Dartmouth Now reports that Wilder Laboratory has been added to the American Physical Society’s list of historic sites. More than 110 years ago, Ernest Fox Nichols and Gordon Ferrie Hull conducted experiments in the building to measure the pressure of light. Their work will be the subject of a symposium during October.

The building’s history certainly deserves recognition. One hopes, however, that Dartmouth isn’t actually planning to alter Wilder’s historic and “largely unchanged” front facade by bolting a commemorative plaque to it, as is suggested by the Dartmouth Now article. Perhaps a freestanding granite monument or an interior wall would be the most respectful place for the plaque.