Special Collections Makes the Cover of Physics Today

Physics Today

Volume 68, Issue 2, February 2015 cover of Physics Today

Materials from Special Collections appear in all kinds of places. Viewers can spot them in exhibits like the Venice Biennale, newspapers like the Washington Free Beacon, and dotted all over social media. But this is the first time an image from Special Collections has made the cover of Physics Today.

Last summer, Catherine Wallack, architectural records archivist, worked with Stuart W. Leslie, a Johns Hopkins professor of history of science and technology. Leslie was writing an article about the Pakistan Institute of Nuclear Science and Engineering, designed in 1961 by Edward Durell Stone. University Libraries Special Collections holds the Edward Durell Stone Papers in the Arkansas Architectural Archives, and Leslie wanted to examine PINSTECH's design.

According to Leslie, PINSTECH is a modern yet lavish complex and an architectural advertisement for Atoms for Peace, "a Cold War initiative that offered American nuclear know-how to the developing world in exchange for bilateral agreements to pursue purely civilian nuclear programs."

Stone's design included a decorative dome for the reactor shield, an exhaust stack in place of a minaret, and a garden with fountains and reflecting pools. "Physicists have a surprisingly strong interest in the buildings in which they work, and PINSTECH may be the most beautiful physics laboratory in the world," said Leslie. "Nowadays, though, it's one of the most secretive, since Pakistan's nuclear weapons program has facilities nearby. So, Stone's once gleaming building is now painted in military camouflage."

Leslie told Wallack in an interview appearing in the fall 2014 issue of the department's newsletter The Arkansian that accessing Stone's papers was immensely helpful to his research. The Department of Energy's archives describe PINSTECH as a research reactor, not the compelling architectural design that became a national symbol. Stone's papers include detailed sketches and publicity photos showing the completed project's grandeur.

Stone was a Fayetteville native and attended the University of Arkansas from 1920 to 1923. He presented a large body of his papers to the University Libraries in 1975, and his professional papers were later donated in 1979.

Physics Today is the flagship publication of the American Institute of Physics and has a large, international readership. University of Arkansas readers can view the article online or see the cover at the print edition. To view the Edward Durell Stone Papers, or any of the collections housed in Special Collections, please contact the department at 479-575-8444 or email specoll@uark.edu. The reading room is open to the public 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Friday.