A word of warning: this is a totally unofficial, unorganized newsletter. We take no responsibility for anything we say or do, or that anyone else claims that we said or did. This newsletter was put together because there is a bunch of info in which we think you will be interested. It looks like Kathleen will be the editor of this newsletter, so if you have any articles (short or long) to submit, give them to her. An attempt will be made to compile a newsletter every other week. Articles need to be given to Kathleen at least one "school day" before an issue is due out. Next issue: ~October 24th. Notice the new name? Catchy, huh?
PHYSICS MAJORS MEETING: We had our first meeting on Wednesday, October 5 at which we discussed possible plans for the Physics Club.
Our second meeting was Wednesday, October 12. Kathleen is checking on our status as a Society of Physics Students (SPS) chapter. Andrei and Dan are working on two lab tours/presentations. A student in each physics major class will be collecting e-mail addresses. We discussed the possibility of staffing the Reading Room in the evenings - please let William know if you would be willing to do this for a couple of hours each week. William is looking into having a pizza and video party...stay tuned!
The next meeting is Wednesday, October 19 at 5:00 pm. Contact William or Kathleen if you are interested, but cannot be there.
$50 TECH FEE!?!?!: Room 112 WIL is now staffed on Monday through Friday from 5 to 8 pm for student use. This room has about 15 X-terminals and Sean will be happy to help you use them. There is no printer, but a reliable rumor source says that they are in the process of acquiring one. Also, the UO Library and Computing Center are offering workshops on a variety of Internet topics. They are FREE! More info and a complete list will be posted on the reading room bulletin board. Pre-registration is required. Call 346-3078 or e-mail libinst@oregon. FLASH...Apparently, all these classes are full - check anyway and ask for more. The Physics Club might try to have its own Internet workshop...this will be brought up at the Oct. 19 meeting.
PHYSICS READING ROOM: There is now a bulletin board in the room, so check there for Physics Club info and other material of interest.
ELECTRONIC UNIVERSE: William is still looking for people to help create physics problems on Mosaic. You will learn about HTML and LaTEX, plus a bunch of other useful computer stuff. If you want to be a construction worker on the information highway, contact William (see below).
HELP!: Don't forget....Matt Paduano (grad student, WIL 43) has invited any Physics major to drop by for help at any time. He is really interested in helping us and likes to talk about physics. What a great guy!
By Daniel J. Arguedas (Physics UG)
In life there are many things that define an individual; among them are one's culture, ethnicity, personality, work, studies, and relationships with others. It seems, however, that throughout the years society has portrayed the scientist as lacking in the last of the above traits. Most people studying science have probably at one time or another heard the stereotyping of scientists as "geeky" or basically lacking in any skills outside of their particular discipline. On campus that attitude gets exemplified when people do not understand or appreciate science, and therefore ignorantly move to condemn it. Thus, it was very refreshing when a series of recent articles appeared in Physics Today that portrayed a generally unknown side of popular physics icon Albert Einstein... Many know of Einstein's nonscientific pursuits; violin, philosophical debate, governmental policy, and pacifism, but what of his personal life?
Gerald Holton, physicist and historian at Harvard University, attempts to answer this question in a two part series, which presents the early carreers of both Einstein and his first wife (who also studied physics) Mileva Maric. The story did not center around the couple's discussions of the "electrodynamics of moving bodies" (a term Einstein chose to call his research at the youthful age of twenty) however, but rather on their romantic interests in each other. (Holton p. 26). This of course brings to life a side of Einstein rarely mentioned in books and scientific journals; one filled with passion and love.
Through the study of old letters that Einstein and Maric wrote, Holton illustrates that although these two were deeply into their science, they were also excited about the newness and romance that their young relationship held. The couple struggled against over concerned family members and long separations in a courageous act of love. Holton captured all this excitement by presenting and emulating Einstein and Maric's correspondence during both times of happiness and sorrow. He even discussed the loss of their first and generally unknown child, Lieserl, who the couple kept a secret due to the fact that the birth occurred out of wedlock. Holton also went into the popular debate by historians as to how much, if any, did Maric contribute to Einstein's popular paper on special relativity. He portrayed Maric's struggle against the sexist European system of education with vigor too, for she is considered to be one of the "foremothers" of women in science. This just lists a few of the things that Holton inv
To some scientists this intriguing article may merely appear as a novelty, but in retrospect it presents the importance of human interaction to the development of science and the men and women who contribute to its evolution. The world is wide, and the physics one studies is only a single aspect of one's personality. Holton's articles showed that the growth of Einstein's best thinking occurred during his early relationship with Maric, and even alluded to the fact that it was this relationship that made his imaginative and revolutionary thinking possible. Other authors have speculated this too, and not only limited it to Einstein, but others like Erwin Schrdinger, who also had young love affairs at the formative time of his most critical work. Holton in no way suggests that scientists need an energetic romance in order to contribute to the evolution of science, but simply wanted people to see what effect that aspect had in Einstein's life, as well as Maric's.
Sources Holton, Gerald. "Of Love, Physics and Other Passions: the Letters of Albert and Mileva" (Parts 1 & 2). Physics Today August 1994 Part 1 & September 1994: pp. 23-29 & pp. 37-43 respectively.
Note: These articles are available in the Physics Reading Room or the Science Library.
PHYSICS CLUB/NEWSLETTER CONTACT INFO:
Kathleen: bossy@moo.uoregon.edu WIL 109, 346-4757
William: william@moo.uoregon.edu WIL 109, 346-4757