The phrase “Jack of all trades, master of none” is often spoken in derogatory tones. It seems that being a generalist is perceived as a lower form of intellect. Some academics know more and more about less and less. I subscribe to James Lovelock’s Gaia Theory that everything is interconnected. This is reflected in my Physics classes.
If we, the Physics teachers, only talk about the great inventions made by the towering figures of science, then it will be a very dry affair. To me, the story of Physics is a very human one which is often motivated by very human emotions - greed, lust, envy, spite, love, regret, silly mistakes and rivalry - have all played their part. If we don’t tell the small stories, then our students perceive the physicists of the past as dull and one-dimensional. All of my Physics classes are sprinkled with stories so that my students do not learn isolated facts. Everything is connected.
It is beyond my comprehension how any teacher can put a stone into an overflow can without telling the story of Archimedes and the golden crown? Or mentioning the fact that a school in Meath is called Eureka Community College? Who presents a class with weights and a metre stick without telling the story of the use of levers as a war machine during the siege of Syracuse? Or referring to Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny scene where they travel back in time to 212 BC? Or how some of Archimedes’ work was lost until someone shone UV light on a monk’s palimpsest?
The great rivalries of Physics always merit a mention - whether it’s Newton vs both Hooke or Leibniz, Otto Hahn and Lise Meitner, or Tesla vs Edison? Did they spur each other to achieve greater things or was the rivalry stressful? Did Crick and Watson (via her rejected suitor, Wilkins) steal Rosalind Franklin’s DNA diffraction images to make the first model of DNA? Did Newton really destroy all of the images of Hooke after he died?
And why was there a little section of Manhattan around Pearl Street which ran on direct current until 2007?
Occasionally I deviate into discussions on nepotism. Yes, it’s #nepobabies. Would Irene Joliet-Curie have achieved as much as she did without riding on her mother’s coattails? Would George Thomson have shown that electrons are waves if his father, JJ Thomson had not shown that they were particles? I can’t mention Boyle anymore without referring to his sister too. Was it genetic, environmental or both? Is it fair?
Irish physicists are not ignored either. There are the obvious ones such as Stoney, Boyle and Walton. Many of us know the story of “the Bends” and the building of Brooklyn Bridge. The Irish version is that George Stoney belonged to a talented family of engineers. His brother had the fabulous moniker of Bindon Blood Stoney and he designed the diving bell which is now preserved on the banks of the Liffey. I wonder how many Irish men got the bends digging in that diving bell? (As a side note, Alan Turing’s mother was a Stoney too).
What about the Irish people in Valentia who got well-paid due to the jobs created by the laying of the cable across the Atlantic during the mid -19th century? Have you watched the recent documentary The Cable Which Changed the World? (It’s on RTE Player) Another fascinating story is about the re-construction of the Leviathan in Birr Castle by the Irish construction engineer, Michael Tubridy in the 1990s following renewed interest after Patrick Moore’s programme. The tube was still there but many of the original parts had been taken to the UK. Since I teach on the northside of Dublin, I mention that Michael was also responsible for the structural design of the terminal buildings in Dublin Airport.
Gossip is often sneered at, but it can serve as a way of connecting us together and helping us to understand each other (providing it does not become toxic). Marie Curie was pilloried by the French press for her affair with a married man after Pierre’s unfortunate demise. She resurrected her reputation by bringing the recently invented X ray machines to the front lines during World War 1, saving many soldiers’ lives. I admire her resilience. The astronomer Tycho Brahe lost his nose during a duel over who was the better mathematician. He had to wear a gold replacement for the rest of his life. Kepler took time off work to defend his mother against accusations of witchcraft. (Why doesn’t Kepler get credit for his third law anymore on LC Physics? His name is not mentioned) Oppenheimer’s career and reputation were in tatters when he was accused of being a communist. (Wasn’t Cillian Murphy great? He survived on an almond for lunch each day to become that thin, apparently).
There are many more such stories. I enjoy bringing these characters to life-they are more than their discoveries. Stories can create vivid mental images and brings Physics to life. Serving up these nuggets comes with a caveat-some students will only remember the gossip and the weird factoids. I have to emphasise that they are unlikely to feature in the Leaving Cert but the end of 6th year Quiz will definitely have them. My American colleagues in Abu Dhabi dismissed quizzes as “trivia” but every student of mine knows how important they are. Everything is connected.
a few links:
The Cable that Changed the World RTÉ Player (rte.ie)
Direct Current on Pearl St: from 2007 - Off Goes the Power Current Started by Thomas Edison - The New York Times (nytimes.com)
New Biography by Institute’s Library Director Unveils Life and Legacy of Unknown Woman Scientist | Science History Institute (on Robert Boyle's sister, Katherine)
For more of the above, follow Kate on what one was twitter: K Urell (@The_Urell) / X
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