Haverford College

Interviewed by
David Zierler
Interview date
Location
Video conference
Abstract

n this interview, Stephon Alexander discusses current research into quantum gravity and possible extensions to string theory; work to merge quantum mechanics and general relativity; research into the connection between music and cognitive science; experience as a jazz musician; intersections of philosophy and physics; experience as president of the National Society of Black Physicists (NSBP); challenges and stigmas associated with being a Black academic; growing up in both rural Trinidad and the Bronx; undergraduate experience at Haverford; graduate work at Brown; guidance from Robert Brandenberger into the field of quantum gravity, applying particle physics to astrophysics and cosmology; thesis research on solitons and topological defects and its role in string cosmology and theory; decision to take postdoc at Imperial College London focusing on M-theory and integrating string theory with cosmic inflation; influence of Alan Guth; work on D-brane driven inflation; experience in the underground London music scene; decision to go to SLAC in Stanford and work under Michael Peskin; loop quantum gravity; time as faculty at Penn State; the role and responsibility of the Black academic; recruitment by Brown University; intellectual influence of David Finkelstein; the process of becoming president of NSBP. Toward the end of the interview, Alexander reflects on his books, The Jazz of Physics and Fear of a Black Universe; being an outsider in the field of physics; and revisits his current work on quantum gravity. He emphasizes the importance of in-person collaboration and improvisation. 

Interviewed by
David Zierler
Interview date
Location
Video conference
Abstract

Interview with John Hawley, John D. Hamilton Professor of Astronomy, and Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Virginia. Hawley discusses his responsibilities as Associate Dean and he conveys his ongoing interest in black hole observational work and in the future findings of the James Webb Telescope. He reflects on his career’s overlap with the rise of computational astrophysics and he explains why he is agnostic on the hypothetical value of quantum computing to the field. He recounts his childhood in Maryland, then Kansas, and then northern California, in support of his father’s work as a minister, and he describes his undergraduate education at Haverford where he developed his interest in astronomy. Hawley explains his decision to work with Larry Smarr as his advisor at the University of Illinois, and he describes the origins of the Supercomputing Center. He describes the opportunities that led to him to Caltech to work with Roger Blandford, who was working on jets and active galaxies, and where he pursued synergies between analytic and computational analyses of black hole research. Hawley emphasizes the proximity to NRAO that influenced his decision to accept an offer from UVA, and he discusses his foundational collaboration with Steven Balbus on accretion disks. He explains his motivation to write the textbook Foundations of Modern Cosmology, what it was like to win the Shaw Prize, and how his administrative responsibilities gradually and mostly overtook his research agenda. At the end of the interview, Hawley reflects on the complementary nature of his technical collaboration with Balbus, and why he thinks terms of numerical and analytical approaches as separate endeavors.

Interviewed by
David Zierler
Interview date
Location
Video conference
Abstract

Interview with John Thorstensen, Professor of Physics and Astronomy at Dartmouth and President of MDM Observatory. Thorstensen narrates the story of George Wallerstein bugging his thesis committee at Caltech and he discusses his current work on cataclysmic binary stars. He surveys all of the exciting developments in the world of observational astronomy and he explains some of the administrative considerations in the way Astronomy and Physics is divided at Dartmouth. Thorstensen describes his undergraduate education at Haverford, where he pursued his interests in astronomy, and he explains his reasons for attending Berkeley for graduate school to work with Stu Bowyer on X-ray sources. He discusses the opportunities that led to his faculty appointment at Dartmouth and he explains his increasing involvement with the MDM collaboration. Thorstensen describes his formative collaboration with Joe Patterson and the evolution of Astronomy developing into its own discrete program at Dartmouth. He explains the value of both photometric and spectroscopic applications and the value in using digital detectors. At the end of the interview, Thorstensen discusses his recent interests in white dwarf binaries, the contributions of amateur astronomers in making significant discoveries, and some of the surprises he has experienced during his career studying cataclysmic binaries. 

Interviewed by
David Zierler
Interview date
Location
Remote Interview
Abstract

In this interview, David Zierler, Oral Historian for AIP, interviews David J. Pine, Silver Professor, professor of physics, and Chair of the Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Department at the NYU Tandon School of Engineering. Pine explains the background of NYU’s takeover of Brooklyn Poly and where these changes fit within the overall expansion of soft matter physics in the U.S. He recounts his childhood as the son of a pastor and moving many times as his father preached for different congregations. He discusses his interests and talents in the sciences during high school, and he explains his decision to attend Wheaton College. Pine describes how he developed his interest in physics in college and he describes his research at Argonne. He discusses his decision to go to Cornell for his graduate work, where he studied under Bob Cotts and did research on hydrogen diffusion in metals. Pine recounts his postdoctoral research at Pitt, where he worked with Walter Goldberg on spinodal decomposition, and he describes his first faculty position at Haverford, where he built a lab from scratch focusing on the diffusive dynamics of shear fluids. He explains his decision to accept a position with Exxon Labs, which he describes as an excellent place for basic science, and he describes the factors leading to his appointment on the chemical engineering faculty at UCSB, where he focused his research on polymer solutions and colloidal suspension. Pine describes some of the exciting advances in physics that were happening at the Kavli Institute. He describes his collaborations with Paul Chaikin and the prospect of joining the faculty at NYU, where he has continued his research. At the end of the interview, Pine reflects on how he has tried to maximize the benefits of working at the nexus of several disciplines, and he explains why entropy has been a concept of central importance to all of his research.

Interviewed by
David DeVorkin
Interview date
Location
Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Abstract

In this interview Robert Noyes discusses topics such as: his family background; undergraduate at Haverford College; graduate work at California Institute of Technology (Caltech); Frank Press and geophysics; Fay Ajzenberg Selov; Robert Leighton as his advior in graduate school; Mt. Wilson Observatory; Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO); Leo Goldberg; Chuck Whitney; astronomy; solar satellite project; helioseismology; Tim Brown; Dave Charbonneau; Ed Reeves; Bill Parkinson; George Withbroe; Andrea Dupree; Martin Huber; John Raymond; Peter Foukal; Jacques Beckers; Frank Low; Sacramento Peak Observatory; Orbiting Solar Observatories (OSO); Fred Whipple; space solar physics.

Interviewed by
Patrick Catt
Interview date
Location
Haverford College
Abstract

In this interview, William Davidon discusses his political and social activism and its relationship to his scientific career. Topics discussed include: Albert Einstein; Norman Thomas; Purdue University; Marvin Goldberger; University of Chicago; atmospheric atomic bomb testing; Cold War; JASON group; Federation of American Scientists; American Friends Service Committee; American Physical Society; Adlai Stevenson; Morton Hamermesh; Haverford College; Hans Ekstein; Fay Ajzenberg-Selove; Committee for Nonviolent Action (CNVA); Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs; Science for the People; Russ Stetler; Society for Social Responsibility in Science (SSRS); Mal Benjamin; Vietnam War protests; A. J. Muste; Oscar Handlin; Dan Berrigan; Union of Concerned Scientists; Henry Kissinger.