I always forget how much I enjoy the month of September. There’s always a great buzz around the college, from new students starting their college career to returning students enrolling on a new set of modules. From a lecturer’s point of view, there is also the buzz of a new cohort of science students and a new teaching timetable after a summer of quiet research.
Back to school after a quiet summer
In addition, September is a great month in Ireland weather-wise. It’s still warm enough to play outdoor tennis and football, and the surf is back at last. Even better, there is still enough light to catch a few waves after work!
Surfing in Tramore bay, Waterford
This weekend, it was our college’s turn to host the annual Frontiers of Physics conference. This is a wonderful annual meeting organised by the Institute of Physics in Ireland to foster links between second-level teachers and third-level lecturers. Each year, a given college uses the opportunity to highlight what research is being done in their college, before breaking up for useful workshops in the teaching of physics. You can see the conference programme here, it was a most enjoyable day.
In my own case, I gave a brief description of the research I do in the history of science. I found myself drawing on the excellent police drama ‘Line of Duty’ as an analogy. If scientists are like detectives, then historians are science are a bit like the overview team sent in to review how a given enquiry proceeded (‘cops on cops’). The slides are here and slides from the other presentations of the day will be available here.
The feared AC-12 unit in Line of Duty – is that what science historians do?
I slipped away early from the meeting to check out the surf in Tramore, our local surf beach. Sure enough it was excellent, what a way to end the month!
Antimatter 