Science & Technology Web Awards 2004: GREAT MINDS

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Oppenheimer: A Life

A fascinating dissection of the life of one of the world's most revered and controversial scientists, brought to us by the University of California at Berkeley on the centennial of his birth. From his early years growing up in New York through his most famous work at Los Alamos as the ¿father of the atomic bomb,¿ Robert Oppenheimer is revealed as a contradictory man, simultaneously respected and reviled. His history is compelling reading for its portrayal of the trials any scientist must face: the struggle between personal ethics and scientific achievement, between private allegiance and patriotic duty.

20th-Century Women in Physics

Search by name, field, annotated photo gallery or even by famous quote through this archive of women in physics during the first three quarters of the 20th century. Meet Vera Rubin, whose work with hydrogen clouds resulted in the widespread belief that there may be large amounts of dark matter in the universe. Discover the electronic structures of semiconductors with Mildred Dresselhaus, and read up on Rosalind Franklin, who, while cited far less frequently than contemporaries Watson and Crick, made key contributions to the discovery of the helical structure of DNA.

National Library of Medicine's Profiles in Science

Biographical information on some of America's most prominent scientists, images, photographs and crucial documents pertaining to their work are gathered here. Divided into headings ¿Biomedical Research¿ and ¿Health and Medicine,¿ the archive brings together such boldface names as Linus Pauling, C. Everett Koop and Julius Axelrod, and describes their most valuable contributions to the medical field.

Einstein Archives Online

If not so beautifully curated, this bastion of all documents Einstein might incite brain overload in the faint of intellect. See one of three original articles published in English as ¿E=mc2: The Most Urgent Problem of Our Time,¿ explore addresses written in Einstein's own hand regarding his deep Zionist beliefs or peer inside one of the man's private U.S. travel diaries. The world's best loved and most complex genius is revealed in a highly personal and reverent fashion in these well maintained archives.

The Newton Project

Sure, you know the Principia Mathematica--you probably read it twice. You know Isaac Newton's that guy who showed us the components of white light and invented calculus. But the good people at the Newton Project are betting you've never seen the scientific, personal and even religious papers that Newton also wrote. This brave project seeks to archive--both in hard copy and online, in images and transcribed manuscripts--all of his work, including Newton's other, lesser known private research into theology and alchemy. See the famous scientist's original documents on the ecclesiastical history of ancient churches, his comments on copper coining (written while supervising the Royal Mint) and other surprising documents from Sir Isaac's secret cache.


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