In 1902, Andrew Carnegie founded the Carnegie Institution of Washington, to support innovative science research. Since its creation two years later, the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism has undertaken a broad range of research from terrestrial magnetism, ionospheric physics and geochemistry to biophysics, radio astronomy and planetary science. This second volume in a series of five histories of the Carnegie Institution describes the people and events, the challenges and successes that the Department has witnessed over the last century. Contemporary photographs illustrate some of the remarkable expeditions and instruments developed in pursuit of scientific understanding, from sailing ships to nuclear particle accelerators and radio telescopes to mass spectrometers. These photographs show an evolution of scientific progress through the century, often done under trying, even exciting circumstances.
• Part of a five volume set describing the history of the Carnegie Institution of Washington • Illustrated with photographs from the Institution archives • Complete history of the scientific development and successes of the department
Contents
Preface; 1. Establishment; 2. Cruises and war; 3. Expeditions; 4. Measurements - magnetic and electric; 5. The Fleming transition; 6. The last cruise; 7. The magnetic observatories and final land observations; 8. The ionosphere; 9. Collaboration and evaluation; 10. The Tesla coil; 11. The Van de Graaff; 12. The nuclear force; 13. Fission; 14. Cosmic rays; 15. The proximity fuze and the war effort; 16. The Tuve transition; 17. Post-war nuclear physics; 18. The cyclotron; 19. Biophysics; 20. Explosion seismology; 21. Isotope geology; 22. Radio astronomy; 23. Image tubes; 24. Computers; 25. Earthquake seismology; 26. Strainmeters; 27. The Bolton and Wetherill years; 28. Astronomy; 29. The Solar System; 30. Geochemistry; 31. Island-arc volcanoes; 32. Seismology revisited; 33. Geochemistry and cosmochemistry; 34. The Solomon transition; 35. The support staff; Epilogue; References and notes.
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