Science Sculptures Photographs by Steve Hambuchen
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cattered all over Shiley Engineering Hall and the University Museum are lovely strange devices and machines, many of them harking back to when the Physics Department was housed there, and many procured by the legendary Brother Godfrey Vassallo, C.S.C., a master at “scrounging, begging, borrowing, and buying anything that might be even halfway useful,” as physics professor emeritus Karl Wetzel notes. Velometers (which measure circulating air, often in mine shafts), oscilloscopes, x-ray machines, roentgen meters (which measure radiation), generators, survey and drafting equipment, on and on... As we celebrate the Campaign’s stunning effect on science and engineering at the University, we gape with affection and appreciation at the beautiful and creative instruments used by so many students and professors on The Bluff over the last eighty years, and housed here now with reverence. Among the ones pictured here, with erudite comment from Karl Wetzel: “Number 2 is a direct current ammeter, or amp meter; the scale is from 0 to 10 amperes, very large values for an ordinary lab exercise; this was probably used only by seniors and faculty. Number 3 is decade resistance box, which allows a circuit to be set up to have a range of Ohm values. Number 4 is a Geiger counter/ radiation survey meter; the headphone allowed the user to choose either the headphone or loudspeaker mode. The yellow color indicates use for Civil Defense in the 1950s and 1960s. Number 5 is another decade resistance device. Number 8 bears a Works Progress Administration logo; probably this was used in Oregon during the late 1930s. Number 9 is an analog ammeter; modern meters are digital.” Our thanks to Karl, to engineering professor Aziz Inan (who excavated a 1947 Tektronix 511 oscilloscope from the basement and had it meticulously restored, good man), and to the heroic Carolyn Connolly, who runs the University Museum with a budget of about eight dollars. The University is delighted to celebrate the stunning $25 million raised during the Rise Campaign for science and engineering; wouldn’t it be sweet now to gather huge gifts for the Museum, and watch that crucial story-saving entity soar? It’s easily done; call Kathy Kendall Johnston at 503.943.8004, kendall@up.edu. Editor