
Ronald Mallett. Credit: AIP Emilio Segrè Visual Archives, Gift of Dr. Ronald Mallett. Mallett Ronald B2
Oh chalkboard!
Made of slate or painted wood
Somehow, you have held all of the answers
You understood
And gave us space to fail
If only temporarily
This is your beauty
Yet we dismissed you so summarily
Computers and smartboards have not your aesthetic appeal
But they are also less dusty.
Clap your erasers in appreciation of the chalkboard.
-Poem by Corinne Mona
There’s just something about chalkboards. They have a long history in the United States; their first documented use
Since the Emilio Segrè Visual Archives has the bulk of its images from the 20th century, chalkboards (under the subject term “blackboard”) are prevalent. For this Photos of the Month, hear the pleasant tapping and scratching of chalk against board, smell the unique peppery chalk dust in the air, and let’s take a look back with images of physicists at the chalkboard.
Ronald Mallett. Credit: AIP Emilio Segrè Visual Archives, Gift of Dr. Ronald Mallett. Mallett Ronald B2
Ronald Mallett (b. 1945) was inspired to go into science by his father, who tragically died when Mallett was only ten years old. Mallett joined the Air Force during the Vietnam War directly after high school and was able to use the GI bill to later attend Penn State University, where he eventually earned a doctorate in physics. After a few years in industry, Ronald Mallett began his long career as a physics professor at University of Connecticut in 1975, where he has been a professor emeritus since 2013.
In this expressive image, Mallett lectures to graduate students in his office about the mathematics and science behind his laser-driven time machine, under the watchful gaze of the old relativist (Albert Einstein). Today, he is known for his work in time travel; check out his interview with This Morning “I’m Trying To Build A Time Travel Machine
Chalkboard notes: full of equations, word “laser” is present, looks like it has undergone many washings and always been scrubbed horizontally
Physics class session at Colorado College. Credit: AIP Emilio Segrè Visual Archives, Hoag Collection. Colorado College D1
This image is over 100 years old and features a physics class session at Colorado College in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Marked June 26, 1918, we can see a neat technical diagram in chalk directly on the building’s brick wall (a kind of chalkboard, if you will), presumably illustrating the machine that is the center of focus of the image, which we think might be a radio telegraph
Chalkboard notes: made of brick, very neat handwriting and illustration
Mary K. Gaillard. Credit: AIP Emilio Segrè Visual Archives, Physics Today Collection. Gaillard Mary B2
Mary K. Gaillard (b. 1939) became the first woman faculty member of the physics department at University of California, Berkeley in 1981. She received the 1993 American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT) J. J. Sakurai Prize for Theoretical Particle Physics. Now a professor emerita, she is still active as a theoretical physicist and is currently studying effective supergravity theories for particle physics.
This image is featured on the cover of Gaillard’s biography, A Singularly Unfeminine Profession: One Woman’s Journey in Physics
Chalkboard notes: nice layered pull-down chalkboard, dusty from use
Portrait of Robert Adair at a High Energy Seminar. Credit: Photograph by Robert C. Cowen, courtesy AIP Emilio Segrè Visual Archives, Physics Today Collection. Adair Robert B14
Robert Adair (1924-2020) is described in a memorial article
In this image, which was taken during lectures at a 1961 High Energy Seminar, he is clearly demonstrating something with his hands, and while we can’t be certain, we suspect it might have to do with the circular diagram on the chalkboard. Photographer Robert C. Cowen captured many images
Chalkboard notes: easel-style chalkboard, pi symbols in upper lefthand corner
Elizabeth Wood. Credit: AIP Emilio Segrè Visual Archives, Physics Today Collection. Wood Elizabeth B2
Elizabeth Wood (1912-2006) was a crystallographer and geologist who spent the bulk of her career at Bell Labs. She was a gifted science communicator and wrote popular science books like Science for the Airplane Passenger
Elizabeth A. Wood letters, invitations, and a photo, 1951-1977
ACA Office of the President Dan McLachlan, Jr. records, 1957-1960 (bulk 1958)
The chalkboard featured in this image reads “Women in Physics” at the top, with Years on the x axis and “no” (maybe meaning number) on the y axis.
Chalkboard notes: appears to cover a bookshelf, has seen many washings
William Eckel Drummond (left) and James Edgar Drummond (right). Credit: AIP Emilio Segrè Visual Archives, Physics Today Collection. Drummond William C1
Sometimes, physics is a family affair. Do we even need to tell you that these two are brothers? William Eckel Drummond
Chalkboard notes: clean-looking, source of brotherly debate