Who are the physicists?

AUG 01, 1953

The conditions influencing the production of physicists in colleges and universities are basic to any discussion of manpower problems in physics. In this, the first of two articles on the comparative histories of physicists, the training and background of a representative group of physicists are discussed. A second article, to appear next month, will trace the relationships of the various factors tending to induce students to become physicists.

DOI: 10.1063/1.3061331

A. A. Haberly

Although the number of American physicists has increased during the last twenty years, the demand for them has increased even more so. The field of atomic physics alone has consumed a major portion of the physicists this last decade. The nation needs all the physicists it can produce, and the critical problem is how to induce students to enter this highly specialized field. In attacking the problem it would be well to consider the physicists we now have and how they entered a career in physics. Who are the physicists? What backgrounds, what training, and what experiences do they have and how have these influenced their decisions to become physicists?

References

1. Smyth, Henry D., “The Stockpiling and Rationing of Scientific Manpower”. Physics Today, IV, 2, 18, February 1951.https://doi.org/PHTOAD
2. Knapp, Robert H. and Goodrich, Hubert B., “The Origins of American Scientists”, Science, 113, 544, May 11, 1951.https://doi.org/SCIEAS
3. Murdock, Bernard C. and White, Marsh W., “Birth and Training of Physicists”, Physics Today, III, 12, 17, December 1950.https://doi.org/PHTOAD
4. Adapted from: Bulletin, 1931, No. 20. “Biennial Survey of Education 1928–30”, Vol. 1–2. Washington, D.C., U.S. Office of Education, Department of Interior; p. 833.
5. Visher, Stephen Sargent. “Education of Leading Scientists”, Journal of Higher Education, 19, 233, May 1948.https://doi.org/JHIEAW

More about the Authors

A. A. Haberly. Downtown Division of Trinity University, San Antonio, Texas.