To celebrate its centennial in March 1999, the American Physical Society (a professional association with over 40,000 members world-wide) has produced a timeline entitled A Century of Physics. On eleven consecutive posters, which create a 23 ft., 10 in. mural when mounted side-by-side, the milestones of the history of physics in the 20th century are exhibited in image and word. The timeline functions at once as a chronology, a work of art, and a gigantic photo album covering a hundred years in the life of the community of physicists. It also shows, in the frieze at the bottom that displays milestones in art, that science and art exist within a common cultural matrix.

The timeline is designed so that viewers can dip into it at any point, or can follow the chronology from beginning to end, with the help of the color-coded strands that continue throughout the century, namely: the blue strand signifies the cosmic scale, red the human scale, and green the atomic. A fourth band in orange signifies the living world, illustrating how physics relates to biology and medicine. The next strand of darker red follows technology as it pertains to the application of scientific discoveries to devices and techniques that help shape life. Finally the brown band woven at the bottom of each panel signifies art, serving as a reminder that science is but one of many perspectives on the world. Further assistance in reading the timeline is given in the first panel.

For more information on the timeline, visit the website.

Sponsored by:
The Department of Physics
General Science Committee of the Faculty Science Council

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