Worcester Polytechnic Institute - Peddler Yearbook (Worcester, MA)

Page 16 text:

Walt Orlick, Bob Boyea, and Lee Smith, fol- low the bouncing ball in a Thermocouple Experiment. M ORE words are written and more words are spoken about the Physics department than any other department on the hill. Why? The answer is simple (for a change). It has been said that a student samples everything in his first two years in Physics that he learns in all his other courses in four years. And this job, no matter how abbreviated is huge. But when you come right down to it, the Physics de¬ partment is a pretty regular department. And regular is the word. With utmost regard to duty and charity towards the students, the Physics Department bi-week¬ ly holds exam-periods for those lucky Freshmen and Sophomores . . . With the highest aims in mind the Physics Depart¬ ment finds out how much of their “money’s worth” the students have absorbed. But all kidding aside, Tech men are fortunate to have as instructors some of the most competent men in the country. Heading this much discussed but seldom praised Department is Dr. Parker. It is Dr. Parker who is responsible for keeping things running so smoothly. Optics is his major field but seldom is there a question in any field he can’t answer. Among Dr. Parker’s confreres is Dr. Heller, a soft-spoken gentleman with the phenomenal ability to recall any student ' s name after having met him only once. In addition, Dr. Heller is an excellent enter¬ tainer and a fine sport as he proves each year at the Tech Carnival. The first year students also meet Profes¬ sor Morton, a big easy-going instructor with a ready sense of humor, who can make any problem seem easy as he does it in his head. Prof. Morton is the instructor who invented “guesstimate” as utilized in Physics, and it was he who told us to reply to any ques¬ tion that a Physics Professor might ask with the invariably correct answer of “square and add.” Another member of this illustrious de¬ partment is young Dr. Hildebrand, who looks more like one of the students than a brilliant physicist with a Ph.D. His I’m sorry but the boiling point is quite evidently 212.002° F and not 212.00°F. I 12

Page 15 text:

Dean Downing, Dean of Admissions and of Students Dean Hollows, Assistayit Dean of Admissions and of Students

Page 17 text:

pupils will always remember him as the man who could derive any simple formula by using such complicated integration that his students soon wished they had stayed in high school. Undoubtedly the most colorful instruc¬ tor in the department is Professor Mayer, the nattily dressed little fellow in the double-breasted suit who always shocks his drowsy students by starting every lec¬ ture with a booming “Good Morning, Gen¬ tlemen!” Prof. Mayer is marked by his tendency to hammer on the wall of a recita¬ tion room with his fist until Salisbury Labor¬ atories tremble, as he tries to drive a diffi¬ cult point into his students’ heads. A pipe-smoker is Professor Granath, who intersperses Fx = 0, and E = IR with the latest developments in sports cars, fire¬ arms or any other subject of current inter¬ est. However, few but Junior physicists realize Prof. Granath’s wide background in experimental Physics. Other men who keep the Freshmen, Sophomores and those lucky Juniors and Seniors who elected Physics on their toes and up late at night are Professors Howe, Johnson, Allen, Freiser, and Walker. Front row, left to right: Dr. B. Hildebrand, Dr. R. Heller, Dr. A. E. Parker, Prof. K. L. Mayer, Prof. R. F. Morton. Back row: Grad. Asst. H. S. Sauer, Prof. M. Freiser, Prof. J. C. Johnson, Dr. L. P. Granath, Prof. R. B. Allen. Checking the theory Proof that passing Physics is possible stands 6 ' 2 in the person of George Ramig and in Harold Sauer, recent Tech gradu¬ ates and now graduate assistants. Never to be forgotten is Eddie Anderson, lab assistant. In an experiment to prove that two bodies fall at the same rate no matter what their size, Eddie standing on top of a ladder with two bells in his hands was ordered to “Drop your bells, Edvin.” Well so it goes. There were moments of fun and moments of despair; but as the Seniors finally graduate they are few in¬ deed who do not take their hats off to the men of Salisbury.