The conference started off really strongly today. 2005 is the world year of physics because it has been 100 years since Einstein published his 3 groundbreaking papers on relativity theory, the photoelectric effect and Brownian motion. As such there are several events worldwide that honor him, and one of them is this year's PAC. I liked all the opening talks: after the chair and the Governor of Tennessee spoke, it was Ms Cecilia Jarlskog. She is actually inside the Nobel Prize committee, and mentioned a couple of interesting things.
First, she had the most weird slides I have ever seen ever. Handwritten, with flowers and shapes and cute colorful letters everywhere and simple concepts. She said that it takes at least 50 years before the nominations of a Nobel prize are revealed. The way this works is that various people send secret letters to the committee explaining who they think deserves the prize and why. However the winner is determined by the committee and not by the most votes - Henry Poincare got dozens of nominations but Van der Waals won having only 1... Keep in mind that there are positive votes as well as negative.
With regard to Einstein , we saw documents that he was first nominated in 1909 with only one vote for relativity theory - but of course back then the committee couldn't award a prize to a clerk in a patent office! In the next years he kept being nominated each year again and again by more and more people, especially after the proof of his general theory of relativity in 1919. In 1922 he finally won when he got about 20+ nominations and only one guy voted negatively, the winner of the very first Nobel Prize, Mr X-Ray, Conrad Roentgen.
Monday, May 16, 2005
The middle-aged Tennessee lady and the Monty Hall problem
You need to read first the previous post for the adventures of the middle-aged Tennessee lady for this post to make more sense.
In the season finale on Numb3rs last week there was a great example of the skill required to make tough concepts understood to a layman. Charlie is supposed to teach the Monty Hall problem in class "math for non mathematicians", where the students are people that have nothing to do with science (in fact, the lesson did not target them; it targeted the tv audience really). It is quite simple to state the problem: there are 3 closed curtains, behind of which there are 2 goats and 1 car. You select a curtain trying to win the car, and after you do that the all mighty host opens one of the other curtains to reveal a goat. Then he asks, do you want to switch you choice (select the 3rd curtain)?. Or, more importantly, does it matter?
The answer to this problem is not of interest here. What matters is seeing from the point of view of the writer of the TV show Numb3rs: he/she has only 30sec (TV time is expensive) to explain to 20,000,000 people watching the show why the answer is the way it is. It took me a while to understand the answer to this problem myself a few months ago, and in 2 different ways, none of which was simple enough (either draw a chart with all possibilities or use probability theory). However in that show, they managed to explain the mechanics of the answer in just 30seconds indeed, giving very carefully crafted arguments in just 3 sentences. It was the simplest explanation of the Monty Hall I have ever seen. This is the type of explanations we should have in any aspect of science (followed by the exact math details of course) - not the complicated O'Brien type of arguments we usually hear. Watch it if you have time - it's a really good piece of the show.
In the season finale on Numb3rs last week there was a great example of the skill required to make tough concepts understood to a layman. Charlie is supposed to teach the Monty Hall problem in class "math for non mathematicians", where the students are people that have nothing to do with science (in fact, the lesson did not target them; it targeted the tv audience really). It is quite simple to state the problem: there are 3 closed curtains, behind of which there are 2 goats and 1 car. You select a curtain trying to win the car, and after you do that the all mighty host opens one of the other curtains to reveal a goat. Then he asks, do you want to switch you choice (select the 3rd curtain)?. Or, more importantly, does it matter?
The answer to this problem is not of interest here. What matters is seeing from the point of view of the writer of the TV show Numb3rs: he/she has only 30sec (TV time is expensive) to explain to 20,000,000 people watching the show why the answer is the way it is. It took me a while to understand the answer to this problem myself a few months ago, and in 2 different ways, none of which was simple enough (either draw a chart with all possibilities or use probability theory). However in that show, they managed to explain the mechanics of the answer in just 30seconds indeed, giving very carefully crafted arguments in just 3 sentences. It was the simplest explanation of the Monty Hall I have ever seen. This is the type of explanations we should have in any aspect of science (followed by the exact math details of course) - not the complicated O'Brien type of arguments we usually hear. Watch it if you have time - it's a really good piece of the show.
Explain it to the middle aged Tennessee lady
Feynman said that you have really understood something only when you can bring it down to a freshman level - explain it with the simplest possible previous knowledge. However, what happens when you need to explain your research to your grandma?
As I was chatting in this flight with the middle-aged Tennessee couple, they asked me what I was doing exactly. I said "I am working with plasmas, like plasma TVs. However we use plasma for a different purpose". The response was "Oh, what are you doing specifically then?"
I don't know why a 50 year old lady wanted to know how is plasma used outside lights and TVs. But I know for sure that I faced the following situation: This person wasn't even remotely close to a freshman level. She probably didn't have any kind of college knowledge: she was just a housewife from a small town in a southern state. How could I explain to here what a multibunched plasma wakefield accelerator is?
I think that I could do it alright if we had a sufficient amount of time and the ability to make some notes. Then I have the strong belief that I could explain it - step by step, start from the very basics and up to the highest concepts. Just the main idea, not the whole thing of course. But, I didn't have that either. She didn't want a long debate, she needed a short answer, maybe in a couple of sentences that explained what was I doing... And here comes one of the toughest things I have ever faced: how the hell am I supposed to do that? It requires great skill to be able to get a concept from a vague complicated research level down to 1 sentence, a sentence that has to be so accurate, so concise, so clear, so exact and at the same time so simple and well understood that a 50 year old lady from a small town of Tennessee that has never even remotely heard of these things can grasp.
There are some questions that people ask me very often. For example, "How is LA compared to NY?" or "Do you think the people in CA are friendly?" or "What are you going to do after you graduate?". These are questions that require considerable discussions and it's tough to answer them simply. However over the years that I've been here I have answered these questions so many times that now I have narrowed down the answers to 2-3 sentences each - a concise set of arguments that makes sense (although dense in content) and makes people happy as an answer.
Well, eventually I will do the same thing with my research.
As I was chatting in this flight with the middle-aged Tennessee couple, they asked me what I was doing exactly. I said "I am working with plasmas, like plasma TVs. However we use plasma for a different purpose". The response was "Oh, what are you doing specifically then?"
I don't know why a 50 year old lady wanted to know how is plasma used outside lights and TVs. But I know for sure that I faced the following situation: This person wasn't even remotely close to a freshman level. She probably didn't have any kind of college knowledge: she was just a housewife from a small town in a southern state. How could I explain to here what a multibunched plasma wakefield accelerator is?
I think that I could do it alright if we had a sufficient amount of time and the ability to make some notes. Then I have the strong belief that I could explain it - step by step, start from the very basics and up to the highest concepts. Just the main idea, not the whole thing of course. But, I didn't have that either. She didn't want a long debate, she needed a short answer, maybe in a couple of sentences that explained what was I doing... And here comes one of the toughest things I have ever faced: how the hell am I supposed to do that? It requires great skill to be able to get a concept from a vague complicated research level down to 1 sentence, a sentence that has to be so accurate, so concise, so clear, so exact and at the same time so simple and well understood that a 50 year old lady from a small town of Tennessee that has never even remotely heard of these things can grasp.
There are some questions that people ask me very often. For example, "How is LA compared to NY?" or "Do you think the people in CA are friendly?" or "What are you going to do after you graduate?". These are questions that require considerable discussions and it's tough to answer them simply. However over the years that I've been here I have answered these questions so many times that now I have narrowed down the answers to 2-3 sentences each - a concise set of arguments that makes sense (although dense in content) and makes people happy as an answer.
Well, eventually I will do the same thing with my research.
Sunday, May 15, 2005
The South
Some people say that the South United States suck. They consider them people of the countryside (as opposed to the CA-NY city guys). And they would be right.
On the flight from LA to Memphis, TN (Now, TN is one of the weirdest words of mankind: Tennessee. It has 3 double letters. Gee.). I sat next to a middle-aged couple from Chattanooga, TN (only 2 double letters here). Don't ask me why all the places here have weird names guy was a pilot who is also collecting stones (old stones; like 3e8 years old). We had an interesting conversation, out of which I discovered there is actually something to see here in Knoxville. 2 hours south of here lies the biggest underground lake in the US, the Lost Sea. It's inside a cave inside a huge mountain where the first settlers and the Indians used to live when they first came here.
In Memphis you can tell right away that it's the birthplace of Elvis: musical notes on the floors, Elvis CDs, Elvis shirts, Elvis posters, Elvis everything. Seems like an interesting place right next to the Mississippi river (again 3 double letters - what's wrong with TN people?).
On the flight from Memphis to Knoxville, I sat next to a math teacher. She was grading some homeworks for her class, and she seemed quite happy with it. The stewardess observed that I was reading Angels & Demons, and made a couple of comments. She was a very bright girl: she is 21, works 6 days a week as a stewardess and the rest 25 as a waitress, while attending college. Well done.
I don't know exactly why Knoxville looks like a rich place to me. Maybe it's the series of indoor fountains (along with stones and plants) they have at their airport. Maybe it's how clean and neat the streets are. Maybe it's the lack of cars (after LA and NY anything looks empty). Maybe it's the excellent building and planning and feeling of the roads. Maybe it's the luxurious Convention Center where we are going to have the conference tomorrow (PAC). Or maybe it's just me living in South Central LA for too long...
The PAC is what I call a big conference. People waiting for us at the airport, with instructions on how to get to the hotels. The hotel people greeted us warmly and help us very nicely. The restaurant is open later and has extra meals for the conference people. Plus we stay at Holiday Inn, in a huge room with a huge bed, wireless internet and room service with Rib Eye steaks, enjoying a great view of Knoxville by night.
On the flight from LA to Memphis, TN (Now, TN is one of the weirdest words of mankind: Tennessee. It has 3 double letters. Gee.). I sat next to a middle-aged couple from Chattanooga, TN (only 2 double letters here). Don't ask me why all the places here have weird names guy was a pilot who is also collecting stones (old stones; like 3e8 years old). We had an interesting conversation, out of which I discovered there is actually something to see here in Knoxville. 2 hours south of here lies the biggest underground lake in the US, the Lost Sea. It's inside a cave inside a huge mountain where the first settlers and the Indians used to live when they first came here.
In Memphis you can tell right away that it's the birthplace of Elvis: musical notes on the floors, Elvis CDs, Elvis shirts, Elvis posters, Elvis everything. Seems like an interesting place right next to the Mississippi river (again 3 double letters - what's wrong with TN people?).
On the flight from Memphis to Knoxville, I sat next to a math teacher. She was grading some homeworks for her class, and she seemed quite happy with it. The stewardess observed that I was reading Angels & Demons, and made a couple of comments. She was a very bright girl: she is 21, works 6 days a week as a stewardess and the rest 25 as a waitress, while attending college. Well done.
I don't know exactly why Knoxville looks like a rich place to me. Maybe it's the series of indoor fountains (along with stones and plants) they have at their airport. Maybe it's how clean and neat the streets are. Maybe it's the lack of cars (after LA and NY anything looks empty). Maybe it's the excellent building and planning and feeling of the roads. Maybe it's the luxurious Convention Center where we are going to have the conference tomorrow (PAC). Or maybe it's just me living in South Central LA for too long...
The PAC is what I call a big conference. People waiting for us at the airport, with instructions on how to get to the hotels. The hotel people greeted us warmly and help us very nicely. The restaurant is open later and has extra meals for the conference people. Plus we stay at Holiday Inn, in a huge room with a huge bed, wireless internet and room service with Rib Eye steaks, enjoying a great view of Knoxville by night.
Pack for PAC
It's that time of the year again. The classes end, the summer starts, and so do the conferences. The Particle Accelerator Conference is held at Knoxville, Tennessee, and will be the largest one I've ever been yet. I'm flying it 12 hours, so I should better start packing then.
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