It is widely recognized that physics has played a major role in the great scientific achievements of the 20th century. To celebrate the 100th anniversary of the establishment of the American Physical Society (APS) in 1999, the APS has commissioned the production of a timeline wall chart depicting the major events and applications of 20th century physics. The timeline wall chart consists of 11 panels, spanning the 20th century and is organized along five (5) timeline strands listing discoveries and contributions of physics to basic knowledge and applied technologies. The five (50) strands include 1) COSMIC: the world of the very large of astronomy and cosmology; 2) HUMAN SCALE: the physical world we live in from the global to the microscopic; 3) ATOMIC: the world of the small, atoms, nuclei, particles, and their constituents; 4) LIVING WORLD: the role of physics in biology and medicine, and 5) TECHNOLOGY: the impact of basic and applied physics and its role in everyday life. The timeline wall chart is written and illustrated so as to be attractive to high school students and non-science college students. As part of the APS Centennial celebration, the APS plans to have 20,000 copies of the timeline wall chart printed and then distributed free of charge to every high school, two- and four-year college and university, as well as other appropriate institutions such as science museums, research laboratories and science libraries in the United States. A teacher's guide to the timeline wall chart will be prepared and distributed with the timeline. In addition, a web site based on timeline wall chart events and illustrations will be developed.
