Physics Comes to Winnipeg: The 1909 Meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science

Abstract

History of science can be used to bring scientific concepts to school science in a way that humanizes the protagonists and provides an appropriate context. The authors have researched the 1909 meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science (BAAS) in Winnipeg, a significant event in the city’s history that has remained largely unexplored until now, despite the existence of the original documents. The Mathematics and Physical Science Division of the BAAS met in Wesley College, which is now the University of Winnipeg. The meeting took place with much fanfare and public attention, especially with the attendance of the prominent scientists Rutherford, Thomson, Hahn, and Millikan, all of whom were or would become Nobel Laureates. Prominent themes relating to this meeting will be discussed in this paper.