Sixty five people attended the October 15-16, 1993  reunion of the Resonance Group, those faculty and students who worked in atomic, molecular, optical, and condensed matter physics in the years following 1950.  This had been originally conceived as a gathering of those who had worked with Peter Franken and Dick Sands back in the days when real scientists built their own circuits and their own vacuum systems, and when they didn’t need computers to do integrals, plot data, and write papers.   However, plans expanded to include alumni of the g-factor group and those doing related theory.

People at the Resonance Group Reunion, Set 1 — click on image for slide show  (JCZ photos)

Among reminiscences of work, classes, practical jokes, Peter Franken’s nickel bets, and other adventures, there were also talks on the development of science in our lab.  For example Bob Lewis described how his early work on angular correlations in nuclear decay led to the theory behind level crossing spectroscopy (link here).  Other speakers included Peter Franken, Dick Sands,  Mike Sanders, Jens Zorn, and Gabi Weinreich.    No matter the topic, all the speakers  recalled the special relationships that flourished in the late 1950’s  and for two decades thereafter.  Weinreich gave the concluding talk of the reunion (link here), saying “Humor and research are actually very similar entities.  Looking for the unexpected twist that clicks, and which everyone else knows clicks too.   Remember the story of the Cheshire Cat in Alice in Wonderland?  The Cheshire Cat sat on a branch, with a smile, and as the situation developed the Cheshire Cat disappeared more and more..  That’s research, it seems to me, to start with a cat and find the smile”

People at the Resonance Group Reunion, Set 2 (JCZ photos)

People at the Resonance Group Reunion, Set 3 (JCZ photos)

People at the Resonance Group Reunion, Set 4 (JCZ photos)