Public Art at Williams Wave Machine, 1975 Fielding Brown
(American, b. 1924) steel, aluminum, and hardwood with
electrical drive Drive by Hugh Kirkpatrick. Termination by Bryce
Babcock. Photo by Megan Cross Long misidentified by admissions
tour guides as a giant strand of DNA (shame on them…as it isn’t
even a double helix), the sculpture that hangs in the main
stairwell of the Bronfman science building, as a large scale
torsion wave machine, is both an interactive science
demonstration and a work of art. Designed by Fielding Brown,
professor of Physics emeritus, the sculpture dates from around
1971 when Brown’s daughter, a Mt Greylock High School senior at
the time, was auditing his introductory course in physics and
saw a torsion wave machine demo. She suggested to her father
that he should design one for Bronfman. With the help of staff
members Joe McCann, Hugh Kirkpatrick, and Bryce Babcock, Brown
created the sculpture as a way for physics students to engage in
experimentation. By twirling the knob and obs