Issues
Physics Update
Letters
Search and Discovery
Nobel Prize in Physics Goes to Frederick Reines for Detection of the Neutrino…
In the 1950s Reines and Cowan sought and found the hypothetical particle postulated by Pauli in 1930. Four decades later (two decades after Cowan's death) Reines is being honored for this feat.
…and Martin Perl Wins for Discovering the Tau Lepton
The discovery of a third charged lepton, 20 years ago, gave us the first glimpse of a third “generation” of fundamental particles.
Nobel Chemistry Prize Gives a Stratospheric Boost to Atmospheric Scientists
After identifying mechanisms for atmospheric ozone depletion, Crutzen, Molina and Rowland have continued to strengthen our understanding of such processes
Articles
What Future Will We Choose for Physics?
US physics faculties are aging rapidly and responding far too slowly to new opportunities across the sciences. We must reverse the trends if we are to preserve the historic vitality of the profession.
Scanning Force Microscopy in Biology
A high‐resolution instrument that can operate in liquids is making complex biological structures accessible to study in conditions close to those that exist in living organisms.
Eugene Paul Wigner: A Towering Figure of Modern Physics
He was always ‘reasonable’ and believed that physics had a duty to provide a living picture of our world.
Symmetry in Physics: Wigner's Legacy
The role of symmetry in physics has evolved greatly during this century. Eugene Wigner made profound contributions to this development.