George Carruthers, at right, and project manager William Conway pose with the Lunar Surface Ultraviolet Camera, which Carruthers developed for the Apollo 16 mission.
Naval Research Laboratory.
We are welcoming the renowned historian of astronomy David DeVorkin to our event space in Washington, DC, on the evening of Friday, April 17 to present “The Quiet Genius of George Carruthers,” a lecture based on his latest book. The lecture will explore Carruthers’s remarkable life and career as a Black scientist and highly successful developer of astronomical instrumentation. Please register to attend in person.
AIP’s grant-in-aid program for research in the history of the physical sciences is welcoming applications through Wednesday, April 15. We are pleased to announce that we have raised the maximum amount of these grants from $2,500 to $3,000, and we are continuing to accept applications for up to a maximum of $6,000 for research on the history of the physical sciences in industrial settings. For further information, see our website.
Video now available
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This month from the Ex Libris Universum library blog
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History from Physics Today
- Dale Cruikshank, interviewed July 22, 2012, by Lynne Zielinski and David Dunlop
- Howard Schnitzer, interviewed August 21, 2025, by Sébastien Rivat
- Barbara Sherwood Lollar, interviewed July 15 and October 2, 2025, by Patrick McCray
- Jason Wright, interviewed February 12, 2026, by Rebecca Charbonneau
New images continue to be submitted for inclusion in the Emilio Segre Visual Archives; consider sending us yours!
A photo recently added to our online repository. From left: astronomers Tony Misch, Jean Mueller, and Douglas Duncan at the controls of the 60-inch telescope at the Mount Wilson Observatory, where they conducted work on the HK-Project.
Carnegie Institution of Washington, courtesy AIP Emilio Segrè Visual Archives
A big update to IUGG records:
- Records of the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics, 1919-2012 (bulk 1955-1998): 24 boxes/11.25 linear feet in total were added to the collection, filling in many gaps, particularly for materials related to the General Assemblies (now going all the way back to the founding meeting in 1919) as well as publications like the IUGG Chronicle, yearbooks, and bulletins from the sub-associations.
Hertha Sponer lecture discovered:
- Previously uncataloged: Typescript copy of lecture given by Hertha Sponer on the history of radioactivity. Appears to be a transcript of the 19th Annual Marie Curie Lecture Sponer gave at Pennsylvania State University in State College, Pennsylvania, on Wednesday May 18, 1960, sponsored by the Penn State “Palladium” chapter of the Iota Sigma Pi, the national women’s chemistry honor society.
