Date:
Helen Quinn
Professor Emerita, Particle Physics and Astrophysics
SLAC National Accelerator Center, Stanford University
"A window on particle physics at Harvard in the early 1970’s"
Wednesday, November 17, 2021 6:30pm in Jefferson 250
And also streamed live via Zoom (but we hope you will attend in person, with appropriate face covering)
For Zoom link, please contact Jolanta Davis
Abstract:
Since I am not a historian, this lecture is more a personal reminiscence about the exciting times when what we now call the “Standard Model of Particles and their Interactions” was taking shape, and the role of the group at Harvard in that work. It is also a reflection about how theories in science develop, and about being a young woman in physics in that era. It is primarily directed to those who are not experts in particle physics, but I hope will be of interest to the experts as well.
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Helen Quinn received her PhD in Physics from Stanford in 1967, and was at Harvard from 1971-1976 when she returned to Stanford and SLAC where she spent the rest of her career until her retirement in 2010. Since retirement she has chiefly worked on improvements to k-12 (pre-college) science education. She served as President of the American Physical Society in 2004. Her work in particle physics has been recognized by a number of international awards and honorary degrees, and by membership in the National Academy of Sciences and the American Philosophical Association.