Katherine Sopka (born Katherine J. Russell) was a science interviewer, physics professor and historian of physics. She is known for her interviews held with leading scientists,Katherine Sopka plumbed physics history, www.boston.com and for work on the history of quantum physics and the physics community in the U.S. in the 1920s and 1930s.

Life Katherine was born fourth of six children in Dorchester, Boston, and attended Girl's Latin School in Boston. She studied at Radcliffe College, where she obtained her bachelor's degree in physics.

She married John J. Sopka in 1943, and the couple subsequently moved to Dayton, Ohio, where her husband worked with the Manhattan Project until the end of the war. They both intended to complete their graduate degrees and returned to Harvard, where Katherine earned her master's degree in physics and John his Ph.D. in mathematics.Katherine J. Sopka, 88, obituary, eagletribune.com, August 3, 2009 (downloaded 22 March 2012)

Sopka taught physics at Newark State Teachers College and later at the University of Colorado at Boulder (CU). There she worked with Frank Oppenheimer and David Hawkins on developing a curriculum for physics instruction in relation to a project of the Physical Science Study Committee.

Under the supervision of Gerald Holton in the History of Science Department of Harvard University, she studied the theoretical physics community in the U.S. and its dependence on the European physics community of the 1920s. She obtained her Ph.D. in history of science and education at Harvard University in 1976 with her dissertation entitled Quantum Physics in America: 1920–1935.Gerald Holton: The Advancement of Science, and Its Burdens, Harvard Univ Press, 30. Oktober 1998, , p. 128Albert E. Moyer: American Physics in Transition: A History of Conceptual Change in the Late Nineteenth Century: 3, , p. xx

She actively worked on physics curriculum development, participating in the Harvard Project Physics.Gerald Holton: , The Origin of Project Physics, Science Education encore (downloaded 25 March 2012) She interviewed noted scientists and worked as editor for the American Institute of Physics books series History of Modern Physics.Katherine J. Sopka, 88, eagletribune.com (downloaded 22 March 2012)

She died on 30 July 2009 in Salem, Massachusetts.

Oral history transcripts Sopka recorded her interviews, which became part of physics' oral history. They are archived with the Niels Bohr Library & Archives of the Center for History of Physics, American Institute of Physics, College Park, MD USA.

In 1979 she spoke with Mildred Allen.Interview with Dr. Mildred Allen on June 18, 1979. Transcript Alice Armstrong,Interview with Dr. Alice Armstrong at Wellesley, MA, on June 11, 1979. Transcript Dorothy Heyworth,Interview with Dr. Dorothy Heyworth in Wellesley, Massachusetts, March 14, 1979. Transcript

In 1978, she interviewed Lucy WilsonInterview with Dr. Lucy Wilson at Miss Wilson’s home, Wellesley, Mass., on December 6, 1978. TranscriptInterview with Dr. Lucy Wilson at Miss Wilson’s home, Wellesley, Mass., October 4, 1978 Transcript and Dorothy WeeksInterview with Dr. Dorothy Weeks at Wellesley, Massachusetts, on July 19, 1978. Transcript

In 1977 her subjects included Melba Phillips,Interview with Dr. Melba Phillips on December 5, 1977. Transcript Janet Guernsey,Interview with Dr. Janet Guernsey at New Science Center, Wellesley College on June 29, 1977. Transcript Edward Purcell,Interview with Dr. Edward Purcell at Lyman Laboratory of Physics, Harvard University Cambridge, Massachusetts, on June 14, 1977. TranscriptInterview with Dr. Edward Purcell at Lyman Laboratory of Physics, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, on June 8, 1977. Transcript Nicolaas Bloembergen,Interview with Professor Nicholaas Bloembergen [sic] at Pierce Hall, Harvard University Physics Department, on March 22, 1977. Transcript Kenneth T. Bainbridge,Interview with Dr. Kenneth T. Bainbridge at Harvard University on March 23, 1977. TranscriptInterview with Dr. Kenneth T. Bainbridge at Sopka’s Office, Lyman Laboratory of Physics, on March 16, 1977. Transcript John H. Van Vleck,Interview with John H. Van Vleck at Lyman Laboratory of Physics on 28 January 1977. Transcript Sidney Coleman,Interview with Dr. Sidney Coleman at Harvard Physics Department, Cambridge, Massachusetts, on January 18, 1977. Transcript and Gerald HoltonInterview with Dr. Gerald Holton at Harvard Physics Department on January 11, 1977. Transcript

In 1976 she talked with Sheldon Glashow,Interview with Dr. Sheldon Glashow at the Lyman Laboratory on December 7, 1976. Transcript Norman Ramsey,Interview with Dr. Norman Ramsey at Lyman Laboratory, Harvard University, MA, on November 23, 1976. Transcript Jabez Curry Street,Interview with Dr. Jabez Curry Street at the Jefferson Physical Laboratory on November 22, 1976. Transcript and Edwin Kemble.Interview with Dr. Edwin Kemble at Harvard Physics Department, Cambridge, MA, on November 18, 1976. Transcript

Publications

Books Katherine Russell Sopka: Quantum physics in America: the years through 1935, Thomash Publishers, 1988, Katherine Russell Sopka (ed.): Physics for a new century: papers presented at the 1904 St. Louis congress, Tomash Publishers, 1986, Katherine Russell Sopka: Making contributions: an historical overview of women's role in physics, American Association of Physics Teachers, 1984, Dorothy Weeks, Katherine Russell Sopka: Dorothy Weeks: transcript of an interview taken on a tape recorder on 19 July 1978, Center for History of Physics, American Institute of Physics, 1978 Katherine Sopka: Quantum Physics in America: 1920–1935 (Doctoral Dissertation, Harvard University, 1976). New York: American Institute of Physics and Tomash Publishers (Book review by David C. Cassidy, The British Journal for the History of Science, 1982, 15, pp. 202–204) Katherine Sopka: Survey of the physical sciences: PHYS4005, Independent Study Div., New York Institute of Technology, 1973

Articles and book chapters (selection) Katherine R. Sopka, Elisabeth M. Sopka, The Bonebreak Theological Seminary: Top-Secret Manhattan Project Site, Physics in Perspective (PIP), Springer, Volume 12, Number 3, pp. 338–349, DOI: 10.1007/s00016-010-0019-4, 2000 (abstract) Eli Maor, Katherine R. Sopka: The story of e: e the story of a number, The Physics Teacher, Volume 33, Issue 8, pp. 540, DOI 10.1119/1.2344290, 1995 Katherine R. Sopka: A man for our time, The Physics Teacher, Volume 24, Issue 3, pp. 188, DOI 10.1119/1.2341980, 1986 Katherine R. Sopka: A good story, The Physics Teacher, Volume 23, Issue 4, pp. 252–253, DOI: 10.1119/1.2341805, 1985 Katherine R. Sopka: Three years of Joseph Henry, The Physics Teacher, Volume 25, Issue 4, pp. 254, 10.1119/1.2342239, 1987 Katherine R. Sopka: Particles or waves?, The Physics Teacher, Volume 22, Issue 5, pp. 336, DOI 10.1119/1.2341564, 1984 Gerald Holton, Katherine Sopka: Great books of science in the twentieth century: physics. In: Mortimer J. Adler, John Van Doren (eds.): The Great Ideas Today, pp. 224 ff., 1979 Katherine Sopka: An apostle of science visits America: John Tyndall's journey of 1872–1873, The Physics Teacher, Volume 10, Issue 7, pp. 369–375, 1972 ( abstract) Katherine J. Sopka: A real enough cleavage, Physics Today, Volume 21, Issue 7, Letters, p. 9, DOI 10.1063/1.3035089, 1968

Biographies Katherine R. Sopka: Biography of Percy Williams Bridgman, Hanneby.com Katherine R. Sopka: Biography of Annie Jump Cannon, Hanneby.com

References

External links Katherine J. Sopka, SalemNews.com Katherine Sopka plumbed physics history, Obituary, August 11, 2009, Boston Globe, www.boston.com