Pupin Physics Laboratory, Columbia University | |
.jpg) Pupin Hall | |
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| Location | New York, NY |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 40°48′36.23″N73°57′41.52″W / 40.8100639°N 73.9615333°W /40.8100639; -73.9615333 |
| Built | 1925–1927[1] |
| Architect | McKim, Mead, and White[1] |
| Architectural style | Renaissance inspired with colonial influence[2] |
| NRHP reference No. | 66000550 |
| NYSRHP No. | 06101.001805 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | October 15, 1966[3] |
| Designated NHL | December 21, 1965[4] |
| Designated NYSRHP | June 23, 1980 |
Pupin Physics Laboratories/ˈpjuːpɪn/, also known asPupin Hall, is home to thephysics and astronomy departments ofColumbia University inNew York City. The building is located on the south side of120th Street, just east ofBroadway. In 1965, Pupin was named aNational Historic Landmark for its association with experiments relating to thesplitting of the atom, achieved in connection with the laterManhattan Project.[4][5][6] In 2009 theAmerican Physical Society named Pupin Hall a historic site and honoredIsidor Isaac Rabi for his work in the field of magnetic resonance.[7]
Pupin Hall was built in 1925–1927 to provide more space for the Physics Department which had originally been housed inFayerweather Hall. In 1935, it was renamed afterMihajlo Idvorski Pupin (also known as Michael I. Pupin), a Serbian scientist and graduate of Columbia. Returning to the university'sengineering school as a faculty member, he played a key role in establishing the department of electrical engineering. Pupin was also a brilliant inventor, developing methods for rapidx-ray photography and the "Pupin coil," a device for increasing the range of long-distancetelephones. After his death in 1935, the university trustees named the newly constructed physics building the "Pupin Physics Laboratories" in his honor.
By 1931, the building which later became Pupin Hall was a leading research center. During this timeHarold Urey (Nobel laureate in Chemistry) discovereddeuterium andGeorge B. Pegram was investigating the phenomena associated with the newly discoveredneutron. In 1938,Enrico Fermi escaped fascistItaly after winning the Nobel prize for his work on induced radioactivity. In fact, he took his wife and children with him to Stockholm and immediately emigrated to New York. Shortly after arriving he began working at Columbia University with Dr. John Dunning. His work on nuclear fission, together withI. I. Rabi's work on atomic and molecular physics, ushered in a golden era of fundamental research at the university. One of the country's firstcyclotrons was built in the basement of Pupin Hall byJohn R. Dunning, where it remained until 2007. The building's historic significance was secured with the first splitting of auranium atom in the United States, which was achieved by Enrico Fermi in Pupin Hall on January 25, 1939, just 10 days after the world's first such successful experiment, carried out inCopenhagen,Denmark.
The building is a landmark due to the advances in nuclear research made there during theManhattan Project to develop the first nuclear weapon. It is connected to the universitytunnels, from which one can occasionally access the Manhattan Project's leftover cyclotron and other historic research facilities. Many of these have been sealed off since the 1980s, whenKen Hechtman wrought havoc with nuclear materials he stole from Pupin's basement.
Other discoveries and breakthroughs achieved in Pupin, or by scientists who were faculty at Pupin at the time of discovery include:
The current main entrance to Pupin is on the 5th floor from the plaza aboveDodge Physical Fitness Center. This means that many of the seminar rooms in Pupin on floors 2-4, while above ground, are below campus level and, therefore, windowless. The original entryway was on the first floor from the Grove, but got blocked by the construction ofDodge in the 1960s.Uris Pool has an exit stairway leading into Pupin's entry.
TheRutherfurd Observatory is on top of Pupin. The Astronomy Department hosts bi-monthly Public Observing Nights, and serves the Tri-State area in hosting people interested in observing with an optical telescope.[8]
The Center for Theoretical Physics, which opened in 2016, is on the ninth floor of Pupin and offers a modern office space covered in blackboards. AsBrian Greene put it, "the center space is designed to encourage interactions among faculty and students.”[9]
The bust of Mihajlo Pupin is displayed near the main entrance. It is the artwork ofIvan Meštrović from the early 20th century, made as a personal gift from the sculptor to Pupin.[10][11]
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See also:Manhattan Community Board 9 | |||||
