A Personal Note

A few days ago, a family friend asked me to make a video for her class of 6th graders explaining what it means to be a physics graduate student, why I chose it, and what I like about it.  That, coupled with the recent election, got me thinking about how I got into physics in the first place.  I took my first physics class in 10th grade, with a wonderful teacher named Ben Bakker.  Something I immediately noticed was that he always seemed to be in awe of the universe.  He would write an equation on the board, step back, and say, "Whew, isn't that beautiful?"

The moment I remember when I really got a clear sense of that beauty was during a lab on projectile motion.  We were given spring-loaded cannons that shot ping-pong balls, and allowed to fire a few times with it pointed horizontally.  Based on the muzzle velocity we measured from that, we determined the angle to fire the ball through a small hoop a distance away.  The ball sailed through the center on the first try.  Even with all the approximations (no air-resistance, limited distance/angle accuracy) the science worked.  To me, that was beautiful, and I've seen so much more since.

Earlier this year, Neil deGrasse Tyson came to speak at the University of Michigan.  His talk was on the value of science to a society.  One of his big examples was that fact that most stars were given Arabic names, because Islamic countries were leaders in science during the middle ages.  In the modern era though, science has been devalued, resulting in the region's decline.

Last night, Tyson was on The Late Show, and encouraged everyone to make an effort to learn and teach for the next four years:

As a scientist, I find the skepticism surrounding issues like climate change deeply troubling.  Even though I have never studied climate science myself, I understand the scientific method, and the vast majority of climate scientists have agreed that there is a causal link between CO2 levels and global temperature.

I hope by writing this blog I can get just a few more people interested in science, and help them understand its value and its beauty.