Tom Watson – Brian Greene on String Theory

http://www.ted.com/talks/brian_greene_on_string_theory.html

This past year I have taken Physics with Mr. Fisch and it has really sparked an interest in science for me. My previous science classes such as Chemistry and Biology never really piqued my interest and I never truly enjoyed learning about the deeper levels of the subjects.

However, one night in January on my way home from southern California my iPod was dead, my phone had no service, and I could not fall asleep, meanwhile my dad was listening to this broadcast on NPR by Brian Greene. As skeptical as I was of the podcast (I mean how could NPR be exciting?) I was soon engrossed with what Brian Greene was saying about the possibilities of parallel universes and if the universe was limitless, therefore there are limitless possibilities of configurations of atoms. This basically boils down to if anything is possible, it has happened, or is happening, in a parallel universe.

Therefore, when we were assigned the TED Project, I already had an idea of what I wanted to do, and possible who I wanted to do it on. I looked up TED talks done by Brian Greene and found that he had a famous one on the ideas of the String Theory. The String Theory suggests that there are oscillating strings among the smallest particles, which reconciles the theories of Newton with that of Einstein. However, in order for this to be true, there must be 10 space dimensions and 1 time dimension. Greene breaks these ideas of the String Theory into very easy to understand language using visual aids to help give viewers a better understanding of how the different dimensions of our universe actually work.

Greene began his life in New York City, son to a high school dropout. He graduated from Stuyvesant High School, a public school in New York City well known for its academic strength in Math and Sciences. This may well have been the beginning of his interest in the sciences. Upon graduating from Stuyvesant High School, Green went to Harvard, majoring in Physics. He earned his bachelors degree there, whereupon he moved to Oxford and earned his doctorate as a Rhodes Scholar, one of the most prestigious awards in the world. After his graduation he joined the faculty at Cornell University, and five years later became a full professor. The year after earning a full professorship he moved to Colombia University. At Colombia he has become the co-director of the Institute for Strings, Cosmology, and Astroparticle Physics. He has become a well known physicist for his ideas on parallel universes and his study of the String Theory. His success is most likely due to the initial education from even the high school level, as well as his ability to explain some of the most complicated ideas in ways that almost anyone can understand because of his total understanding of the theories and ideas.

Most of my life I had never really considered what profession I wanted to major in because it had almost been a given. My dad is an engineer, and so was his dad, and it was assumed that I would do the same. I do love math and building things with my hands and thinking outside the box, however I always assumed that all pointed towards being an engineer of some sort. However after taking a physics class with Mr. Fischer this year and hearing these lectures done by Greene I am considering going more into a physics degree. As of this point I am undecided whether I want to pursue an engineering degree (most likely mechanical) or a physics degree. My dad has many connections through his work as an engineer and therefore I will most likely get a job this summer at a machine shop, working for one of his friends. As for my jobs after college, I do not yet know as it depends on my degree but I know I want to be discovering and thinking critically, whether it be in engineering or in physics, rather than just doing mindless tasks. My dad has always stressed the benefits of obtaining a graduate degree and for this reason I will definitely want to continue my studies at the graduate level and help prepare myself even further for the future.