Showing papers in "Physics Today in 1951"
TL;DR: Piezoelectric crystals and their application to ultrasonics were discussed in this paper, where the authors proposed a method for the extraction of the ultrasonic properties of these crystals.
Abstract: Piezoelectric crystals and their application to ultrasonics , Piezoelectric crystals and their application to ultrasonics , دانشگاه تهران
1,057 citations
35 citations
26 citations
26 citations
TL;DR: Preparations for the AIP 20th Anniversary Meeting of the Member Societies in Chicago next October 23-27 are busily under way as mentioned in this paper. But the meeting is not yet organized.
Abstract: Preparations for the AIP 20th Anniversary Meeting of the Member Societies in Chicago next October 23–27 are busily under way.
25 citations
12 citations
TL;DR: The infrared spectrum was discovered by Herschel in 1800 as discussed by the authors, who found that a thermometer was heated by invisible radiations when he placed it beyond the red end of a solar spectrum formed by a glass prism.
Abstract: The infrared spectrum was discovered by Herschel in 1800. He found that a thermometer was heated by invisible radiations when he placed it beyond the red end of a solar spectrum formed by a glass prism. From this primitive discrimination between the visible and invisible, experimental physicists have refined their procedures until now the 15,000 cm−1 compass of that invisible spectrum is resolved into some 30,000 separable subdivisions of 1/2 cm−1 width, with prospects of resolving it into 200,000 subdivisions in the near future.
10 citations
TL;DR: The sundial has been used at least as early as 2000 B.C. in Mesopotamia, and has survived in innumerable variations in design to the present day as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: If a Babylonian who lived four thousand years ago could reappear in the modern world, one of the very few scientific appliances which he could recognize would be the sundial. In use at least as early as 2000 B.C. in Mesopotamia, it has survived in innumerable variations in design to the present day. The limitation of the sundial is, of course, that it serves only on clear days. Watchers of the sky at night must have learned at an equally early age to read the time from the appearance of the night sky.
8 citations
TL;DR: One of the less publicized but very important phases of the Atomic Energy Commission's over‐all activity is its extensive program for making nonclassified atomic energy information widely available to the scientific world in general.
Abstract: One of the less publicized but very important phases of the Atomic Energy Commission's over‐all activity is its extensive program for making nonclassified atomic energy information widely available to the scientific world in general.
TL;DR: The first phase of what promises to be an extremely successful experiment in international learning has just been brought to a close on a mountainside overlooking the valley of Chamonix, in the heart of the French Alps as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: On a mountainside overlooking the valley of Chamonix, in the heart of the French Alps, the initial phase of what promises to be an extremely successful experiment in international learning has just been brought to a close. Some twenty‐five students, from eleven nations, have spent eight weeks together with a select group of professors in intensive study of basic topics in modern theoretical physics. The students and professors have been guests of the Direction de l'Enseignement Superieur Francais at a new school which is presently under the administration of the University of Grenoble.
TL;DR: The Office of Technical Services (OTS) of the U.S. Department of Commerce as mentioned in this paper provides a wide range of services to the public, including technical reports on the refractive indices of transparent plastics.
Abstract: Is my invention for disintegrating army tanks at several hundred yards any good? What is the best adhesive to use in laminating leather to glass when the product is to be used in a warm, humid climate? What technical reports are available on the refractive indices of transparent plastics? These particular queries, as far as I know, are imaginary, but they serve to illustrate the kinds of questions to which J. Horace Taxpayer can obtain answers from the Office of Technical Services (OTS) of the U.S. Department of Commerce. Before discussing these services separately, let us look briefly at the genealogy and present organization of the OTS.
TL;DR: The organization and operation of the Fulbright Award Program with special emphasis on those phases which may have particular interest for physicists is described in this paper, with particular emphasis on the phases of physics.
Abstract: During the academic year 1950–51, over 200 United States citizens in the general category of “lecturers and research scholars” have been pursuing educational activities of various kinds in foreign countries as a result of having received Fulbright awards. At the same time approximately an equal number of foreign nationals have been assisted by Fulbright travel grants in carrying on lecturing and research in the United States. The purpose of this article is to describe the organization and operation of the Fulbright Award Program with special emphasis on those phases which may have particular interest for physicists.
TL;DR: The last five years have been boom years for research and have seen a bull market for physicists as discussed by the authors, and the debt of physics to the Office of Naval Research, the Atomic Energy Commission, and other government support is appreciatively acknowledged in nearly every scientific paper to appear.
Abstract: The last five years have been boom years for research and have seen a bull market for physicists. Research in physics and its fruits are referred to daily in the press. Under the forced draft of military support, research budgets are many times their pre‐war values and they are still mounting. This stimulus has been as wisely applied as the best of judgment could devise, and the debt of physics to the Office of Naval Research, the Atomic Energy Commission, and other government support is appreciatively acknowledged in nearly every scientific paper to appear. The increase in the number of these research contributions is almost equally impressive; in 1945 the Physical Review printed about 6000 pages and in 1950 nearly 13,000.
TL;DR: The use of the word "liaison" has been a hot topic in the field of science and it has been tossed about with considerable abandon ever since World War II as mentioned in this paper ; however, its use almost always raises two questions in people's minds; one is how do you spell it? and the other is "Just what does it mean?”.
Abstract: At the present time some eight foreign nations maintain official scientific liaison offices in this country. Six of these—representing Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, New Zealand, South Africa and the United Kingdom—are located in Washington; the other two—for Denmark and Sweden—are in New York although the representatives do much of their work in Washington. Now there are fashions in words just as there are in automobile styles and women's hats, and the word “liaison” is one which reached the full flower of fashionableness during World War II. As a result it has been tossed about with considerable abandon ever since. It has been my impression that its use almost always raises two questions in people's minds; one is “How do you spell it?” and the other is “Just what does it mean?”. The purpose of this account is to answer the second query with regard to the liaison application mentioned above.
TL;DR: The National Science Foundation (NSF) was established by Congress and the Navy in 1950 as discussed by the authors with the goal of advancing fundamental scientific research in the United States and implying that this was an area which necessarily had been largely neglected by the military services.
Abstract: On November 12, 1950 the Washington Post carried a laudatory editorial on the recently established National Science Foundation in which the writer viewed with high anticipation its possibilities for the advancement of fundamental scientific research in the United States and implied that this was an area which necessarily had been largely neglected by the military services. The editorial stated, “the accent in military programs is always on applied science whereas so‐called pure or basic research is the fuel of all later applications.” A week or two later Rear Admiral T. A. Solberg, then Chief of Naval Research, answered this editorial in a letter in which he expressed complete agreement with the words of commendation on the establishment of the Foundation, but took strong exception to the implication that no one in the Department of Defense had been concerned with basic research. He pointed out, “The Office of Naval Research (ONR) has been designated by Congress and the Navy to conduct pure and basic rese...
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TL;DR: The twentieth anniversary Celebration of the founding of the American Institute of Physics (AIP) should also be a time for taking stock as mentioned in this paper, and it is important that their meaning be reviewed occasionally to make sure that this ring maintains its proper distribution of harmonics.
Abstract: The twentieth anniversary Celebration of the founding of the American Institute of Physics should also be a time for taking stock. The world has often been told that the Institute is an independent nonprofit organization of physicists designed to assist in the publication of the results of physical research, to maintain a cooperative bond among scientists specializing in the various fields of physics, and to improve and clarify the relations between physicists and the rest of society. The words so often used to describe the official aims of the Institute have a purposeful and praiseworthy ring, but it is important that their meaning be reviewed occasionally to make sure that this ring maintains its proper distribution of harmonics.
TL;DR: In a recent article on "High Altitude Laboratories" in Physics Today, November, 1950, page 17, the need for additional laboratory facilities in the equatorial zone was stressed.
Abstract: In a recent article on “High Altitude Laboratories” in Physics Today, November, 1950, page 17, the need for additional laboratory facilities in the equatorial zone was stressed. No sooner had the issue of Physics Today reached some members of the medical fraternity than the author began to receive letters pointing out an omission from the account of existing stations. Indeed four of these letters arrived one day in the same mail. Evidently such distinguished individuals as Dr. Warren Weaver are also keenly interested in this problem.
TL;DR: The present article is intended less as a sequel than as a supplement to discuss a basic approach to the problem which led to one of the generic devices mentioned by Dr. Cooper.
Abstract: In the July issue of Physics Today, Franklin S. Cooper presented an excellent survey of guidance devices for the blind. The present article is intended less as a sequel than as a supplement to discuss a basic approach to the problem which led to one of the generic devices mentioned by Dr. Cooper.
TL;DR: On August 22, 1950, the Brookhaven Reactor became critical, and the chain reaction was initiated by a sub-critical assembly of fissionable material, which is called the supercritical chain reaction as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: On August 22, 1950 the Brookhaven reactor became critical. The work of scientists is notable for its lack of drama. It is usually difficult to say when a piece of apparatus starts to work, and it is even more difficult to decide when an experiment is complete. The uranium chain reaction is outstanding, therefore, since the change from an inert subcritical assembly of fissionable material to a supercritical chain reactor is sudden and, to all intents and purposes, discontinuous.
TL;DR: In this article, an actor in a hit show on Broadway and a physicist addressing the American Physical Society are compared. And the actor in the show is compared to the physicist in the speech.
Abstract: Consider an actor in a hit show on Broadway, and contrast him with a physicist addressing the American Physical Society.
TL;DR: In this paper, the National Security Resources Board asked that the American Chemical Society, the National Research Council, the Engineers' Joint Council, and the American Institute of Physics consider ways in which the skills and training of scientists and engineers might best be used in the event of large-scale mobilization.
Abstract: Some months ago, the National Security Resources Board asked that the American Chemical Society, the National Research Council, the Engineers' Joint Council, and the American Institute of Physics consider ways in which the skills and training of scientists and engineers might best be used in the event of large‐scale mobilization. The NSRB, which has been given the responsibility for developing a realistic and effective manpower program in the national emergency, asked in particular that recommendations be made concerning a proposal that such men be reserved from military duty subject only to induction on the basis of military requirements for the specific requisitions in question.
TL;DR: Precise electrical measurements are of fundamental importance to modern science and industry as discussed by the authors, and this is true not only in the communication and power fields but in many other areas where the flexibility and convenience of electrical methods have made them almost indispensable for the measurement of nonelectrical quantities.
Abstract: Precise electrical measurements are of fundamental importance to modern science and industry. This is true not only in the communication and power fields but in many other areas where the flexibility and convenience of electrical methods have made them almost indispensable for the measurement of nonelectrical quantities. Thus, while in textbooks energy is defined simply in terms of force and length or of mass and velocity, in actual practice the heat energy of fuels and the energy output of prime movers are universally measured to high precision by electrical methods. Likewise, the basic electrical units enter into the determination of nearly all the fundamental atomic constants, as well as into daily measurements of heat, light, color, strain, acceleration, displacement, and chemical properties.
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TL;DR: In this article, a good part of the school year, 1950-51, the author had the opportunity to be in Paris as a guest professor at the Sorbonne University.
Abstract: During a good part of the school year, 1950–51, the author had the opportunity to be in Paris as a guest professor at the Sorbonne University. Chairs for Foreign Professors have been recently established at several French universities with the purpose of inviting scientists from abroad for a limited time in order to promote the exchange of ideas between France and other countries.
TL;DR: The article "A Physicist's Holiday" (Physics Today, January 1, 1951) as discussed by the authors was written by A. Zucker, who attributed to Italian physicists with regard to the constitution of a European laboratory, a proposal which was put forward by the American delegation at the 1950 UNESCO assembly in Florence.
Abstract: Most of the opinions expressed by A. Zucker in his article “A Physicist's Holiday” (Physics Today, January, 1951) seem to me and to most of my Italian colleagues very personal, and anyhow very different from ours. I do not wish to enter into all details, as that would need an article as long as his, which does not seem to me to be worth while. But the point which I feel obliged to answer is the opinion attributed to Italian physicists with regard to the constitution of a European laboratory. Such a proposal, put forward by the American delegation at the 1950 UNESCO assembly in Florence, was received with very great interest. I should almost say enthusiam, by the great majority of Italian physicists, who in all meetings whether national or international held for this purpose have always been extremely desirous to contribute actively to the construction and the functioning of such an organization. No anxiety exists among Italian physicists, but on the contrary a lively desire to callaborate in this field of...