Category: Education

Semi-Competent Astrophotography and Sidereal Days

PowerPoint slide on the difference between solar and sidereal days.

I’m teaching my “Brief History of Timekeeping” class again this term, and as always, I’m tweaking things a bit. This is one of our “Sophomore Research Seminar” courses, intended to introduce students to academic research, so it’s not specifically a physics class, but I’m choosing to take the statements about research outside the student’s field… Continue reading Semi-Competent Astrophotography and Sidereal Days

Some Follow-Up on Teaching

Yesterday’s Open Letter to Neil deGrasse Tyson struck a chord with a lot of people, and has spread a good distance on social media, which is gratifying. Given the delocalized nature of modern social media, though, it means I’m having essentially the same argument in five different places via different platforms. In the interest of… Continue reading Some Follow-Up on Teaching

An Open Letter to Neil deGrasse Tyson

Dr. Tyson: (I find the faux-familiar thing people do with “open letters” really grating, so I’m not going to presume to call you “Neil” through the following…) First of all, I should probably say “Thanks,” because I’m using some of your material in my class this term– I had them read Stick in the Mud… Continue reading An Open Letter to Neil deGrasse Tyson

PNAS: Steven Olson, Semiconductor Engineer

Steven Olson, under a big tree.

I’ve decided to do a new round of profiles in the Project for Non-Academic Science (acronym deliberately chosen to coincide with a journal), as a way of getting a little more information out there to students studying in STEM fields who will likely end up with jobs off the “standard” academic science track. Ninth in… Continue reading PNAS: Steven Olson, Semiconductor Engineer

PNAS: Grant Goodyear, Oil Industry Nuclear Physicist

Grant Goodyear, theoretical chemist turned nuclear oil explorer.

I’ve decided to do a new round of profiles in the Project for Non-Academic Science (acronym deliberately chosen to coincide with a journal), as a way of getting a little more information out there to students studying in STEM fields who will likely end up with jobs off the “standard” academic science track. Eighth in… Continue reading PNAS: Grant Goodyear, Oil Industry Nuclear Physicist

PNAS: Dr. Richard Meidell, Neonatologist

Dr. Richard Meidell driving with his dog, Riley.

I’ve decided to do a new round of profiles in the Project for Non-Academic Science (acronym deliberately chosen to coincide with a journal), as a way of getting a little more information out there to students studying in STEM fields who will likely end up with jobs off the “standard” academic science track. Seventh in… Continue reading PNAS: Dr. Richard Meidell, Neonatologist

PNAS: Fran Poodry, Educational Technology Specialist

I’ve decided to do a new round of profiles in the Project for Non-Academic Science (acronym deliberately chosen to coincide with a journal), as a way of getting a little more information out there to students studying in STEM fields who will likely end up with jobs off the “standard” academic science track. Third in… Continue reading PNAS: Fran Poodry, Educational Technology Specialist

PNAS: Bob Cross, Naval Computer Scientist

I’ve decided to do a new round of profiles in the Project for Non-Academic Science (acronym deliberately chosen to coincide with a journal), as a way of getting a little more information out there to students studying in STEM fields who will likely end up with jobs off the “standard” academic science track. Second in… Continue reading PNAS: Bob Cross, Naval Computer Scientist

Entangled States at TED-Ed

Screen shot from the TED-Ed video on entangled state.

The fourth video I wrote for TED-Ed is now live: Einstein’s Brilliant Mistake: Entangled States. The title is not just an Elvis Costello reference, but gets at the fact that while the Einstein, Podolsky, and Rosen paper was wrong in that the local hidden variable theories they favored are impossible, it turned out to be… Continue reading Entangled States at TED-Ed