The Long Road to Maxwell's Equations - IEEE Spectrum
“The mathematical and conceptual underpinnings of Maxwell’s theory were so complicated and counterintuitive that his theory was largely neglected after it was first introduced.
It took nearly 25 years for a small group of physicists, themselves obsessed with the mysteries of electricity and magnetism, to put Maxwell’s theory on solid footing.”
Physics of Birds and Bees | Cosmos Magazine
It is thinkable that the investigation of the behaviour of migratory birds and carrier pigeons may some day lead to the understanding of some physical process which is not yet known.
Sincerely yours,
Albert Einstein.
Physicists' Early Dreams of Nuclear Powered Spacefligth | Physics Central
“Despite the soundness of the science, Project Orion was morally difficult for many to get behind. “The idea isn’t crazy; the idea that we might do it is crazy,” physicist and author Arthur C. Clarke said of Project Orion.”
For the Sake of Science | Distillations | Science History Institute
“That work would earn him the 1944 Nobel Prize for Chemistry and a postwar platform he would use to oppose nuclear weapons. Like many scientific feats, the discovery of nuclear fission was made with the help of others, including colleagues and close friends, such as Lise Meitner. But after the war Hahn minimized the contributions made by Meitner. Why did he do it—for the pursuit of personal glory or some other reason?”
Alchemy Arrives in a Burst of Light | Quanta Magazine
“The idea sounds like magic, pure and simple. You create a light beam that can make substances vanish, give them properties they shouldn’t possess, or turn them into a perfect mimic of another substance entirely. It’s 21st-century alchemy, in principle capable not just of making lead resemble gold, but of turning ordinary materials into superconductors.”
Sarah Frances Whiting and the “Photography of the Invisible” | Physics Today
““Near the end of her career, she reflected on “the somewhat nerve-wearing experience of constantly being in places where a woman was not expected to be, and doing what women did not conventionally do.”
The Dual Legacies of Henry Moseley | Science History Institute
“In the spring of 1914 Moseley was invited to share his research at the annual meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, held that year in Australia. When war broke out in the summer, Moseley cut the trip short and rushed back to England, where he volunteered as a signaling officer, responsible for sending communications in Morse code and semaphore. After training at a military base in the town of Aldershot, he shipped out with his unit to Gallipoli on June 13, 1915.”
Throwback Thursday | John Wheeler's H-Bomb Blues | Physics Today
“In 1953, as a political battle raged over the US’s nuclear future, the eminent physicist lost a classified document, about the hydrogen bomb, on an overnight train from Philadelphia to Washington, DC.”