The Abraham Pais Prize

The Forum on the History of Physics calls for the nomination of candidates for the 2010 Abraham Pais Prize for the History of Physics, the purpose of which is to recognize outstanding scholarly achievements in the history of physics. This Prize is sponsored jointly by the American Physical Society and the American Institute of Physics. Awarded annually since 2005, it includes $10,000 and a certificate citing the contributions of each recipient (as many as three), plus an allowance for travel to an APS meeting to receive the prize and deliver an invited lecture on the history of physics. Past Prize winners are Martin J. Klein (2005), John L. Heilbron (2006), Max Jammer (2007), and Gerald Holton (2008), Stephen Brush (2009).

A nomination for the Pais Prize should consist of:

• a letter of not more than 1,000 words evaluating the nominee’s qualifications, in light of the Rules and Eligibility for the Prize, and identifying the scholarly and professional achievements to be recognized; as there is no official nomination form, this letter will constitute the formal nomination.
• a list of the nominee’s most important publications; reprints of up to five of the nominee’s articles may be included.
• at least two but not more than four seconding letters.
• an (optional) biographical sketch.

Five copies of the complete nomination package should be mailed to the next Chair of the Selection Committee:

Prof. Laurie Brown
1500 Hinman Avenue #102
Evanston, IL 60201

Deadline for receipt of all materials is 1 May 2009. After three consecutive review cycles that do not result in a nominee being selected for the Prize, a new, updated nomination package must be submitted for the nominee to be considered again.