Physics and Astronomy
Radiations
September 30 - October 6, 1998
September 30 - October 6, 1998
|
noon-1:00 p.m. Commercial Tea Room
|
Physics Table: Physics/Astronomy Table offers a great way to get
to know students, faculty, and staff in the department in an informal
setting. This term we will meet on Wednesdays, from noon - 1:00 p.m. for lunch
in the Commercial Tea Room. Meet on 3rd Olin at 11:50 a.m. for the walk to the
CTR or join us there at noon. Everyone is welcome!
|
|
3:10 - 4:20 p.m. Olin 141
|
Chesley Lecturer: Prof. Lawrence Krauss will talk about "The
Beginning and the End of the Universe." See below for details.
|
|
7:30-9:00 p.m. Olin 04
|
Chesley Lecturer: Prof. Lawrence Krauss will talk about "Life, the
Universe and Nothing: The Case for a Cosmological Constant." See below for
details.
|
|
8:30-11:00 a.m. Olin 202
|
Donuts and Office Hours: Continental breakfast followed by office hours
with Chesley Lecturer Lawrence Krauss. Drop by to chat.
|
|
8:00-9:30 p.m. Concert Hall
|
Chesley Lecturer: Prof. Lawrence Krauss will give the
Chesley Lecture, "The Physics of Star Trek." See below for details.
|
|
10:50-11:50 a.m. Concert Hall
|
Chesley Convo: Prof. Lawrence Krauss is today's convo speaker,
talking about "Sense, Nonsense and Non-Science: From Aliens to Creationism."
See below for details.
|
|
2:20-3:20 p.m. Olin 149
|
Chesley Lecturer: "Beyond Star Trek: Discussion with Lawrence Krauss."
This discussion will be for the Astro 110 class and others who are interested.
See below for details.
|
Cosmologist Lawrence Krauss Visiting: Prof. Lawrence Krauss is one of the most distinguished and entertaining scientists and science writers at work today. His national bestseller, The Physics of Star Trek, has taught readers what might happen if we could get "beamed up;" what, precisely, is anti-matter; and why the Starship Enterprise needs it. Krauss has a mind possessed of a kind of eclectic, protean, and fierce intelligence combined with a razor sharp wit. He has been called the successor to Carl Sagan--they share an erudition about the world of science and the infectious enthusiasm and literary gifts to pass that enthusiasm along. Don't miss this opportunity to hear Prof. Krauss at the several lectures he'll be giving this week, or to chat with him during his office hours on Thursday morning.
New departmental handbook available: Get the latest on major requirements and curriculum changes. Feel free to stop by Rebecca's office for a copy, or check it out on our web site (http://physics.carleton.edu).
IA State Visitor: Nancy Knight of Iowa State University will be on campus on Monday October 12th to discuss their graduate school program. Students interested in physics/astro or electrical or computer engineering graduate school are encouraged to drop by the student lounge on the second floor of Olin sometime from 11:00 - 12:00, Monday, October 12th.
Materials Science Open House: The University of Minnesota is sponsoring an open house in their Materials Science department on Saturday October 17. Many of us, although getting formal training in a classical physics department, end up spending our research lives investigating materials structures, properties, and behaviors. The U is sponsoring the open house to allow students a chance to see what a focused research effort in a variety of sub-fields looks like: polymers, molecular beam epitaxy, scanning force microscopy, fuel cells, organic conduction, bioartificial tissues, ceramics, electron microscopy, and computational materials science. Since he's so fond of the department, Eric is offering to drive for any who might be interested in a field trip to the U to check it out. (He assures you it would be a cool experience, but may be a bit biased...) Jot him a note by Oct. 5 if you are interested, or would like more info.
GRE Practice: Are you taking the Physics GRE this year? We're working through some old GRE exams and getting together to discuss problems, approaches, etc. Our schedule is:
Wednesday, Oct. 7: E&M problems
Wednesday, Oct. 14: quantum and atomic problems
Wednesday, Oct. 21: optics, classical waves and thermo problems
Wednesday, Oct. 28: relativity, lab methods and misc. problems
All meetings will be at 4:30 in the student lounge.
Each day we'll discuss problems from the second and third exams printed in the GRE practice test book (available in the student lounge). Please come to all or some of the meetings. If you have any questions, talk to Kevin Pettit.
Computer Clean-up: This Saturday, as part of the process of the upkeep of the department computers, the local hard drives on our computers will be restored to their original conditions. If you want to save any files that you have stored on the local drives, please move those files to an appropriate folder on Michelson or Morley, or to your Fabio account, or to a floppy disk.