays in Medicine

For almost a century, x rays have been used for medical imaging and for radiation therapy. Now these two clinical regimes are converging in the latest technology -- William R. Hendee

X Rays from the Rest of the Universe

X-ray sources in space are serving more and more as valuable laboratories for astrophysics, nuclear physics, relativity, plasma physics and cosmology -- David J. Helfand


Links of interest:


Departments:

Search and Discovery

New gamma detector array finds evidence of hyperdeformed nuclei. Some heavy nuclei, if you can make them spin fast enough, seem to acquire a surprisingly stable cigar shape three times as long as it is wide.

STM gets to the core of the matter in a high-Tc superconductor. Researchers at the University of Geneva have succeeded in applying scanning tunneling microscopy to one type of high-Tc superconductor, opening the door to further study of the vortex cores.

Washington Reports

PhD programs II: NRC's new pecking order sets off crowing and puts some danders up

Clinton apologizes for cold war's radiation experiments, which panel says created a "legacy of distrust" in science

Clinton directive gives nuclear labs new lease on life as stockpile stewards

Physics Community

Do single-sex classes help girls succeed in physics?

Dirac to be given an honored place beside Newton in Westminster Abbey

Proposed UNESCO satellite generates more heat than light

Thomas elected to lead AAPM in 1997

New Sandia director and deputy director

Bjorklund is OSA vice president for 1996

Books

The Physical Review: The First Hundred Years. A Selection of Seminal Papers and Commentaries, edited by H. H. Stroke (reviewed by H. A. Bethe)

The Quantum Theory of Fields, Vol. 1: Foundations, S. Weinberg (reviewed by O. W. Greenberg)

About Time: Einstein's Unfinished Revolution, P. Davies (reviewed by D. Layzer)

Principles of Condensed Matter Physics, P. M. Chaikin and T. C. Lubensky (reviewed by T. A. Witten)

Diagrammatica: The Path to Feynman Diagrams, M. Veltman (reviewed by E. Ma and J. Wudka)

Quantum Mechanics: Historical Contingency and the Copenhagen Hegemony, J. T. Cushing (reviewed by N. Levitt)

Atoms in Electromagnetic Fields, C. Cohen-Tannoudji (reviewed by U. Fano)

Nuclear and Particle Physics, W. E. Burcham and M. Jobes (reviewed by E. M. Henley)

Computer Simulations with Mathematica: Explorations in Complex Physical and Biological Systems, R. J. Gaylord and P. R. Wellin;
Mathematica Graphics: Techniques and Applications, T. Wickham-Jones (reviewed by A. J. Schramm)

The Encyclopedia of Advanced Materials, D. Bloor, R. J. Brook, M. C. Flemings and S. Mahajan (reviewed by F. DiSalvo)

Physics Experiments Using PCs: A Guide for Instructors and Students, edited by H. M. Staudenmaier (reviewed by R. Howes)

Geophysical Inverse Theory, R. L. Parker (reviewed by A. M. Dziewonski)

Plus...

Our regular sections: Physics Update, Letters, New Products, We Hear That, and Information Exchange.


Links to...

Previous issue
Next issue
Other 1995 contents summaries
Other contents summaries
Back to Physics Today home page