Fifty Semesters of WPD
In Fall 1995 the SSU Department of Physics and Astronomy presented the 50th semester of the "What Physicists Do" public lecture series. Dr. Joe Tenn, who founded the series in 1971 and who has now directed it for 37 1/2 semesters, was presented with a plaque by Dean of Natural Sciences Anne Swanson. Dr. Lynn Cominsky, who has directed 8, received a framed certificate. The surprise presentation was organized by a few of the regular attendees from the community.
The fall speakers were what Dr. Tenn called "some of our favorites from the first 49 semesters." They included two members of the National Academy of Sciences--Professors Calvin F. Quate (Stanford) and Marvin L. Cohen (UC Berkeley)--and two best-selling authors--Paul Hewitt (Conceptual Physics  ) and Cliff Stoll (The Cuckoo's Egg  and Silicon Snake Oil  ).
The spring series included two speakers on global warming--David Goldstein of the Natural Resources Defense Council, and Barbara Levi, an editor of Physics Today . Attendance was high for astronomers Virginia Trimble (UC Irvine) and Halton C. Arp (Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics), and it peaked at the last lecture, when Galileo Probe Project Scientist Richard Young presented some of the early results from the mission into the clouds of Jupiter.
Students and faculty from throughout SSU, and visitors from as far away as Eureka, enjoy the popular Monday afternoon lectures and the opportunity to meet the speakers, many of them very prominent scientists.