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Dear STAMAsters,
-----------------------------------------------
New World Wide Web Site for History of Physics, Astronomy
and Geophysics Includes Photos, Einstein Exhibit
A site featuring the history of physics and allied sciences
is now available on the Internet's World Wide Web, mounted
by the AIP Center for History of Physics. Use of the Web was
originated by physicists but is spreading explosively among
the general population. The most eager users are young
people with an interest in technology and the future--
exactly the sort of people who should be exposed to the real
story of science as a human enterprise. The Web is an
outstanding new way to advance public understanding of the
physical sciences and their relationship to society, and the
AIP Center has moved aggressively to take advantage of the
opportunity.
The address (URL) is http://www.aip.org/history/
Users entering the site will find a number of options:
# Pages about the Center for History of Physics with
information on the programs and services, for example
grants-in-aid and advice on oral history interviewing.
# Information on the AIP's Niels Bohr Library, including
general descriptions of the holdings, a sample of finding
aids to archival materials and abstracts of oral history
interviews in the Library's collections, and information on
how to get access to the materials (in person or by mail or
e-mail).
# An introduction to the Emilio Segre Visual Archives,
including a sample of photographs--some of them enlivened
with quotes or vignettes--and forms that can be submitted to
request copies of pictures.
# A variety of Web links to other sites useful to anyone
interested in the history of physics and allied sciences
such as astronomy, geophysics and optics. There are sites
for societies, organizations, exhibits, institutional
histories, and so forth.
# Pages for the Friends of the Center for History of
Physics, including "plaques" honoring past donors, and
information on programs such as the donation of bookplates
to honor or memorialize colleagues.
# The AIP History of Physics Newsletter with information on
current work, bibliography of books and articles, reports of
new archival deposits in the field, photographs, etc.
# A featured Web exhibit: Einstein: Image and Impact, using
photographs, quotes, and text to present highlights of
Albert Einstein's life. By the end of the year this will be
expanded to a major site including over 80 photographs and
70,000 words of text.
Besides expanding the Einstein exhibit, during the coming
year Center staff will mount a number of additional finding
aids to collections and hundreds of additional photographs
from the Visual Archives. Under development is a major
search engine to support on-line access to abstracts of all
the Library's archival holdings (published in the 1994 Guide
to the Archival Collections in the Niels Bohr Library, but
including more recent accessions), the Library's catalog of
books, and--not least--the entire International Catalog of
Sources for History of Physics and Allied Sciences.
**********************************************
* Gavan McCarthy - Director
* Australian Science Archives Project
* University of Melbourne
* 203 Bouverie Street
* Carlton, Vic. 3053 Australia
* gavan@asap.unimelb.edu.au
* Phone: +61 3 9344 9287 Fax: +61 3 9349 4630
* ASAPWeb! on http://www.asap.unimelb.edu.au/
* ------->Recovering Science and Technology in Australia
***********************************************