First established in 1960, the College of Physical and Mathematical Sciences celebrates its 50th anniversary this year with an exhibit featuring a T. Rex femur bone and what is believed to be the world’s first electric guitar.

Throughout this semester, D.H. Hill Library is home to an exhibit dedicated to the scientific breakthroughs made by the college since its founding, as well as discoveries made at N.C. State before PAMS was established.

The exhibit, entitled “A Legacy of Discovery: 50 Years of PAMS,” opened just before classes started this semester and is the result of two years of collaboration between the college and the library’s Special Collections Research Center. Steven Townsend, director of communication for PAMS, explained the work that went into setting up the exhibit.

“It was a process of close collaboration,” Townsend said. “My department worked to organize the story and highlight what we wanted to show off, while Special Collections worked to make sure we had the physical objects and most of the photos to bring that story to life.”

One part of the exhibit is a display containing the world’s first true electric guitars, designed at NCSU by physics professor William Sidney Wilson. Though predated by several electric string instruments, Wilson’s was the first to provide individual pickup for each string. His invention went on to win the University’s Engineering Fair in 1940.

Unfortunately, Wilson never bothered to patent his invention, and the two models were forgotten about until they were returned to the University sometime between 1965 and 1975. By this point, Gibson and Fender had both adopted the individual string pickup design, obscuring Wilson’s innovation in the field.

The guitars remained in storage in the Department of Physics until the mid-1990s, at which point they were rediscovered in storage by staff. Now, 15 years later, they are on display for the first time.

The items on display show not only the advancements made here at NCSU, but also a picture of how far technology has come over the past decades. One exhibit shows a photograph of one of the University’s first and most primitive computers, bought for $200,000. In comparison are photos of computer labs from the 1980s and today, far more powerful machines that cost much less to acquire.

Also on display are a series of photos displaying the college life aspect of PAMS students throughout the years, showing the importance of the student experience. Photos of the old PAMS softball team and of students simply relaxing in their room show that the experience of college, as much as the research being done, is an important aspect of PAMS.

One of the displays is a large cast of a T. Rex femur bone and was discovered by a team led by one of NCSU’s two paleontologists, Mary Schweitzer. The femur contained preserved soft tissue, bringing a new wealth of information to our understanding of how fossilization works.

Elizabeth Hyde, a sophomore in animal science, said the femur along with other parts of the exhibit impressed her.

“As a science major, it was interesting to see such an important fossil on display here,” Hyde said. “It was amazing to see how many discoveries came out of NCSU.”

The exhibit, which will run throughout the semester until after finals, works with the colleges to display areas of excellence around the University. Lisa Carter, head of the Special Collections Research Center, explained the theme of the exhibit as one of progress.

“The message we wanted to convey with the exhibit was that all innovation is based on the fundamentals, the kind that PAMS works to instill in all of its students. When you start with the fundamentals of scientific research, you can build it into the practical solutions that so many NCSU students have provided,” Carter said.

After 50 years, PAMS continues to be a national leader in innovation and discovery and in 2006 was ranked seventh nationally in total PhD production in mathematical sciences. The exhibit shows off the constant series of breakthroughs made over the course of five decades.

“One of the biggest goals of PAMS is solving the world’s biggest challenges,” Townsend said. “Be it issues of food, water or fuel, the college is working constantly to make long-lasting changes for the planet.”