PHYSICISTS CAST ANCHOR IN BALTIMORE

Abstract

THE 7,200 OR SO SCIENTISTS WHO ATtended the American Physical Society's (APS) March meeting last month appeared to have physically conquered quantum mechanics, somehow managing to exist in several places simultaneously. Or at least that's how it looked to an outsider with a tenuous grasp of rudimentary physics. Baltimore Convention Center's hallways and massive open spaces were so full of people chatting, buying coffee, and typing away on ubiquitous laptops that it seemed as if no one could possibly be attending sessions. But a quick peek into any of the symposia revealed rooms packed with attentive physicists listening to talks on everything from condensed-matter physics to evolution. Attendees still found time for less erudite pursuits, including a physics sing-along hosted by Haverford College's Walter Smith. event's brainy ballads included The Relativity Song, set to music from The Little Mermaid, and The Love Song of the Electric Field, sung to the tune of Loch ...