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Department of Physics

The Cavendish Laboratory
 

The publication of this second edition of "A Hundred Years of Cambridge Physics" was encouraged by two factors. Firstly, the enthusiastic response to the first edition, both from within the Cavendish and from elsewhere; and secondly that, since copies of the first edition were exhausted, two "generations" of the undergraduates at whom the booklet was primarily aimed have spent their three years at the Cavendish. So the appearance of a new edition might well be considered overdue.

We are fortunate to have been able to include a number of new photographs, and in particular a new article by the Cavendish Professor, Sir Brian Pippard, about the Laboratory today. This article gives an insight into modern-day life at the Cavendish, and describes some of the thought which went into the design of the new buildings in West Cambridge. The greater proportion of the second edition is, however, made up from the material of the first, and for this we are most grateful to all those who were involved in its production. We also gratefully acknowledge the financial assistance given by the Cavendish Laboratory in the production of this booklet. A full account of the formal history of the Cavendish can now be found elsewhere; it is hoped that this record of the informal history, the internal life, of the Laboratory will continue to be of interest.

James Parker
King's College, Cambridge
November 1980