Schmidt vs. AIP -- 2006-01 -- Canadian Undergraduate Physics Journal interview with Jeff Schmidt

2.9 MB·English

by  Sean Kelly, Canadian Undergraduate Physics Journal

Volume IV Issue 2 January 2006
Canadian Undergraduate Physics Journal
Journal Canadien des Étudiants en Physique
Bad to the Bone
Bone lead measurement set-up at
Mount Allison University
Photo by Sue Seaborn
information
Canadian
Undergraduate
Physics
Letters to the editor sUBsCriPtions
Journal And GenerAL enqUiries Annual subscription is $15 for three issues. For new
We welcome your enquiries and letters to the editor, subscriptions, please contact the editor with your
which may be sent to name, e-mail address and mailing address.
Po Box 72049 Single issues are $6. For back issues, please contact
Journal
Canadien sasamat rPo the editor with your name, e-mail address, mailing
des Étudiants Vancouver, BC address, quantity of copies required and issue
en Physique V6r 4P2 number(s) requested.
ISSN 1499-9439 or e-mailed to [email protected] Subscriptions and back issues are payable by cheque
Please include your name, institution, mailing or money order to the Canadian Undergraduate
Po Box 72049 address, and phone number. If your letter is written Physics Journal. Additional shipping charges apply to
sasamat rPo in response to an article in a previous issue of CUPJ, international subscriptions and single issue requests.
please cite the issue number in which it appeared.
VancouVer, Bc ContriBUtinG
V6r 4P2 CUPJ reserves the right to edit letters for length and
To contribute a written submission in the form of an
clarity and to refuse publication of letters. We regret
www.cupJ.ca undergraduate research article, review, news article,
that we cannot answer all correspondence.
or commentary, or to submit a photo or graphic for
AdVertisinG/sPonsorshiP the cover of CUPJ, please refer to the guidelines in
Volume IV Issue 2 January 2006 our Call for Submissions within this issue (page 21 in
CUPJ is a registered charitable organization run by
French and page 35 in English) and on our website.
students for students and depends entirely upon the
editor-in-Chief
generosity of its sponsors. Sponsorship is acknowl- refereeinG
PhIlIPPe marchand edged with quarter-page to full-page ads for institu-
CUPJ is refereed by senior graduate students, post-
[email protected] tions, companies and organizations or tax receipts doctoral fellows, professors, and industry research-
for individuals and foundations. Please contact the
english Language editor editor or visit our website at www.cupj.ca for current ers. To volunteer as a CUPJ referee, please provide
ad rates and guidelines. the editor with your name, e-mail address, area of
daVId nataf specialization, and mailing address.
[email protected] Classified ads are also available to publicize graduate
distriBUtinG
school, undergraduate employment and volunteer
Managing editor opportunities, as well as scholarships and upcoming To volunteer to oversee CUPJ distribution at your
physics-related events. Please refer to the classified school, please contact the editor, and provide your
(Vacant) ad section within this issue for additional details. name and e-mail address.
[email protected]
Production editor
$750-1000
IVa cheung would like to thank its
[email protected] generous sponsors
for their support:
distribution Manager
Jeff mottershead department of
[email protected] Physics and Astronomy
$500-750
University of toronto
Contributors
department of Physics
Mushtari Afroz, Vincent Audette-Chapdelaine,
Trevor Hanna, Sean Kelly, Aviv Keshet, Mikhail Klassen, département de Physique
Marie-Michèle Limoges, Philippe Marchand,
Andrew F.B. McDonald, Jeff Mottershead, Andrew Scott,
Stephanne Taylor
ottawa-Carleton
Photographers, Illustrators & Graphic artists department of Physics, institute for Physics
engineering Physics and Astronomy
Sue Seaborn (cover), Mushtari Afroz, Henry Chen, department of
Gretchen Chuang, Philippe Marchand, Jeff Mottershead, Physics and Astronomy department
of Physics
Daria Takharu, Chris Wattie, Jim Young
department of Physics
and Astronomy
CUPJ would like to thank all of its tremendous volunteers, includ- $350-500
ing its referees and regional distribution coordinators. Special
thanks to Denis Rancourt and David Sean for helpful discussions simon fraser University
on the editorial topic and to Scott Webster for use of his vehicle department of Physics
in the distribution of the journal.
3000 copies of CUPJ are printed once every four months and triUMf
distributed for free to undergraduate institutions across Canada.
department department of Physics
CUPJ is a refereed scientific journal serving Canadian under- department of Physics of Physics and Atmospheric science
graduate physics students. All materials appearing in CUPJ bear
copyright of CUPJ and their creators, and may not be used special thanks to design science for the use of
without written consent. their equation editing software, Mathtype.
Check it out at www.dessci.com.
The opinions expressed in the pages of CUPJ are expressly those
of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of CUPJ.

Canadian Undergraduate Physics Journal Volume IV Issue 2 January 2006
contents
9
éditorial
5 La science au service des puissances
Pourquoi la recherche est forcément politique
undergraduate research
7 Factors affecting the K-shell x-ray fluorescence
on the cover
bone lead technique
andrew F.B. MCdonaLd MounT ALLiSon uniVerSiTY
naseer ahMed AnD davId e.B. FLeMInG SuPerViSorS
PHoTo BY sue seaBorn
What can influence the precision and accuracy of lead
David Fleming (left) and Andrew McDonald (middle) demonstrate a bone lead
concentration measurements in bone?
measurement set-up with Mount Allison undergraduate student Markus Baker
(right). Bone lead measurement systems use a source of gamma-ray photons
to induce characteristic lead x-rays, which are counted with a low-energy
reviews, news & commentaries germanium radiation detector. The detector system is cooled by a large cryostat
Dewar filled with liquid nitrogen.
12 News Election 2006
24 Feature Are we headed towards “Star Wars: The
PhILIPPe MarChand Next Generation”?
Where do the federal political parties stand on the future of science? stePhanne tayLor
The promise of ballistic missile defense – science or science fiction?
13 Feature The hands feeding Canadian science
JeFF Mottershead 28 Feature A summer at Fermilab
Where research gets the cash to keep going MushtarI aFroz
A University of Toronto student tells of her experiences working at
16 Feature Extracting the past through archaeometry one of the world’s most renowned physics laboratories
avIv Keshet
30 Feature CUPC 2005 in pictures
A survey of the role of physics in the field of archaeology
PHoToS BY henry Chen, GretChen ChuanG
AnD PhILIPPe MarChand
19 Interview Thoughts from an undisciplined mind
sean KeLLy 32 Book reviews
Former Physics Today editor Jeff Schmidt speaks out about
vInCent audette-ChaPdeLaIne, trevor hanna,
ideological influence on research and academic freedom
MIKhaIL KLassen AnD andrew sCott
23 Article de fond Les conséquences du programme
classified ads
spatial russe
MarIe-MIChèLe LIMoGes
La réaction d’un président américain à une course amorcée par son pire 34 Upcoming events and opportunities
ennemi: le communisme

www.cuPJ.ca Canadian Undergraduate Physics Journal
éditorial
La science au service des puissances
Pourquoi la recherche est forcément politique
Read the English translation of this editorial, “It’s all about power: why scientific
research is bound to be political” on CUPJ’s website at www.cupj.ca.
1800 pages: c’est la quantité d’information amas- appelés à témoigner en tant qu’analystes-experts (Soit dit en passant, je crois que même la recher-
sée par le FBI américain sur les «activités sub- dans les médias ou auprès des autorités pub- che la plus théorique peut susciter des intérêts
versives» d’Albert Einstein. C’est à partir de ce liques. Le chercheur est donc à la fois influencé particuliers. Par exemple, si un astrophysicien
dossier, obtenu grâce au Freedom of Information et influent. développe une théorie, l’envoi d’une sonde spa-
Act [Loi sur l’accès à l’information], que le journa- tiale pour la vérifier nécessitera des investisse-
liste scientifique Fred Jerome a pu écrire son livre Malgré cela, aucune formation ou presque n’est ments de la NASA et des contrats très lucratifs
The Einstein File. donnée aux futurs physiciens sur les aspects pour l’industrie aéronautique privée.)
éthiques ou politiques de leur profession. Au bac-
En prélude au Maccarthysme, il n’est pas étonnant calauréat en physique de l’Université d’Ottawa, L’an dernier, l’Association canadienne des phy-
que la plupart des activités subversives notées par seulement une des périodes d’un cours obliga- siciens et physiciennes s’est prononcée publique-
le FBI concernent la sympathie d’Einstein envers toire traitait du sujet. Le message se résumait à ment pour avertir le gouvernement de Paul Martin
les mouvements socialistes, bien que plusieurs l’importance de soumettre son travail à la revue des lacunes scientifiques du projet américain de
seront surpris de voir que des groupes pacifistes par les pairs et de ne pas faire de plagiat. bouclier antimissile (BAM), telles que décrites dans
ou luttant contre la ségrégation des Noirs améri- un rapport de l’American Physical Society.
cains soient qualifiés de «communistes». Puisque son objet d’étude est perçu comme loin de
l’être humain, la recherche en physique ne soulève Malheureusement, le débat sur les aspects scien-
Par contre, nous pouvons demander, comme le pas autant de débats publics que les sciences de tifiques du BAM n’a été qu’effleuré par les médias
fait l’auteur, pour quelle raison l’activisme poli- la vie, et à l’exception de quelques exemples clas- canadiens et au bout du compte, le refus (officiel)
tique d’Einstein – excepté peut-être son aspect siques (la plupart contenant le mot «nucléaire»), du gouvernement canadien à participer (davan-
pacifiste – est encore peu connu, alors que le elle est très peu controversée. C’est peut-être tage) au BAM était d’abord dû à de l’opportunisme
grand physicien est associé au stéréotype du sci- pourquoi il y a un moins grand intérêt du public politique, non à un débat sur le fond. Peut-être
entifique plongé dans ses théories et détaché du pour savoir à qui profite cette recherche. que cet épisode devrait faire réaliser aux scienti-
reste du monde? fiques concernés que leur opinion d’expert n’est
Selon le Bureau of Labor Statistics américain, le prise en compte que lorsque cela cadre avec
D’ailleurs, le succès de ce stéréotype est tel que gouvernement fédéral employait directement l’ordre du jour des décideurs.
de plus en plus de physiciens et scientifiques 29% des 14 000 physiciens et astronomes des
l’adoptent presque comme un principe. Il y a États-Unis, la plupart dans le Department of De même, je souhaite que plus d’étudiants en
toujours une bonne raison d’ignorer la politique: Defense (DoD). Cela n’inclut pas le milieu univer- physique voient l’importance de comprendre
c’est un sujet pas assez concret pour certains, sitaire, où le DoD investissait en l’an 2000 seule- les structures politiques, afin d’avoir une vision
trop irrationnel pour d’autres. ment plus de 900 millions de dollars américains claire des intérêts qu’ils serviront plus tard et des
(selon Physics Today). moyens efficaces de faire entendre leur voix, à la
Quel est le danger de cette attitude? D’abord, elle fois comme citoyen et comme travailleur dans
est souvent basée sur le postulat erroné qu’il est Dans son livre Disciplined Minds, le physicien une profession scientifique. J’espère que notre
possible d’occuper un «rôle» de scientifique dans américain Jeff Schmidt donne d’ailleurs plusieurs dossier spécial sur les liens entre physique et poli-
une société, sans être affecté par les aspects poli- exemples de l’écart entre la perception des pro- tique pourra contribuer à cette réflexion.
tiques de cette société. fesseurs subventionnés, qui voient dans leurs
projets de la physique théorique pure, et celle
La recherche scientifique, dans les universités ou du DoD, qui y voit des applications militaires très
ailleurs, est financée par des intérêts gouverne- pratiques (voir aussi notre entrevue avec Jeff
mentaux ou privés, souvent les deux (voir notre Schmidt en page 19). PhILIPPe MarChand
article en page 13). Les scientifiques sont souvent réDACTeur en CHeF

www.cuPJ.ca Canadian Undergraduate Physics Journal
interview
Thoughts from an undisciplined mind
BY sean KeLLy tively. Both activities are social and political, as
you say. In research, many professors show “ad-
Have you ever felt disillusioned, frustrated, justable curiosity” as they conveniently get inter-
disgusted, helpless or confused about how ested in areas in which the military-industrial-
university is, compared to what you thought it governmental complex makes funding available.
was supposed to be, or how you think it should Physics professors flock to solid-state physics, for
be? If so, you are far from alone. example, even though it isn’t inherently more in-
Disciplined Minds by Jeff Schmidt provides an teresting than, say, cosmology.
institutional analysis to explain why things are as Teaching is often done in a way that alienates
they are in the education system, what the hid- students from the subject they love. Pressure to U
R
A
den parts of the university’s agenda are, and how assimilate large amounts of course material and H
k
this agenda prevents it from being that caring, to get good grades leads students to memorize TA
A
learning establishment that we read about in the rather than understand, to accept rather than RI
A
D
public relations material. The author uses physics question, to focus on assigned problems rather
Jeff Schmidt (right) with daughter Joshua rose
as his main example in describing higher educa- than self-assigned problems, to be subordinate
Schmidt holding his book, disciplined Minds.
tion as “an abusive intellectual bootcamp based rather than activists. This is perfect preparation
on conformity.” To give you an idea of this book’s for employment in hierarchical organizations. JS: It is a platform for the physics establishment
impact, the author’s former employers, the pub- Perhaps the strongest evidence that professors to address rank-and-file physicists. Some of my
lishers of Physics Today magazine, fired him when are aware of what they are doing is the fact that coworkers and I pushed to make it a forum for all
they read it. so few deviate from the social and political role physicists. The view of the magazine bosses and
Schmidt, who has a PhD in physics from the they were hired to play – and the fact that any most of the professional staff is that the magazine
University of California, had been a feature ar- deviation is almost never accidental. Professors should present “The Truth.” To determine what
ticle editor at the magazine for 19 years. To date, are like salaried professionals throughout society. that is, the magazine sends submissions that it
more than one thousand people in a wide vari- The rare exceptions are inspiring – and a threat receives to various members of the physics estab-
ety of fields have protested his dismissal. Among to the status quo. This school year, when Univer- lishment for review. A minority of the staff and
the protestors are over 500 physicists, the largest sity of Ottawa physics professor Denis Rancourt I pushed to make the magazine a place where
number of physicists ever to speak out on a free- taught a physics course in a way that encouraged physicists could debate the issues. That would be
dom-of-expression issue in North America. This activism, he received enthusiastic student sup- a more interesting magazine.
interview with Schmidt was conducted on 3 De- port – and two notices of disciplinary action from Management was looking for an excuse to get
cember 2005. For more information about the the university administration. rid of me, in part because I raised questions about
book and his dismissal, see disciplinedminds.com. the content of the magazine. One time, for exam-
SK: Do you see any specific ways in which the ple, I saw that the magazine was planning to say
Sean Kelly: How do you feel about your dismissal media acts in this scheme of ideological disci- prominently, on the table-of-contents page, that
from Physics Today? What kind of outreach have pline? I realize that the media is run by rich and the government’s Los Alamos and Livermore lab-
you felt from the physics community and the powerful interests, and therefore serve those oratories “are renowned for the development of
broader community in response to this clearly interests, but I am wondering if you, with your nuclear weapons.” I objected in writing, pointing
political dismissal? apparently keen eye for these things, have noted out that “renowned” means “celebrated,” which
ways in which they participate directly in main- isn’t how most people in the world, even outside
Jeff Schmidt: Physicists are protesting Physics taining ideological discipline among profession- of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, view the developers
Today’s action not only because it is repressive, als and non-professionals? of weapons of mass destruction. The staff editor
but also because it implies that the institutions who wrote that sentence had simply gone over-
of physics are no less political than institutions in JS: Publications that salaried professionals read, board in furthering the magazine’s uncritical
other fields. That implication upsets many physi- such as the New York Times, make sure that every view of the system. But that phrasing turned out
cists, who want to believe that physics is special, potentially disturbing fact is accompanied by an to be fine with management. They rejected my
that it transcends politics. Those physicists may interpretation that takes the heat off of the system objection and printed the statement unchanged.
be naïve, but they are not cynical, and so they and implies that the reader can relax and stick It’s in the October 1996 issue if you want to see it.
speak out and make a difference. with the assigned ideology rather than engage in The bosses are more comfortable without some-
independent thinking. Publications read by those one on their staff who raises questions like this.
SK: In your experience, what fraction of physics who employ professionals, such as the Wall Street
professors are aware of the social and political Journal, portray a scarier, whatever-you-can-get- SK: What do you think of us publishing this in-
role that they and the institution play? away-with world. terview in the CUPJ?
JS: Professors are hired to produce ideology and SK: What do you perceive as the social/political JS: It’s great that the CUPJ trusts its readers to han-
people, through research and teaching, respec- role of the professional magazine Physics Today? dle a radical point of view. Not many media do.
1
www.cuPJ.ca Canadian Undergraduate Physics Journal