I wrote “Eunice Newton Foote’s Nearly Forgotten Discovery” this past summer as an intern for the Center for History of Physics and Niels Bohr Library & Archives. This article ended up being the most shared article on the Physics Today website in 2021! Today is the anniversary of Raymond Sorenson’s article that brought her work to light in 2011, so in celebration, I’m revisiting my own article to give readers a behind the scenes look.

Greetings, Ex Libris readers,

I hope everyone is doing well and enjoying the new year as much as possible.

In this blog post I would like to present the 57 sammelbands (bound-with volumes) of the Wenner Collection. As you may have heard before, this collection includes rare books, periodicals, offprints, conference proceedings, and patents, which are related to important moments in the history of physical sciences. Many of the papers included in the sammelbands are written by Nobel Prize laureates. The majority of these sammelbands were created (bound together) by the collector David Wenner.

The AIP Niels Bohr Library & Archives (NBLA) and the Center for History of Physics (CHP) rely on support from donors and funding institutions to continue established activities and to expand programs into new areas.

‘Tis the season for candy canes, but not the kind you’re thinking of! It’s time for the Photos of the Month again, and this month the focus is squarely on the USNS Kane. The Emilio Segrè Visual Archives holds a collection on the USNS Kane, a gift of Bill Woodward who served on the ship. 

This month our staff reflects on the things we are thankful for. I'd like to start off this post with a story of a special encounter that happened earlier this summer at NBLA. 

Every year, we eagerly look forward to National History Day, the nation-wide history contest for middle and high school students. We get particularly excited about the announcement for the winner’s of NBLA’s sponsored prize: the History of the Physical Sciences & Technology Prize. With this year’s theme of “Communication in History: The Key to Understanding,” and our dependence on computers in the last pandemic year, it is unsurprising that both winners chose topics related to the history of computer communications. We interviewed the 2021 winners of the prize and asked them about their experience with NHD.

Have you spent long, sleepless nights wondering which physicist you emulate the most? Maybe you’ve flipped through textbooks and magazines seeking a role model with the same taste in ice cream or home decor style to no avail. Well, the team at the Niels Bohr Library & Archives is here to help. We curated some of our favorite physicists and identified your burning questions so you can finally rest easy. Be sure to click on the pink-outlined portraits to learn more about your inner physicist… and yourself.

What trivial matters are these? Announcing: the second annual Niels Bohr Library & Archives Virtual Trivia Night! Please join us on Oct 21, 2021 06:00 PM - 08:00 PM in Eastern Time (US and Canada) in celebration of American Archives Month. Sign up here for a rip-roaring good time for all, with a focus on history of science and library/archives questions. The members of the top three teams will be mailed prizes. Last year, we had eight teams with contestants from all over the world. Will you accept the challenge?

In the meantime, for your amusement and to prepare your mind for the event, try out this sample of questions from last year’s trivia night. We had a fun mix of categories, represented below: Wait, so you’re an architect-activist-anarchist-artist?, Picture This!, #BlackInPhysics, and Sounds Like A “Bohr.”

Answers can be found at the bottom of this post.