Articles
The Green of Green Functions
In 1828, an English miller from Nottingham published a mathematical essay that generated little response. George Green's analysis, however, has since found applications in areas ranging from classical electrostatics to modern quantum field theory — Lawrie Challis and Fred Sheard
Imaging Electron Flow
New scanning probe techniques provide fascinating glimpses into the detailed behavior of semiconductor devices in the quantum regime — Mark A. Topinka, Robert M. Westervelt, and Eric J. Heller
Stern and Gerlach: How a Bad Cigar Helped Reorient Atomic Physics 
The history of the Stern-Gerlach experiment reveals how persistence, accident, and luck can sometimes combine in just the right ways. — Bretislav Friedrich and Dudley Herschbach
Web departments
Readings from the Physics Today Archive
Departments
Reference Frame
Continuum Mechanics in Physics Education— Jerry Gollub
Letters
Readers Elaborate on Fashion and Truth, Fact and Theory
Covering Condensed Matter Fundamentals
A Physicist in Industry: One Reader's Experience
Search & Discovery
Nobel Prize in Physics Honors Theoretical Work on Superconductivity and Superfluidity
Each of the three recipients contributed in a different way to the understanding of frictionless flow, be it in a system of electrons or of helium-3 atoms.
Lauterbur and Mansfield Awarded Nobel Medicine Prize for Magnetic Resonance Imaging
The laureates made seminal contributions to the evolution of nuclear magnetic resonance from a spectroscopists' tool to a powerful, noninvasive technique for medical imaging.
Two Investigators of Pores in Cell Membranes Win Nobel Chemistry Prize
Thanks to the pair's work, an atom-level picture has emerged of how water molecules and potassium ions pass into and out of cells.
Issues & Events
Ambitious Earth Sciences Project Aims to Crack Mysteries of Continents
A major US investment in Earth sciences launches a multipronged program to probe the planet from crust to core.
MIT Study Sees Nuclear Power as Green Weapon Against Global Warming
Although the public doesn't yet view nuclear power as a way to mitigate global warming, an MIT study says a global tripling of nuclear power generation could avoid nearly 2 billion tonnes of carbon emissions annually.
Baja Site Vies to Host Telescopes
The jury is still out on San Pedro Mártir's becoming a major ground- based astronomy site, but it's in the running thanks to its clear skies, proximity to the US, and other scientific and political virtues.
Antievolutionists Lose Critical Fight in Texas Textbook Decision
A months-long effort in Texas to weaken the scientific explanation of evolution in high-school biology textbooks failed in early November when the State Board of Education approved 11 books and other material that had been vetted by a panel of biologists.
Climate@home
Although personal computers use more than 8% of the US electricity market, most of the time they have nothing to do. Now a UK research consortium has launched the web site climateprediction.net to improve the accuracy of climate simulations by harnessing that idle computer power.
Nuclear Industry Creates World University
A worldwide shortage of nuclear engineers, workers, scientists, and students has led the World Nuclear Association, an international trade group with headquarters in London, to launch a new global body: the World Nuclear University.
Physics in the Life Sciences Is Focus of Industrial Physics Forum
Nanoscale photosynthesis, molecule cascades, and the ribosome as a protein-producing nanomachine, were just some of the life sciences-oriented topics presented at the 2003 Industrial Physics Forum and its academic-industrial workshop, held 26-28 October in San Jose, California.
News Notes
Chinese Science Prize; Physics Server Adds Biology; History Prize Honors Pais
Web Watch
Exploring Mars; Stonehenge Laser Scans; What are Martensites?
Books
Tycho & Kepler: The Unlikely Partnership That Forever Changed Our Understanding of the Heavens, Kitty Ferguson (reviewed by Gale E. Christianson)
Color Space and Its Divisions: Color Order From Antiquity to the Present, Rolf G. Kuehni (reviewed by Michael H. Brill)
Magnetic Materials: Fundamentals and Device Applications, Nicola A. Spaldin (reviewed by Neil D. Mathur)
Principles of Data Analysis, Prasenjit Saha (reviewed by Harvey S. Leff)
Physics of Fractal Operators, Bruce J. West, Mauro Bologna, and Paolo Grigolini (reviewed by Igor M. Sokolov)
New Books
New Products
Focus on Laboratory Equipment
We Hear That
Five in Physics Are 2003 MacArthur Fellows
Fermi Award Honors Three Individuals
APS Acknowledges Achievements
AAS Divisions Award Four Prizes
Science Writers Recognized by AIP
Muller Is to Lead SoR
Bahcall Elected Vice President of APS
In Brief
Obituaries
Jean Brossel
Earl Robert Callen
Ludwig Genzel
Jesse Leonard Greenstein
John Peter Hobson
Daniel Kivelson
Robert R. Davis
John Robinson Pierce
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