Articles
The Discovery of Rapid Climate Change 
Only within the past decade have researchers warmed to the possibility of abrupt shifts in Earth's climate. Sometimes, it takes a while to see what one is not prepared to look for — Spencer Weart
A Topological Look at the Quantum Hall Effect
The amazingly precise quantization of Hall conductance in a two-dimensional electron gas can be understood in terms of a topological invariant known as the Chern number — Joseph E. Avron, Daniel Osadchy, and Ruedi Seiler
Quantum Physics Under Control
Thanks to the increasing ability to coherently control quantum systems, designer Hamiltonians can be created to explore new physics and to yield a better understanding of complex phenomena — Ian Walmsley and Herschel Rabitz
Web departments
Readings from the Physics Today Archive
Departments
Letters
Science for All Americans: Seeking a Common Knowledge Core Across Disciplines
Ronald Richter, Genius or Nut?
Baade, Shapley, and the Doubling of the Universe
Karl Brown's Role in TRANSPORT
Group Velocity Is Not Signal Velocity
Correction
Search & Discovery
Intriguing Properties Put Sodium Cobalt Oxide in the Spotlight
The compound is a good thermoelectric material. In hydrated form, it superconducts. And its structure is a theorist's dream.
Band on the Run: Light Meets Shock Fronts in Virtual Photonic Crystals
When light interacts with dynamically changing photonic structures, the results can be surprising--and in some cases unprecedented.
Watching a Molecule Break Up Reveals How Quickly It Changes Shape
It takes less than 60 femtoseconds for a doubly charged acetylene ion to change into its structural isomer vinylidene.
Issues & Events
Astronomy Foes Join Forces to Build Giant Telescope
A new public-private partnership faces hurdles but promises to make the US a formidable international competitor in ground-based astronomy.
South Dakota Governor Pushes for Underground Lab as Homestake Water Rises
NSF officials say approval of a science laboratory in the Homestake mine can come only after a multistep review process that takes "many months to many years." But a determined Republican governor and South Dakota's congressional delegation may bring politics to the science.
Italy's Underground Lab Recuperates From Toxic Spill, Gets New Director
I think the worst moment is in the past," says Eugenio Coccia, his feet barely wet as new director of Gran Sasso National Laboratory in the Apennines, northeast of Rome. Coccia joined the world's largest underground lab on 16 June, the same day that a court lifted a restriction that had brought the lab to a near standstill in the aftermath of a small chemical leak.
Research Workforce Will Weaken Without Focus on Homegrown Talent
Calling science and technology "the engines of US economic growth and national security," the National Science Board (NSB) has released a report that says the future of the country's research and engineering workforce is seriously imperiled by increasing global competition for science talent and by a lack of federal support for US-born science students.
North American Women Sweep Top Honors at Intel Competition
For the first time in the history of the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair, the top three award winners were women.
News Notes
Turner goes to Washington; Weapons labs security review; CERN outreach globe; Boost intercept study completed; Community college physics
Web Watch
Museum of Unworkable Devices; Computer History Museum; Newton Project
Opinion
Science Fashions and Scientific Fact —
Michael Riordan Books
Selectivity and Discord: Two Problems of Experiment, Allan Franklin (reviewed by Benjamin Bederson)
Understanding Viscoelasticity: Basics of Rheology, Roger G. Newton (reviewed by N. G. Deshpande)
From Nuclear Transmutation to Nuclear Fission, 1932-1939, Per F. Dahl (reviewed by Guy T. Emery)
Tools for Computational Finance, Rüdiger Seydel (reviewed by Frank Cuypers)
New Books
New Products
Focus on Analytical Instruments We Hear That
National Science Board Honors Public Service
ASP Names Award Winners for 2003
Academy Names Fellows, Foreign Honorary Members
In Brief
Obituaries
Grote Reber
Peter Gabriel Bergmann
Robert Lull Forward
Frank Slagle Ham
Charles Earle Mandeville III
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