Electrostatic Society of America

Electrostatics Society of America

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In 1970 some thirty individuals working in the field of electrostatic related phenomena were invited by A. D. Moore, Vincent Schaefer and Bernard Vonnegut to attend an informal conference to discuss their various interests. As the result of interest stimulated by this gathering, many of the attendees indicated that they would like to see such meetings continued.

The Electrostatics Society of America was proposed and formally came into existence on August 17, 1970.

Since its formation, the Society has sponsored a series of regular meetings at which papers relating work in many fields of electrostatics have been given. The conference sites have been in both the USA and Canada. A record of previous conference locations is maintained on this Web site.

ESA Constitution

Logo: Kite and Key

In the early years these ESA conferences were intentionally informal in nature so the discussion could be free and spontaneous. To maintain this informality, the speakers were not required to prepare written papers. The Society became informally known as "The Friendly Society" by the membership who attended the Annual Meetings.

In 1994 the ESA extended an invitation to the Institute of Electrostatics Japan (IEJ) to participate in a Joint Meeting. A PROCEEDINGS OF THE ESA-IEJ JOINT SYMPOSIUM ON ELECTROSTATICS was published to commemorate the first Joint Meeting. For information on this and other ESA Proceedings press here.

The publication of the Proceedings of the (first) ESA-IEJ Joint Symposium on Electrostatics was done while still allowing authors the choice of an informal paper (title only), a semi-formal paper (title and abstract but no written text) or a full formal paper (suitable for publication in the Proceedings as well as for submission to a Journal). This kept "The Friendly Society" image while allowing some information to be kept for posterity. This same format of having a published ESA PROCEEDINGS while keeping the conference informal continued during the 1995 ESA Annual Meeting, and is expected to continue in the future.

A NEWSLETTER carrying information of interest to members is published every other month. Any member can contribute electrostatics information to the newsletter and contributions are encouraged. Items of interest should be sent to the Newsletter Editor.

One of the aims of the Society is to advance the quality of science teaching at all educational levels. Accordingly, an award is occasionally made to the SCIENCE TEACHER OF THE YEAR. Nominations for this award can be made by any member of the Society by presenting to the Secretary the record and history of the nominee. The recipient will be selected from those nominated by the AWARDS COMMITTEE.

An ELECTROSTATICS HALL OF FAME has been established by the Society and is maintained at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia to which the Society periodically elects deserving individuals in recognition of their contribution to the knowledge or application of electrostatics. Any ESA member can nominate an individual by contacting the AWARDS COMMITTEE.

The Society also extends cash awards to high school students who have presented at their local Science Fair the best exhibit related to electrostatics. Members are asked to see that these awards are offered to the Science Fair groups in their areas and to cooperate with such groups in the selection of the recipients and the presentation of the awards. These awards are granted by the Awards Committee.

JOINING THE ESA is easy.

Any individual having an interest in electrostatics is eligible for membership in the Electrostatics Society of America and is cordially invited to join. Dues are $20 per year and aapplication may be made by submitting a check or money order (no cash or Credit Cards accepted) to the SECRETARY-TREASURER. Include your return address. If possible, also include other information such as your phone, fax and e-mail numbers.