ISSN:0031-9228    

DOI:10.1063/1.2810747

出版商:AIP    

年代:1990

数据来源: AIP

ISSN:0031-9228    

DOI:10.1063/1.2810748

出版商:AIP    

年代:1990

数据来源: AIP

摘要:

Just over one year ago, as San Franciscans were settling down to an evening of home runs and strikeouts, they got instead a few moments of shock and terror. The earthquake that struck them was not totally unexpected for that general area, but it certainly had not been pinpointed to the exact day and location. Earthquakes still defy accurate prediction, despite intensive efforts to understand their complex underlying dynamics.

ISSN:0031-9228    

DOI:10.1063/1.2810749

出版商:AIP    

年代:1990

数据来源: AIP

摘要:

By what sequence of mishaps did the Hubble Space Telescope acquire its unfortunate spherical aberration? And how did this severe optical flaw escape notice until after the HST was launched into orbit last spring? These were the two principal questions set out for the HST Optical Systems Board of Investigation convened by NASA at the end of June, shortly after it became clear that the Hubble telescope was hobbled by half a wavelength of spherical aberration. (SeePHYSICS TODAY, August, page 17.)

ISSN:0031-9228    

DOI:10.1063/1.2810750

出版商:AIP    

年代:1990

数据来源: AIP

ISSN:0031-9228    

DOI:10.1063/1.2810751

出版商:AIP    

年代:1990

数据来源: AIP

摘要:

How does the layman learn about physics? Formal education is not the only way, and it probably is not even the main way. Long after the blackboards have become a chalky memory, people are scanning newspaper headlines, looking through weekly newsmagazines, listening to the radio while commuting, sampling programs on television after work or visiting museums while on vacation. And from each of these they get messages about science: Newspapers feature exciting news such as the detection of supernova 1987A; science “experts” on TV debate nuclear power and global warming; magazines and books tempt us with unsolved mysteries or regale us with the adventures of curious characters.

ISSN:0031-9228    

DOI:10.1063/1.2810752

出版商:AIP    

年代:1990

数据来源: AIP

摘要:

In 1976 I wrote a very intemperate letter to the director of the National Science Foundation, H. Guyford Stever. While I didn't keep a copy, it went something like this: Recently,Scienceprinted an account of your speech on thepublic understanding of science. With all due respect, the National Science Foundation does not know the meaning of those words.

ISSN:0031-9228    

DOI:10.1063/1.881241

出版商:AIP    

年代:1990

数据来源: AIP

摘要:

Few newspaper reporters have a formal grounding in physics. Yet most who cover hard science rate physics as among the most enjoyable and rewarding parts of the beat.

ISSN:0031-9228    

DOI:10.1063/1.881242

出版商:AIP    

年代:1990

数据来源: AIP

摘要:

In 1987, scientists at the spring meeting of The American Physical Society announced the development of new, hightemperature superconducting materials. The session, which had been widely publicized through early preprints and press releases, was attended by 3500 physicists and hundreds of reporters. Bertram Batlogg from the Bell Laboratories solid‐state research team proclaimed, “Our life has changed.” An ecstatic press headlined Batlogg's comment, and underneath heralded “breathtaking advances,” “stunning possibilities” and “revolution.” Journalists reported “gasps” from scientists; high‐Tcsuperconductivity was “a quantum leap in technology,” a “new frontier.” News articles anticipated new transportation (levitated trains), new power systems (cheap energy) and the creation of an “Oxide Valley” comparable to California's Silicon Valley.

ISSN:0031-9228    

DOI:10.1063/1.881243

出版商:AIP    

年代:1990

数据来源: AIP

摘要:

A science museum is created by its contents and the activities relating to them. These contents may be historical artifacts, such as a steam engine, or exhibits of natural phenomena, scientific ideas or technological inventions. A museum is an educational county fair, a serious and exciting learning environment where the relationships between one exhibit and the next, and among the exhibits, the visitors and the space as a whole are important. This location‐and‐object specific attribute sets museums apart from other communications media such as television, books and periodicals.

ISSN:0031-9228    

DOI:10.1063/1.881216

出版商:AIP    

年代:1990

数据来源: AIP