Communicating Physics
Just as travelers spend a lot of time talking and writing about their adventures, physicists spend a lot of time talking and writing about their experiments and calculations. Some of these communications are intended only to impress the audience (and perhaps argue for more funding). In most cases, though, we’re trying to inspire others to follow after us, giving them enough guidance to get them to the destination without major mishaps, while not providing so much detail that we spoil the excitement of the journey itself. In this talk I’ll describe some of my favorite physics “destinations,” and how I’ve tried to guide others to those destinations through teaching and writing. I’ll also discuss some of the special challenges involved in writing about physics and in publishing one’s writing either on paper or on the internet.