Chen-Pang Yeang

Research interests

My research areas are the history of physics and history of technology of the twentieth century. Specifically, I am interested in how science and engineering have shaped each other at the levels of mathematical structures, physical theories, experiment, instrumentation, and the development of new technology. One ongoing project concerns the history of radio science and technology in 1900-50 and their relationship with atmospheric science. The components of this project include early wave-propagation studies, radio amateurs, the discovery of the ionosphere, and the rise of ionosphere research in atmospheric science. Another project I am doing now is a broad history of noise in sound technology, statistical physics, mathematics of probability, and telecommunications engineering from the late nineteenth to the mid-twentieth century. From this historical research, I also hope to shed light on some current philosophical issues in life, physical, and quantitative social sciences concerning the natures of fluctuations and uncertainties.

Selected publications

• "Scientific fact or engineering specification? The U.S. Navy's experiments on long-range wireless telegraphy circa 1910," Technology and Culture, 45:1 (2004), 1-29.
• "The study of long-distance radio-wave propagation: 1900-1919," Historical Studies in the Physical and Biological Sciences, 33:2 (2003), 369-403.
• "Towards target recognition from SAR imagery using electromagnetics-based signatures," Optical Engineering, 42:7 (2003), 2129-2149 (with C. Cho and J. H. Shapiro).
• "Quantum theory of second-order soliton based on a linearization approximation," Journal of the Optical Society of America B, 16:8 (1999), 1269-1279.
• "Atmospheric effect on microwave polarimetric passive remote sensing of ocean surfaces," Radio Science, 34:2 (1999), 521-537 (with S. H. Yueh, K. H. Ding, and J. A. Kong).
• "Control Technology—electronic signals," and "Radio—continuous waves, alternators, valves," in Colin Hempstead and William Worthington (eds.), Encyclopedia of Twentieth Century Technology, New York: Rutledge, 2004.

Supervisions

• Vivien Hamilton (adviser)
• Michelle Hoffman (dissertation committee)
• Jonathan Turner (exam committee)