Walks and Water

Today, I went for walk around a neighborhood pond that I mostly neglect.

The thing is, walking near water and looking out over its expanse, feeling the breeze coming off the water, seeing the ever-changing surface, and experiencing the organic irregularity of its shoreline is profoundly grounding and healing.  I started my walk in a pandemic/social distancing induced funk and I ended it feeling okay.

The fact that this little gem is tucked away in my neighborhood, just always waiting and yet I don't usually think about it or experience it is a bit disconcerting to me.

I'm reminded of the first time I walked away from the beach (rather than the daily walk to the beach) in Corsica from my grandparents' house. I went up into the hills there for the first time and, after getting turned around a few times and feeling like I had been transported to a forest far away, I eventually started to come back down the hills towards the house.  Then, in a clearing, I suddenly could see the ocean.  It was right there, more beautiful than in any picture. Although I was farther from the ocean than I was at the house, it somehow felt closer, more immediate.

I was heading down towards the narrow plains upon which the house stood and just beyond, the ocean seemed to stretch toward the sky. It was as if the house were sitting at the bottom of a 'V' with the ocean on one side and hillside on the other.  Of course, it was an optical illusion since I'm pretty sure the water is horizontal. The lack of depth perception and the surprising visual presence of the ocean that I had experienced so often from the beach really took my breath away.  How could this view be available just a short walk away from the house?

Sometimes, we just have to be reminded that there are little gems all around us, just waiting to be noticed...

On Math and Language

I was thinking about the whole "Is math invented or discovered" question again.

I used to be, like I think a lot of STEM folk are, in the "math is discovered" camp.  But, over time, I have come to be firmly in the "invented" camp.  There are many reasons.  But here are a few:

-Math is a language and, like all languages, exists only in the minds of humans.

-Gödel's incompleteness theorems that basically show the limitations of formal proofs.

-Once, in grad school, a physics professor was dividing a term going to zero by another term going to zero and made some kind of hand-wavy argument and 'renormalized' the equation.  At the end of the derivation, out popped the mass of the electron (or something like that).  I raised my hand and asked "But that's not real math - can you do that?"  He grinned and said "Are you a mathematician or physicist?"  I said "I didn't know you had to chose." He said "Well, do you value internal consistency for its own sake or are you trying to reliably predict the results of experiments?"  It was a big deal to me when he said those words (thanks, Dr. Ling-Fong Li!).

-Lately, I've been thinking about basic mathematical ideas like infinity, geometric points, infinitely precise numbers, and continuous functions. These are all cool and important concepts, but they don't actually exist in the real world.  In a finite (at least observably/practically finite) Universe run on quantum mechanics, it simply isn't possibly to continually subdivide space with infinite precision nor can you just continue past the horizon forever.


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Isn't it interesting that we can hold and use these nonphysical concepts in our minds and they turn out to be so useful while simultaneously not being real?  We can't even come up with a wave function in quantum mechanics that doesn't use imaginary numbers!

Now that I think about it, all language can be described that way.  If I tell you a cautionary tale about walking on a lake with thin ice on it, it may never have happened and the story itself is certainly not a real thing out in the universe, but it could save your life in the future.

East Coast, West Coast 5K

As I've mentioned before, my brother and I have started an annual traditional of running a 5k together.  This year, our plans fell through at the last minute for a variety of reasons (one of which was the event organizers cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic)

Not to be deterred, we decided to run a 5K 'together' anyway.  We both started at 1pm EST today (me in Massachusetts and him in California) and uploaded our times & routes via our Garmin Viviosports:

My run: https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/4655730331
His run: https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/4655849278?share_unique_id=38

My time:  33:33
His time: 34:38 (but he went an extra 0.1 k so we are calling it a tie)

(for the record he is 8 years younger and about 20 lbs lighter (I'm just saying!))

The Bro

Me

Orphaned Memes

I've known for some time (because of my own two kids) that the youth will reference memes that draw from source material that they don't know at all (some 'old person' movie or tv show that I grew up with).  I've always been amazed that the meme has value and meaning to them independent of the source material.

Today in class, ML turns to the class in response to something I said (I wish I could remember!) and says "There is another" in a nodding and winking way.  I'm up there, thinking "no way, son - you are playing in my domain - I OWN Star Wars references."

So a bit later, I strike after showing them two ways to solve a problem: "See, if you can't have Luke Skywalker, you can always use Princess Leia!"

I look at the class, swelling in pride over my cleverness and they all look at me blankly and one kid even says "Why would you say that?"

So I sputter and gesture at ML and say "Star Wars Reference?"

Turns out only one kid (usually asleep in the back (talking about you, WW)) gets it and explains that the Meme is from that famous Degobah scene with Yoda.



Made me sad.

Morning Jog

Old knees complaining;

Crisp air failing to supply enough oxygen;

Memories of running fast taunting him

While he huffed his way around the track.

Half a Century – Where did the time go?

So much uncertainty and disappointment:

Politics and Race,

Health and Age,

Worried Children and Aging Parents.

Confused about everything he looks up from his tired feet,

Pounding away,

To the blue sky.

And,

Just then,

A hawk sails slowly and silently overhead

The tips of his wing bent slightly upwards

A sight so beautiful -

He wondered if he needed all fifty years

To appreciate it properly.

Time takes so much away 

But

Reveals life to be all the more precious.

CoffeeHouse 2020

For today's Amnesty Fundraiser
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The Space between us All

I see you over there

            In your space

                        In your time.

But I am over here

            In my space

                        At my time.

Across Space and Over Time

            I can ‘other’ you,

                        I can doubt you,

                                    I can distrust you:

                                                You are not me,

                                                I am not you.

But I want us all 

            In the same space

                        At the same time

                                    Thinking about things 

                                                With like minds.

Space is just something light must travel through;

            If I see you

                        And you see me,

                                    Is there space between us?

Time is just sequenced events

            Stepping us from order to disorder;

                        But if we’re in a chaotic system,

                                    Is time separating us?

I say

            Forget the speed of light

            Forget encroaching disorder

                        I am right here, right now

                                    And

                        You are right here, right now.

We are just two different parts 

            Of one universal wave function,

                        Quantumly entangled.

                                    You determine me

                                    So I determine you.

I am here and you are here

I am now and you are now:

I don’t other you, I’m another you.

Enthusiasm, Exclamations, and Physics

So, I'm working on another book for Barron's.  Right now we're in this stage where they edit my draft and we send the manuscript back and forth and try to work on the kinks.  The thing that I have found out about my writing style is that I over-use exclamation marks.  The number one thing my editor does is reduce my use of an exclamation mark to a simple period.

The thing is, I think physics is exciting!  For example, when I'm explaining in the book that falling objects all accelerate at the same rate, I will show some algebra and then exclaim: "Note, the masses cancel out!"

My editor thinks that the masses merely "cancel out."  I reluctantly accept the world's lack of enthusiasm for physics, but it makes me sad...

I mean, sure, you can say "Angular Momentum is conserved."
But I really do think "Angular Momentum is conserved!"

American Family Tree

Check out this cool family tree that my brother put together based on a search of public records.  This indicated that girls born in the family could apply to be members of the Daughters of the American Revolution via my grandfather's grandmother (all other branches are more recent immigrants).
Thanks for the work, Phil!

You can see my namesake, off on a branch on the left hand side.

Update:  My brother created a very cool interactive graphic on his research at his blog here.