Dr. Priscilla Laws, AtariLab

AtariLab was a hardware and software package for the Atari 400 and 800 computers. The AtariLab Starter Set with Temperature Module was released in 1983. The Light Module add-on was released in February 1984.

AtariLab was developed at Dickinson College under the direction of physics professor, Dr. Priscilla Laws. Dr. Laws joined the faculty at Dickinson in 1965. She has dedicated herself to the development of activity-based curricular materials and computer software to enhance student learning in introductory physics courses — which started with AtariLab.

This interview took place May 14, 2015

Teaser quotes:

“I saw somebody dip a thermistor into cold water — ice water — and a real-time cooling curve was appearing on the screen. And it blew me away.”

“So, Ron said: ‘I watched Ray Kassar open the safe, and he pulled $200,000 in bills out of the safe. He handed it to the woman and he said “Please say no more.”’”

LINKS

Priscilla Laws’ bio

1984 Atari Connection article about AtariLab

Promoting the Diffusion of Undergraduate Science Curriculum Reform: The Activity-Based Physics Suite as an Example by Priscilla Laws