Those of you who share my interest in physics history might find
value in the following:
I ran across an excellent collection of physics photos at
<http://www.if.ufrj.br/famous/physlist.html> courtesy of
Instituto de Física, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro.
One of their offerings is a good copy of the very first Solvay
Conference, 1911 (with the "ultimate" theoretician Einstein and
the "ultimate" experimenter Rutherford only a meter apart).
Also (perhaps the most famous of all physics group photos)
the 1927 Solvay; this was the final appearance of the great
Lorentz, who was only months from his death. Nuclear pioneer
Rutherford did not attend in '27, the theme being "electrons
and photons".
A quick search led me to the Solvay website,
<http://solvayins.ulb.ac.be/fixed/Physics.html>.
This site offers a photo of the 1933 Solvay signed by the
participants! This was the last gathering of the giants of
early 20th century physics. There were no further Institut
International de Physique Solvay conferences until 1950,
with a dramatically different cast of characters. At the
'33 Conference, Maria Sklodowska-Curie was already dying of
the radiation-induced leukemia which ended her life the
following year.
Best wishes,
Larry
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Larry Cartwright Retired Physics Teacher
<exit60@cablespeed.com> Charlotte MI 48813 USA
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"We may in fact be remembered in 3003 for the space program
and little else. In Michael Hart's book The 100, where he
audaciously ranks the 100 most influential figures of all
time, John F. Kennedy makes the list - solely because of
the impetus he gave to the moon program ... How many people
today (after only 500 years) can tell you a single thing
about Ferdinand and Isabella ... beyond Columbus?"
-- Tad Daley, Fellow, UCLA Center for Governance
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