Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Physics World 'Reflections on a Life'

They said they would send me a .pdf, but I can't wait to share this with you! The September 2012 issue of Physics World, featuring my cover art, the linocut portrait of Chien-Shiung Wu, 'Madame Wu and the Violation of Parity' is out. I think it looks great! The issue features an article about her, which they discribe;
Credit where credit’s due? – Magdolna Hargittai asks if physicist Chien-Shiung Wu should have received a share in the 1957 Nobel Prize for Physics – or whether she missed out to theorists Tsung-Dao Lee and Chen Ning Yang as a result of gender discrimination
You might recall, I wrote about my motivation to make this print. Hers was a truly beautiful and inspired experiment, with a shocking result which fundamentally changed how we understand the forces in our Universe. Yet, though she was lauded during her lifetime and received many awards, she did not share in the Nobel Prize awarded to Yang and Lee, the theorists (incidentally, both male) who suggested that the Weak force may not conserve parity, and she is not well known today. She should be as well known as any of the heroes of 20th century physics. I made the print to bring her story, her amazing feat of experimental physics, and the fascinating fact of the violation of parity to a wider audience. So, I couldn't be more pleased to see it sent out to members of the Institute of Physics.
Also, I confess I'm simply enjoying seeing my art on the cover of a magazine.

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