Dartmouth College. Department of Physics and Astronomy (1782)
Biography
Although instruction in physics at Dartmouth College began at the school’s conception in 1770, Bezaleel Woodward was first to carry the title Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy, in 1782. Under Professor Ebenezer Adams, who served from 1810 to 1833, the first scientific observations occurred at the College when his son Ebenezer, Jr. began keeping a “thermometrical register.". Ira Young became Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy in 1833 (and later also Professor of Astronomy in 1838), and under his leadership the Appleton Professorship of Natural Philosophy was instituted in 1845 and the Shattuck Observatory was built in 1852. In 1893 the Appleton Professor of Natural Philosophy became the Appleton Professor of Physics, and in 1899 the department moved to Wilder Hall, constructed specifically to house the department and its laboratories.
In 1901, two Dartmouth College physicists, Professors Ernest B. Nichols and G.F. Hull, demonstrated through experimentation that light exerts pressure on objects, earning Dartmouth great recognition in the field of physics. Later in 1952, a new laboratory wing on Wilder was completed to assist in physics research. Soon after in 1955, physicists at the College completed building of a neuron accelerator in the Wilder Physics Laboratory, one of the only such instruments in the country to be used for college instruction and research. In 1956, the Arthur W. Shuttleworth Memorial Library was opened in Wilder.
From 1893 to 1935, the department was called the Department of Physics and Astronomy; from 1935 through 1964, the Department of Physics existed on its own, while Mathematics and Astronomy were housed in one department; and in 1964, the Department of Physics and Astronomy was again instituted. Graduate work in physics took place at Dartmouth starting in the late 19th century as part of the College's general graduate study policy; the formal Ph.D. program in Physics was established in 1965.