In 1998 Georgia State University physicist Rod Nave launched a simple website called HyperPhysics to help science education graduates teach physics. He did not expect his creation to become one of the most popular physics sites in the world.
It was the early days of the internet, and Nave hand-coded the site, with its distinctive pink background, in HTML. Simple bubble diagrams link various concepts in physics, allowing the user to trace how ideas including electromagnetism, acoustics, and quantum mechanics are connected. The site begins with a map of 10 broad physics topics. Users can click through to the sections that interest them (such as “sound and hearing”), then delve deeper into the subject via options such as “sound propagation,” “periodic motion,” and so on. For each subject, easy-to-understand images and text explain different facets of physics.
Twenty-five years after its inception, HyperPhysics has been used by tens of millions of people. At 83, Nave, a professor emeritus at the university, continues to update the site and correspond with its visitors around the world. Now he and Georgia State are planning for the time when he hands the site over to others to manage.
To read more, click here.