The Institute for Physical Science and Technology (IPST) at the University of Maryland is known for its broad scientific vision and its role as incubator of new research directions. IPST is home to prominent scientists whose work is on the forefront of scientific innovation, even though it cannot be assigned neatly to a traditional discipline.

IPST was established in 1976 as a merger of the Institute for Fluid Dynamics and Applied Mathematics (IFDAM) and the Institute for Molecular Physics (IMP). Both Institutes were established shortly after World War II because the Navy was interested in supporting research in fluid dynamics and applied mathematics (IFDAM) and high-pressure physics and engineering (IMP). IFDAM was established in 1949 with Monroe Martin as the first director. IMP was established in 1952 with Antonius M.J.F. Michels from the University of Amsterdam as first director. Early faculty members recruited for IFDAM included Shih-I Pai (1949-96) and Johannes M. Burgers (1955-81) in the area of fluid dynamics, and Elliott Montroll (1951-60, 1981-83) in the area of applied statistical mechanics.

Autobiographical Notes of Johannes M. Burgers. Published in JMBC 15 years. © J.M. Burgerscentrum, Research School for Fluid Mechanics, The Netherlands. Reproduced with permission. For a brief introduction to this autobiography, please see the related article on page 7 of the March 2010 issue of the IPST newsletter written by Jan V. Sengers.

Second set of autobiographical notes of Johannes M. Burgers. Published in JMBC 2013-2014 Annual Report © J.M. Burgerscentrum, Research School of Fluid Mechanics, The Netherlands. Reproduced with permission. Work by Jan V. Sengers and G. Ooms (JMBC).

Elliott W. Montroll, as narrated by Michael Shlesinger.

"IFDAM became the origin of major research programs in meteorology culminating in the establishment of a Department of Atmospheric and Ocean Science at the University of Maryland", an account narrated by Alan Faller.

Interview with Michael E. Fisher by José M. Ortiz de Zárate, in Europhysics News Vol. 42, No. 1, 2011.

Presentation given on the Eighteenth Annual Shih-I Pai Lecture and Sixtieth Anniversary of the Institute for Physical Science and Technology on October 2, 2012, by Distinguished University Professor James A. Yorke.

Article on Langdon T. Crane Jr., an IFDAM Director from September 1st, 1969 to 1974, and his perspectives on research at the University of Maryland.

History of the Institute for Molecular Physics, by Jan V. Sengers.

Fiftieth Anniversary (1949-1999), by Ruth E. Kastner, with revisions by Michael A. Coplan.

Jan Burgers and the University of Maryland, work by Jan V. Sengers and G. Ooms, 2016.