You can also read this update on our on our website.
Karl Jansky and his “merry-go-round” antenna, which was the first instrument to identify a cosmic radio source.
Courtesy of NRAO/AUI/NSF.
The digital version of AIP’s semiannual History Newsletter is now available on our website. This issue’s feature article by Rebecca Charbonneau looks at the development of astrophysics from the mid-19th century to the present, covering tightly intertwined developments such as research on stellar composition and life cycles, explorations of the implications of relativity, the emergence of radio astronomy, and the advent of multimessenger astronomy. Other articles introduce AIP’s new postdoctoral history fellow and Helleman grant recipients, spotlight our new history guides, check in with our grant-in-aid recipients, and revisit the public release of AIP’s Robert Oppenheimer oral histories.
This month from the Weekly Edition
This month from the Ex Libris Universum Library Blog
History from Physics Today
- Nancy Grace Roman, interviewed July 22, 2014, by Daniel Pendick
- Rita Sambruna, interviewed June 1, 2026, by Anna Doel
- Virginia Trimble, interviewed 2011–2014, by David DeVorkin
- Tiffany Vance, interviewed March 15 and 16, 2026, by Anna Doel
From left, Elizabeth Walker (high school physics teacher, North Cobb High, Atlanta/Cobb County) and Dr. Michael Williams (chair, physics department at Clark Atlanta University) in Williams’s lab. Walker was participating in a summer program for high school physics teachers, circa 2015.
Photo by Ronald Mickens, courtesy AIP Emilio Segrè Visual Archives, Ronald E. Mickens Collection
A large addition to the Ronald E. Mickens Collection is now available on our repository. The new batch of over 100 photos includes photos from Mickens’ hometown of Petersburg, Virginia; photos of students, colleagues, and family members; and photos from the opening reception for the exhibit, “The African American Presence in Physics.” The collection has also been rearranged into series (1. Family and Personal Life, and 2. Career) to aid in research and browsing.
