The College of Sciences at San Diego State University was officially established in 1931. Over the years, the technology and tools used for the College’s joint missions of teaching and creating new knowledge have advanced significantly.
1915: A student enrolled in the San Diego Normal School looks through a telescope with a six-inch objective lens. It was donated to be used by professor William Skilling on the Normal School’s campus, before the Department of Astronomy was established. Photo Credit: SDSU Library Archives
At left, 1950s: Professor Clifford Smith operates a planetarium projector. This is the Spitz dodecahedron model, with flat pentagonal panels that were easier to manufacture compared to spherical panels. Photo Credit: SDSU Library Archives
Above, 2013: Professors Jerome Orosz (left) and Bill Welsh stand with the Spitz A3P planetarium projector while promoting their discovery of planets that orbit two suns. The spherical shape is an improvement over the dodecahedron and is capable of projecting between 1500 and 6000 stars, depending on the setup. Photo Credit: Charlie Neuman, San Diego Union Tribune
1903: San Diego Normal School students gather around a human skeleton adorned with a cap, glasses and cloak. Photo Credit: SDSU Library Archives
2022: SDSU biology students identify similarities and differences between skulls of cetaceans – whales, dolphins and porpoises. Several of the skulls are replicas, made of resin, that are less delicate to handle.
1903: Several students and an instructor use microscopes in the biology laboratory at the Normal School
Photo Credit: SDSU Library Archives
2021: An SDSU student shows a high schooler a pollen sample using an electron microscope.
1905: Famed educator Maria Montessori (center in black) visits with Normal School students
Photo Credit: SDSU Library Archives
1965: John D Schopp, astronomy professor, directs high school science teachers in analyzing gas through displacement of lines in a spectroscope. Students measure the emission of neon, argon, and helium gas. Photo Credit: SDSU Library Archives
2022: Chemistry education researchers eat a meal together during the American Chemical Society spring conference. Photo Credit: Dr. Regis Komperda
1898: Physics class in the Normal School temporary location at the Hill Block Building in Downtown San Diego. Teacher Jesse Burks stands in the back. Photo Credit: SDSU Library Archives
2022: Physics assistant professor Rodrigo Navarro Perez assists students in solving a physics problem at the whiteboard
1948: A temporary chemistry building, located at the site of the present Life Sciences North building Photo Credit: SDSU Library Archives
2022: Chemical Sciences Laboratory building on San Diego State University’s mesa campus, housing chemistry and geological sciences labs
