''Terrestrial Physics'' is a

sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

by American artist

Jim Sanborn Jim or JIM may refer to: * Jim (given name), a given name * Jim, a diminutive form of the given name James * Jim, a short form of the given name Jimmy * OPCW-UN Joint Investigative Mechanism * ''Jim'' (comics), a series by Jim Woodring * ''Jim' ...

which includes a full-scale working particle accelerator. It was displayed in the

Museum of Contemporary Art Museum of Contemporary Art (often abbreviated to MCA, MoCA or MOCA) may refer to: Africa * Museum of Contemporary Art (Tangier), Morocco, officially le Galerie d'Art Contemporain Mohamed Drissi Asia East Asia * Museum of Contemporary Art Shangha ...

as part of Denver's

Biennial of the Americas The Biennial of the Americas is an international festival of ideas, art, and culture hosted in Denver, Colorado every two years. According to its website, the Biennial strives to provide a platform for people from across the region to examine ma ...

from June–September 2010.

Sculpture

''Terrestrial Physics'' involves a polished

aluminum Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. It has ...

sphere that is attached to a cylindrical glass tube coupled with rings of

copper Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkis ...

. The sculpture is able to generate a 1 million

volt The volt (symbol: V) is the unit of electric potential, electric potential difference (voltage), and electromotive force in the International System of Units (SI). It is named after the Italian physicist Alessandro Volta (1745–1827). Defi ...

potential difference using a built-in Van de Graaff generator. The work was inspired by what followed from the unexpected report on 26 January 1939 by the physicists Niels Bohr and

Enrico Fermi Enrico Fermi (; 29 September 1901 – 28 November 1954) was an Italian (later naturalized American) physicist and the creator of the world's first nuclear reactor, the Chicago Pile-1. He has been called the "architect of the nuclear age" and ...

, invited speakers at the Fifth Washington Conference on Theoretical Physics, of the discovery of nuclear fission in Berlin by Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassmann and its interpretation by

Lise Meitner Elise Meitner ( , ; 7 November 1878 – 27 October 1968) was an Austrian-Swedish physicist who was one of those responsible for the discovery of the element protactinium and nuclear fission. While working at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute on rad ...

and

Otto Frisch Otto Robert Frisch FRS (1 October 1904 – 22 September 1979) was an Austrian-born British physicist who worked on nuclear physics. With Lise Meitner he advanced the first theoretical explanation of nuclear fission (coining the term) and first ...

.Dahl The Germans had used

thermal neutrons The neutron detection temperature, also called the neutron energy, indicates a free neutron's kinetic energy, usually given in electron volts. The term ''temperature'' is used, since hot, thermal and cold neutrons are moderated in a medium with ...

to cause fission, but at least two U.S. groups realized they could make confirmatory experiments with accelerator neutron sources, and did so within a few days of hearing the news. The experiment at the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism (DTM) of Carnegie Institution of Washington on the night of Saturday 28 January 1939, using their Van de Graaff generator driven accelerator was probably the second U.S. confirmation of the European discovery of nuclear fission. Sanborn, with permission and assistance of DTM, has reproduced the historical Van de Graaff generator used in that experiment.

History

Sanborn stated that the idea for the project came to him by accident while he was working on another of his projects, ''Atomic Time: Pure Science and Seduction''. This was an exhibition/sculpture that was inspired by the science and experiments taking place during the

Manhattan Project The Manhattan Project was a research and development undertaking during World War II that produced the first nuclear weapons. It was led by the United States with the support of the United Kingdom and Canada. From 1942 to 1946, the project w ...

. The exhibition included Sanborn's sculpture ''

Critical Assembly In nuclear engineering, a critical mass is the smallest amount of fissile material needed for a sustained nuclear chain reaction. The critical mass of a fissionable material depends upon its atomic nucleus, nuclear properties (specifically, it ...

'' that was housed in one of the actual components from an

atomic bomb A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions (thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bomb ...

. During the period when he was displaying his work at the

Corcoran Gallery of Art The Corcoran Gallery of Art was an art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, that is now the location of the Corcoran School of the Arts and Design, a part of the George Washington University. Overview The Corcoran School of the Arts & Design ...

in 2003, Sanborn discovered an accelerator and was given permission to copy it. He was also able to obtain some fittings from the item. With the help of a

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...

engineer, Sanborn was then able to achieve a working particle accelerator which could also cause nuclear fission. When asked why he wanted to create this work of art, he stated "There are moments in history that people should be reminded of."

References

Bibliography

* {{italic title Sculptures by Jim Sanborn 2010 sculptures Aluminum sculptures in the United States Copper sculptures in the United States 2010 establishments in Colorado Glass works of art