Articles
Quantum Shot Noise
Fluctuations in the flow of electrons can signal the transition from particlelike to wavelike behavior and signify the nature of charge transport in mesoscopic systems. — Carlo Beenakker and Christian Schönenberger
Molecular Electronics
Improvements in our understanding of how molecules transport charge, and how they interface to the macroscopic world, are fueling new devices and applications. — James R. Heath and Mark A. Ratner
Middle-School Texts Don't Make the Grade 
Thousands of teachers are saddled with error-filled physical science textbooks that fail to present what science is all about. Physicists deserve some of the blame. — John Hubisz
Web departments
Readings from the Physics Today Archive
Departments
Reference Frame
Analysis and Synthesis I: What Matters for Matter — Frank Wilczek
Letters
A Sound Use for Metal Foams
More on Carbon Sinks
Cinema as Physics Lesson
Julian Schwinger's Paradoxical Legacy
Search & Discovery
Two-Ion Logic Gates Open the Way to Further Advances in Quantum Computing
Precisely controlled logic gates are key ingredients in quantum computers, which can easily outperform classical computers for some problems.
Cosmic-Ray Muons Might Help Thwart Transport of Concealed Fissile Material
Physicists at Los Alamos propose a new kind of surveillance imaging that avails itself of a ubiquitous natural flux of highly penetrating radiation.
Experiments Investigate the Behavior of Pores in Artificial Vesicles
Twenty-first century experimental techniques combine with 19th century theory to explore how cell membranes behave when breached.
Issues & Events
Canada Catalyzes Research and Recruitment
Aggressive spending in Canada has spruced up research labs and promises an expansion of the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory, but it has also led to a time lag between setting up new equipment and finding money to maintain it.
Pentagon Revamps Nuclear Doctrine
The US government's plan to overturn a ban on designing new nuclear weapons is generating controversy.
Three Millimeter Arrays Converge in Inyo Mountains
After announcing in 2000 that two California telescope arrays would be united at a fresh site in the state's Inyo mountains, the project's university partners finally have the formal agreement and most of the money to go ahead with the merger.
Bahcall Awarded Dan David Prize
John Bahcall has won $1 million. A theorist at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey, Bahcall is being honored with a Dan David prize for his wide-ranging contributions to astrophysics.
News Notes
UK upgrades spallation source
Web watch
Grey Company Trebuchet Page; Acoustics and Vibration Animations; Physics Limericks
Special Report: War, Terrorism, and National Security Shape Bush R&D Budget in FY 2004; Civilian R&D Funding Flat
Nondefense physical sciences run a distant second to big increases in weapons development and homeland security in the administration's budget, and Congress is wondering what happened to money it authorized for NSF.
Books
Brotherhood of the Bomb: The Tangled Lives and Loyalties of Robert Oppenheimer, Ernest Lawrence, and Edward Teller, Gregg Herken (reviewed by Silvan Schweber)
Nature's Flyers: Birds, Insects, and the Biomechanics of Flight, David E. Alexander (reviewed by Z. Jane Wang)
Computational Methods in Environmental Fluid Mechanics, Olaf Kolditz (reviewed by Margot Gerritsen)
Defects and Geometry in Condensed Matter Physics, David R. Nelson (reviewed by David Thouless)
A Quantum Approach to Condensed Matter Physics, Philip L. Taylor and Olle Heinonen (reviewed by Piers Coleman)
Energy and the Environment, James A. Fay and Dan S. Golomb (reviewed by Marc H. Ross)
New Books New Products
Focus on Lasers and Optics
We Hear That
SoR Presents Bingham Medal to Larson
AAS Honors Science Writers
In Brief
Obituaries
Martin David Kamen
David Todd Wilkinson
Robert Wilson
Melvin Lax
Bela Adalbert Lengyel
William Glenn Sly |
