What Physicists Do
Physics 123 Spring 2018
(First 5 weeks) Fridays, 6a (3:30-4:30), Olin 141 1 Credit; S/CR/NC
The Department of Physics and Astronomy is pleased to announce this year’s Physics 123 Line-up. “What Physicists Do” is our annual series of five lectures by invited speakers, many of whom are Carleton Physics alumni. It is intended to introduce students to a broad range of real-world physics and to give some perspective on the kinds of work done by people with a physics background. The course is open to all interested students who have taken PHYS 151; those considering a major in physics are particularly encouraged to enroll.
The presentations are in OLIN 141 on Fridays during 6th period (3:30-4:30pm). The only requirement, beyond attending five talks, is to read an assigned article beforehand and then to submit a short (one page) typed essay afterwards commenting on both the talk and the reading. Speakers will be available for informal discussions over refreshments afterward. Questions: Arjendu Pattanayak, Olin 337, x7166, arjendu@carleton.edu
April 6 Kendra Strode ‘10 “Applied Physics: Solving Tech Support Problems”
I work at the ITS helpdesk at Carleton. How on Earth is that something a physicist would do? It turns out that solving technical problems and solving physics problems have a lot in common – often you just have to change how you think about a problem to get closer to the solution. I’ll share some fun tales from tech support, the things I’ve brought from physics to my job (and vice versa – I held this job as a student) and what exactly it is that I want to be when I grow up: happy!