Search results
Displaying 1 - 4 of total 4 results:
The interview ranges from Inglis’ youth and family origins to his current (1977) activities. Topics include his student days (Amherst College 1924-28, Ann Arbor 1928-31), contact with European physicists and rising Nazism (1932-13), the physics departments at Ohio State, University of Pittsburgh, Princeton, and Johns Hopkins in the 1930’s, and the last of these in the 1940’s; atomic spectroscopy, ferromagnetism, uses of the vector model, shift from atomic to nuclear spectroscopy, the Thomas precession and spin-orbit coupling in nuclei, shell and droplet models for nuclei, intermediate coupling model for light nuclei, the earth’s magnetic field, wind-dynamos and nuclear reactors; Los Alamos during World War II, Argonne Laboratory in the 1950’s and 60’s; expression of social concern, especially in relation to the nuclear arms race, in the 1950’s through the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, the political victimization of Donald Flanders, the Federation of American Scientists, congressional testimony concerning Lewis Strauss’ (nominee for Sec. of Commerce) experiences at Pugwash Conferences, obstacles to slowing or reversing the arms race.
The interview ranges from Inglis’ youth and family origins to his current (1977) activities. Topics include his student days (Amherst College 1924-28, Ann Arbor 1928-31), contact with European physicists and rising Nazism (1932-13), the physics departments at Ohio State, University of Pittsburgh, Princeton, and Johns Hopkins in the 1930’s, and the last of these in the 1940’s; atomic spectroscopy, ferromagnetism, uses of the vector model, shift from atomic to nuclear spectroscopy, the Thomas precession and spin-orbit coupling in nuclei, shell and droplet models for nuclei, intermediate coupling model for light nuclei, the earth’s magnetic field, wind-dynamos and nuclear reactors; Los Alamos during World War II, Argonne Laboratory in the 1950’s and 60’s; expression of social concern, especially in relation to the nuclear arms race, in the 1950’s through the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, the political victimization of Donald Flanders, the Federation of American Scientists, congressional testimony concerning Lewis Strauss’ (nominee for Sec. of Commerce) experiences at Pugwash Conferences, obstacles to slowing or reversing the arms race.
In this interview, Lincoln Wolfenstein discusses radical politics in physics. Topics discussed include: Young Communist League (YCL); American Student Union (ASU); University of Chicago; Oak Ridge National Laboratory; National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA); Marcel Schein; Edward Teller; Federation of American Scientists; Owen Chamberlain; May-Johnson bill; Frank (Chen Ning) Yang; Jack Steinberger; Bob Sachs; McCarthyism; Carnegie Institute of Technology; Otto Stern; Frederick Seitz; Gian-Carlo Wick; Joint Legislative Committee to Investigate the Educational System of the State of New York (Rapp-Coudert Committee); Frank Oppenheimer; Joseph Weinberg; E. U. Condon; George Salzman; Joel Primack; Frank von Hippel; Stanford Workshops on Political and Social Issues (SWOPSI); Martin Perl; J. Robert Oppenheimer; arms race; Dan Bolef; John J. Stachel; University of Pittsburgh; Pittsburgh Committee for a Sane Nuclear Policy; Sergio DeBenedetti; Office of Naval Research (ONR); Atomic Energy Commission (AEC); Star Wars (Strategic Defense Initiative); arms control; Cuban missile crisis; Bob March; Mansfield amendment; National Science Foundation (NSF); Thomas Kuhn; John Ziman; Steven Weinberg; Hannah Arendt; Michael Goldhaber; Barry M. "Mike" Casper; Marc Ross; Art Rosenfeld; Lenny Rodberg; Bill Davidon; Jay Orear; Murray Gell-Mann; Institute for Defense Analyses; JASON Defense Advisory Group; Marvin Goldberger; political activism.
Undergraduate at University of Pittsburgh, B.A., 1916; instructorship in physics at University of Kentucky; teaching mathematics at Mercer University, Georgia; graduate thesis at University of Chicago with Dempster. Discouraging experiences with American Physical Society (APS), beginning 1916; invited to 1929 Des Moines meeting by Paul Klopsteg to discuss role of teachers in APS; invited to head group; Glen Warner, Klopsteg, States and S. L. Redman meeting in Chicago, 1930; preparation for and confrontation at Cleveland meeting of APS. Homer L. Dodge and Harold W. Webb; formation of American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT), Floyd Richtmyer and Karl Compton; beginning of joint meetings between APS and AAPT (1933). AAPT became founding member of AIP. The AAPT journal; development of bylaws and policies of AAPT; election of Frederic Palmer as president, 1933; David L. Webster's presidency. Effect of AAPT on teaching profession. The Orsted medal; the Taylor Memorial Fund.