MadPhysics.com was created as a means to get people excited about science. Established on the eve of the International Year of Physics (2005) and launched in May of that year the site has been growing ever since. Our main features are the experiments that we do. They’re divided between answers to reader-submitted questions, and featured experiments that we cooked up ourselves. We try to make the site accessible on many levels, and we believe that clear diagrams, videos and photographs are an effective way to reach that end. This site isn’t meant to replace a textbook, but instead should serve as motivation to open one. We pick exciting–and often dangerous—experiments to show that the scientific phenomena we read about are everywhere, and they can be both fascinating and beautiful. We hope you enjoy this site, and please let us know how we’re doing; we love to hear from you.

Afrooz Family and Joost ten Lohuis founded Mad Physics while they were classmates at the Atlanta International School.

Afrooz Family is the co-founder and editor of Mad Physics. He is currently a physics student at the University of California, Berkeley where he also does research in atomic physics in the Budker Group. Afrooz is Iranian, but grew up in Atlanta, GA. In his spare time he races on the UC Berkeley cycling team. You can read more about Afrooz and Mad Physics in this article.

Joost ten Lohuis is the co-founder and safety officer of Mad Physics. He is currently an economics student at the Rijksuniversiteit Groningen in the Netherlands. Joost is Dutch, but has lived in Germany and the US before moving back home. In his free time he races on Groningen’s Aegir crew team, and practices his Spanish.