Reflecting the Real Faces Behind the Physical Sciences

From white coats to solitary laboratories, popular depictions of scientists paint narrow pictures of who they are and what they do. These clichés couldn’t be further from reality.

“Most people probably tend to stereotype when thinking of scientists or researchers, particularly in the physical sciences,” said Gemma Rius, a research scientist at Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, in Spain.

Rius participated in AIP’s “Faces of the Physical Sciences” project, an initiative to collect portraits, lab photos, and other images of researchers and students into AIP’s Emilio Segrè Visual Archives to document recent history and create the fullest possible picture of the physical sciences. Her submission shows her conducting the first-ever Catalan sign language tour of the Institute of Microelectronics of Barcelona.

She pointed to the common examples of Marie Curie, obsessed with precision; Nikola Tesla, so dedicated to his work that he often slept in his lab; Isaac Newton, through whose eyes everything is a problem for physics to solve; and Albert Einstein, the archetypal absent-minded genius.

“This not only fails to represent most of us but has little to do with the regular tasks and daily activities essential to our work,” Rius said.

Seeing the bigger picture

Trevor Owens, AIP’s chief research officer, says the advent of digital photography has provided a unique opportunity to represent the full range of people involved in the physical sciences enterprise in AIP’s digital collections and create opportunities for everyone to see themselves.

“Every generation and every community deserves to see itself reflected in the history of science,” Owens said. “Too many people have pursued careers in science without ever seeing people like themselves in that history. By documenting today’s scientific community, we can build a richer historical record for future generations.”

Like Rius, Mounir Laroussi, emeritus professor at Old Dominion University, also has history to preserve. In 2013, he introduced a new graduate class on the biomedical applications of cold plasma — the focus of his research for many years, after he invented the plasma pencil. He says this interdisciplinary course helped create new collaboration opportunities for graduate students in engineering and biology.

“This was the first time such a full semester course was ever taught on the subject,” he said. “The biomedical applications of plasma, known as plasma medicine, was a new and emerging scientific field.”

Capturing the day-to-day

Rius says physics is more than just the big, high-profile discoveries and that it’s important to document all the ways scientists can make an impact.

“What if we show that one does not need to be the best of the class to make a real contribution? That among the most fruitful activities for researchers, sharing and communicating in conferences and meetings with peers is also essential and fun,” she said.

“As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words,” added Laroussi. “A photo can convey a direct message about an activity; this holds true for science and education.”

The Faces of the Physical Sciences initiative is in the spirit of the namesake of the archives: In addition to being a Nobel Laureate and an atomic scientist on the Manhattan Project, Emilio Segrè was also an amateur photographer, and his documentation of the Manhattan Project has provided historians with candid visuals about physicists’ time in Los Alamos. By contributing your photos to the archives through a simple form, your story can also help convey important messages to historians, journalists, and future scientists.

“Today’s everyday photographs can be tomorrow’s historical record,” said Owens. “By sharing them with us, you’re helping preserve a more complete history of the physical sciences.