Brief Historical Overview
On May 20, 1899, 36 physicists gathered to establish the American Physical Society at Columbia University, in the City of New York. These 36 decided that the mission of the APS would be "to advance and diffuse the knowledge of physics". In the beginning the dissemination of physics knowledge took place only through quarterly scientific meetings. In 1913, the APS took over the operation of Physical Review, already in existence since 1893. Hence, journal publication also became an important goal, second only to its original mission. Physical Review was followed by Reviews of Modern Physics in 1929, and by Physical Review Letters in 1958. Volume 1, Issue 1 was published on July 1, 1958 (See archives link). As the years passed the fields of physics have multiplied, and the number of submissions has grown. Consequently, Physical Review has been subdivided into five separate sections, which are distinct from Physical Review Letters.
Read more about this topic: Physical Review Letters
Famous quotes containing the word historical:
“Some of us still get all weepy when we think about the Gaia Hypothesis, the idea that earth is a big furry goddess-creature who resembles everybody’s mom in that she knows what’s best for us. But if you look at the historical record—Krakatoa, Mt. Vesuvius, Hurricane Charley, poison ivy, and so forth down the ages—you have to ask yourself: Whose side is she on, anyway?”
—Barbara Ehrenreich (b. 1941)