Woodstock of physics: Difference between revisions
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The discoveries were so recent that no papers on them had been submitted by the deadline. However, the Society added a last-minute session to their annual meeting to discuss the new research.<ref name = "Chang" /> The session was chaired by physicist [[M. Brian Maple]], a superconductor researcher himself, who was one of the meeting's organizers.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://articles.latimes.com/1987-04-05/local/me-416_1_superconductors/2|title=Resistance Movement : Breakthroughs in Electrical Superconductors Have Scientists Charged Up|last=Scott|first=Janny|date=April 5, 1987|work=Los Angeles Times|accessdate=22 August 2013}}</ref> It was scheduled to start at 7:30 PM in the Sutton ballroom of the [[New York Hilton]], but excited scientists started lining up at 5:30.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,964303,00.html|title=Science: Superconductors!|last=Lemonick|first=Michael D.|date=May 11, 1987|work=Time Magazine|accessdate=22 August 2013}}</ref> Key researchers such as Chu and [[Karl Alexander Müller]] (who would win the 1987 [[Nobel Prize]] in Physics for his work in superconductors) were given 10 minutes to describe their research; other physicists were given five minutes. Nearly 2,000 scientists tried to squeeze into the ballroom. Those who could not find a seat filled the aisles or watched outside the room on television monitors. The session ended at 3:15 AM, but many lingered until dawn to discuss the presentations.The meeting caused a surge in mainstream media interest in superconductors, and laboratories around the world raced to pursue breakthroughs in the field. |
The discoveries were so recent that no papers on them had been submitted by the deadline. However, the Society added a last-minute session to their annual meeting to discuss the new research.<ref name = "Chang" /> The session was chaired by physicist [[M. Brian Maple]], a superconductor researcher himself, who was one of the meeting's organizers.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://articles.latimes.com/1987-04-05/local/me-416_1_superconductors/2|title=Resistance Movement : Breakthroughs in Electrical Superconductors Have Scientists Charged Up|last=Scott|first=Janny|date=April 5, 1987|work=Los Angeles Times|accessdate=22 August 2013}}</ref> It was scheduled to start at 7:30 PM in the Sutton ballroom of the [[New York Hilton]], but excited scientists started lining up at 5:30.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,964303,00.html|title=Science: Superconductors!|last=Lemonick|first=Michael D.|date=May 11, 1987|work=Time Magazine|accessdate=22 August 2013}}</ref> Key researchers such as Chu and [[Karl Alexander Müller]] (who would win the 1987 [[Nobel Prize]] in Physics for his work in superconductors) were given 10 minutes to describe their research; other physicists were given five minutes. Nearly 2,000 scientists tried to squeeze into the ballroom. Those who could not find a seat filled the aisles or watched outside the room on television monitors. The session ended at 3:15 AM, but many lingered until dawn to discuss the presentations.The meeting caused a surge in mainstream media interest in superconductors, and laboratories around the world raced to pursue breakthroughs in the field. |
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By the following year (1988) two new families of copper-oxide superconductors - the bismuth based or the so called [[BSCCO]] and the thallium based or [[TBCCO]] materials have been discovered. Both of these have superconducting transitions above above 110 kelvin. So. in the next March APS meeting at New Orleans a special evening session "Woodstock of Physics-II" was organized to highlight the synthesis and properties of these new superconductors. The format of the session was same as in New York. Some of the panelists were from the Woodstock but several new researchers including Allen Hermann (at that time Univ. of Arkansas) the co-discoverer of the thallium system and Laura Greene (then AT&T |
By the following year (1988) two new families of copper-oxide superconductors - the bismuth based or the so called [[BSCCO]] and the thallium based or [[TBCCO]] materials have been discovered. Both of these have superconducting transitions above above 110 kelvin. So. in the next March APS meeting at New Orleans a special evening session "Woodstock of Physics-II" was hastily organized to highlight the synthesis and properties of these new superconductors.<ref>{{cite journal | journal = Science | volume = 240 | pages = 146– 147 | year = 1988 | doi = 10.1038/332138a0 | title = New Superconductors Answer Some Questions | first = Robert | last = Poole | issue=4849}}</ref> The format of the session was same as in New York. Some of the panelists were from the Woodstock but several new researchers including Allen M. Hermann (at that time [[Univ. of Arkansas]]) the co-discoverer of the thallium system and [[Laura Greene (then with [[AT&T]]) were panelists. |
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On March 5, 2007, many of the original participants reconvened in [[Denver]] to recognize and review the session on its 20-year anniversary;<ref name = "Chang">{{cite news|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/06/science/06supe.html|title=Physicists Remember When Superconductors Were Hot|last=Chang|first=Kenneth|date=March 6, 2007|work=New York Times|accessdate=22 August 2013}}</ref> the "reunion" was again chaired by Maple.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://docs.google.com/a/alumni.stanford.edu/viewer?a=v&pid=gmail&attid=0.1.1&thid=140bb6fe55cc9de2&mt=application/pdf&url=https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?ui%3D2%26ik%3De67a70bc03%26view%3Datt%26th%3D140bb6fe55cc9de2%26attid%3D0.1.1%26disp%3Dsafe%26zw&sig=AHIEtbQ1oN0GjeccW_E7UR0kR4NZUHC2EA|title=20th Anniversary of High Tc Superconductivity ‘Woodstock’ Session|work=Forum on the History of Physics|publisher=American Physical Society|accessdate=26 August 2013}}</ref> |
On March 5, 2007, many of the original participants reconvened in [[Denver]] to recognize and review the session on its 20-year anniversary;<ref name = "Chang">{{cite news|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/06/science/06supe.html|title=Physicists Remember When Superconductors Were Hot|last=Chang|first=Kenneth|date=March 6, 2007|work=New York Times|accessdate=22 August 2013}}</ref> the "reunion" was again chaired by Maple.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://docs.google.com/a/alumni.stanford.edu/viewer?a=v&pid=gmail&attid=0.1.1&thid=140bb6fe55cc9de2&mt=application/pdf&url=https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?ui%3D2%26ik%3De67a70bc03%26view%3Datt%26th%3D140bb6fe55cc9de2%26attid%3D0.1.1%26disp%3Dsafe%26zw&sig=AHIEtbQ1oN0GjeccW_E7UR0kR4NZUHC2EA|title=20th Anniversary of High Tc Superconductivity ‘Woodstock’ Session|work=Forum on the History of Physics|publisher=American Physical Society|accessdate=26 August 2013}}</ref> |
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Revision as of 18:43, 1 May 2014
The term "Woodstock of physics" is often used by physicists to refer to the marathon session of the American Physical Society’s meeting on March 18, 1987, which featured 51 presentations concerning the science of high-temperature superconductors. The name is a reference to the 1969 Woodstock Music and Art Festival.
Before a series of breakthroughs in the mid-1980s, most scientists believed that the extremely low temperature requirements of superconductors rendered them impractical for everyday use. However, by March 1987, a flurry of recent research on ceramic superconductors had succeeded in creating ever-higher superconducting temperatures, including the discovery by the University of Houston's Paul Chu of a superconductor that operated at minus 139 degrees Celsius (minus 283 degrees Fahrenheit) - above the temperature of boiling liquid nitrogen. The scientific community was abuzz with excitement.
The discoveries were so recent that no papers on them had been submitted by the deadline. However, the Society added a last-minute session to their annual meeting to discuss the new research.[1] The session was chaired by physicist M. Brian Maple, a superconductor researcher himself, who was one of the meeting's organizers.[2] It was scheduled to start at 7:30 PM in the Sutton ballroom of the New York Hilton, but excited scientists started lining up at 5:30.[3] Key researchers such as Chu and Karl Alexander Müller (who would win the 1987 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work in superconductors) were given 10 minutes to describe their research; other physicists were given five minutes. Nearly 2,000 scientists tried to squeeze into the ballroom. Those who could not find a seat filled the aisles or watched outside the room on television monitors. The session ended at 3:15 AM, but many lingered until dawn to discuss the presentations.The meeting caused a surge in mainstream media interest in superconductors, and laboratories around the world raced to pursue breakthroughs in the field.
By the following year (1988) two new families of copper-oxide superconductors - the bismuth based or the so called BSCCO and the thallium based or TBCCO materials have been discovered. Both of these have superconducting transitions above above 110 kelvin. So. in the next March APS meeting at New Orleans a special evening session "Woodstock of Physics-II" was hastily organized to highlight the synthesis and properties of these new superconductors.[4] The format of the session was same as in New York. Some of the panelists were from the Woodstock but several new researchers including Allen M. Hermann (at that time Univ. of Arkansas) the co-discoverer of the thallium system and [[Laura Greene (then with AT&T) were panelists.
On March 5, 2007, many of the original participants reconvened in Denver to recognize and review the session on its 20-year anniversary;[1] the "reunion" was again chaired by Maple.[5]
Notes
- ^ a b Chang, Kenneth (March 6, 2007). "Physicists Remember When Superconductors Were Hot". New York Times. Retrieved 22 August 2013.
- ^ Scott, Janny (April 5, 1987). "Resistance Movement : Breakthroughs in Electrical Superconductors Have Scientists Charged Up". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 22 August 2013.
- ^ Lemonick, Michael D. (May 11, 1987). "Science: Superconductors!". Time Magazine. Retrieved 22 August 2013.
- ^ Poole, Robert (1988). "New Superconductors Answer Some Questions". Science. 240 (4849): 146–147. doi:10.1038/332138a0.
- ^ "20th Anniversary of High Tc Superconductivity 'Woodstock' Session". Forum on the History of Physics. American Physical Society. Retrieved 26 August 2013.
References
- Fishlock, David (April 3, 1987). "A Ceramic Goldmine At The Electronics Frontier; Superconductivity". The Financial Times.
- Fishlock, David (March 17, 1989). "Superconductivity Hits A Quieter Note Since The 'Woodstock Of Physics'". The Financial Times.