Einstein, Oppenheimer, Feynman: Physics in the 20th Century, Fall 2002

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Abstract:: This class will study some of the changing ideas within modern physics, ranging from relativity theory and quantum mechanics to solid-state physics, nuclear and elementary particles, and cosmology. These ideas will be situated within shifting institutional, cultural, and political contexts. The overall aim is to understand the changing roles of physics and of physicists over the course of the twentieth century.

Subject:: Science and Technology, Social Sciences
Grade Level:: Post-secondary
Collection:: MIT OpenCourseWare

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Frontiers of Knowledge: What Gives Particles Mass? Searching for the Higgs Boson

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Abstract:: More than two dozen UC San Diego physicists are working with hundreds of other scientists at CERNŐs Large Hadron Collider near Geneva, searching for a subatomic particle called the ŇHiggs boson.Ó How are they doing it? What have they found thus far? And why is this search considered one of civilizationŐs greatest quests? UC San Diego Professor of Physics Vivek Sharma, who directs the Higgs search for the CMS collaboration, explains what physicists hope to achieve at the worldŐs largest scientific experiment, involving an estimated 10,000 individuals from 60 countries. (57 minutes)

Subject:: Science and Technology
Grade Level:: Secondary, Post-secondary
Collection:: UCTV Teacher's Pet

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In the Mountains of New Mexico

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Abstract:: At age twenty-seven, physicist Philip Morrison joined the Manhattan Project, the code name given to the U.S. government's covert effort at Los Alamos to develop the first nuclear weapon. The Manhattan Project was also the most expensive single program ever financed by public funds. In this video segment, Morrison describes the charismatic leadership of his mentor, J. Robert Oppenheimer, and the urgency of their mission to manufacture a weapon 'which if we didn't make first would lead to the loss of the war." In the interview Morrison conducted for War and Peace in the Nuclear Age: 'Dawn,' he describes the remote, inaccessible setting of the laboratory that operated in extreme secrecy. It was this physical isolation, he maintains, that allowed scientists extraordinary freedom to exchange ideas with fellow physicists. Morrison also reflects on his wartime fears. Germany had many of the greatest minds in physics and engineering, which created tremendous anxiety among Allied scientists that it would win the atomic race and the war, and Morrison recalls the elaborate schemes he devised to determine that country's atomic progress. At the time that he was helping assemble the world's first atomic bomb, Morrison believed that nuclear weapons 'could be made part of the construction of the peace.' A month after the war, he toured Hiroshima, and for several years thereafter he testified, became a public spokesman, and lobbied for international nuclear cooperation. After leaving Los Alamos, Morrison returned to academia. For the rest of his life he was a forceful voice against nuclear weapons.

Subject:: Arts, Business, Humanities, Science and Technology, Social Sciences
Grade Level:: Secondary, Post-secondary
Collection:: WGBH Open Vault

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To Make Deserts Bloom

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Abstract:: From 1988 to 1993 nuclear physicist Mambillkalathil Govind Kumar Menon was president of the International Council of Scientific Unions, a non-governmental organization long involved in environmental and development issues. He was also India's minister of state for science and technology from 1986 to 1989, and he served in the Parliament from 1990 to 1996. In this video segment, Menon describes the euphoria following World War II when international cooperation on atomic science and technology flourished.In the interview Menon conducted for War and Peace in the Nuclear Age: 'The Haves and Have-Nots,' he offers reflections on the dynamic and visionary nuclear physicist Dr. Homi Bhabha. Dr. Bhabha saw the possibility for the modern development of India in creating programs that would harness the newly emerging technology of nuclear energy. Menon captures the zeal of scientists at the first United Nations Conference on the Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy. He also defines some basic nuclear processes and principles: how fission works, controlled and uncontrolled chain reactions, and the difference between generating nuclear energy and manufacturing weapons. In 1974, under the prime ministership of Indira Gandhi, India conducted an underground nuclear test. Menon defends what India called a peaceful nuclear explosion as a means to explore enhanced mining techniques and other feats of large-scale underground nuclear engineering. With equal enthusiasm, Menon describes the possibilities of India's space program for expanding telecommunications and gathering data for waterand land-resource management. The global threat, he maintains, is not India but a nuclear exchange between the two superpowers. Paraphrasing Indira Gandhi, Menon concludes, 'What we want is not to make deserts but to make deserts bloom.'

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Einstein, Oppenheimer, Feynman: Physics in the 20th Century, Fall 2002

Frontiers of Knowledge: What Gives Particles Mass? Searching for the Higgs Boson

In the Mountains of New Mexico

To Make Deserts Bloom

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Browse: Keyword: Physicists

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Einstein, Oppenheimer, Feynman: Physics in the 20th Century, Fall 2002

Frontiers of Knowledge: What Gives Particles Mass? Searching for the Higgs Boson

In the Mountains of New Mexico

To Make Deserts Bloom

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