n Equals One

To witness the (50n«)th anniversary of a Society—n being zero or any positive integer—is an experience which, by and large, comes only once in a lifetime; indeed there are many lives that never include such an occasion, and few indeed are the careers which comprise two values of n. Such an opportunity was vouchsafed to the members and guests of the American Physical Society at Cambridge, Massachusetts, on June 16, 17, and 18, 1949; the value of n was one. The Society was founded on May 20, 1899, by some forty physicists who gathered in a very small lecture‐room (Room 304) of Fayerweather Hall of Columbia University in New York City; the names of thirty‐eight are on record, it is certain that a few have been lost to history. Of the thirty‐eight, six are still living at the moment of this writing, but not one of them was able to attend the meeting. One, Frederick Bedell, was an Editor of the Physical Review from 1895 until 1922; this includes seventeen years of the period before that journal became the property of the Society, and counting these it is the longest period of service yet given us by anyone, except that of G. B. Pegram as Treasurer. The others are W. D. Bancroft, Bergen Davis, Marcia A. Keith, Isabelle Stone and F. A. Waterman. The first regular meeting of the Society was held on October 28, 1899. Two at least of those who attended it were at our Semi‐Centennial Meeting: these are G. B. Pegram (Treasurer of the Society) and L. P. Wheeler. They were joined by 591 others who registered at the desk, and an unknowable number of still others who failed to register. This was the biggest summer meeting of our history, with one exception. Considering the season of the year, we may deem this a satisfactory attendance at the unique occasion, though a larger one would have been appropriate and welcome.

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