Culture, history and society

History of Physics Group

This is an IOP special interest group, which is a community of IOP members focused on a particular discipline, application or area of interest.

Special interest groups allow members to connect and share knowledge and ideas. The IOP funds groups to deliver a range of activities including events, prizes and bursaries. All of our groups are driven by members.

About the group

As a special interest, member-driven group, our main aims are to research and present accounts of the ways in which the subject of physics has developed, and also of the lives and achievements of the men and women who orchestrated this development.

We also explores ways in which historical developments can be used in the understanding, teaching and general communication of physics.

Our main areas of interest are:

the history of physics discoveries, theories and concepts
the history of experimentation and instruments
the history of interactions between physics and society
oral history and archives

What the group does

We provide a forum where the different and somewhat fragmented disciplines of physics and related subjects are able to interact fruitfully. We pursue the study of the history of physics from the perspective of the physicist, and so our activities are of particular interest to physics practitioners, but we also encourage dialogue between physicists and professional historians of science.

We organise several lecture meetings each year which last between half a day and two days, many of them in collaboration with other IOP special interest groups, and usually around a specific theme. We also support meetings organised by others when these are likely to be of interest to its members.

Our group also produces:

regular substantial newsletters which include written accounts of some of the talks from these meetings
other articles and book reviews on the history of physics
group news

We have also published an e-book which arose out of one of our meetings.

Joining an IOP special interest group

For non-IOP members: Become a member now

For IOP members: Find out how to join a group

Physics resources

Watch videos of our presentations:

Bohr and Moseley in Manchester by Neil Todd
Private sources of Niels Bohr’s early creativity by Finn Aaserud
HGJ Moseley in interaction with Bohr and Rutherford by John Heilbron

Group events

Find group events on the IOP events site.

Newsletters

A newsletter index is available to help you find articles of interest, listed by subject.

Useful links

British Society for the History of Science
The H Word, solar eclipse science: how the motions of the heavens affect events on earth (Guardian history of science blog)
Department of History and Philosophy, University of Cambridge
Manchester Centre for the History of Science, Technology and Medicine
Institute of Engineering and Technology Biographies of Eminent Scientists and Engineers
Report of Professor Helene Langevin-Joliot's talk on her grandmother, Marie Curie, given at our meeting on pioneering women in physics.
St Cross Centre for the History and Philosophy of Physics, University of Oxford

Blogs

Double Refraction by Michael Bycroft
Ether Wave Propaganda by Will Thomas

Committee and contacts

Interim Chair	Dr Vincent Smith, MBE FInstP
Secretary	Mr Julian Keeley, MInstP
Ordinary Member	Mr Paul Burton, CPhys FInstP
Ordinary Member	Mr Malcolm Cooper, MInstP
Ordinary Member	Mrs Kathleen Crennell, MInstP
Ordinary Member	Professor John Dainton, CPhys FInstP
Ordinary Member	Dr Hugh Deighton, CSci CPhys FInstP
Ordinary Member	Dr Christopher Green, CPhys MInstP
Ordinary Member	Professor Alison McMillan, CPhys FInstP
Co-opted Member	Professor Edward Davis, FInstP
Co-opted Member	Dr Neil Todd, MBE

Email: [email protected]