The Past and Future of Nuclear Science

The content of this post is less grand than the title, but do not be disappointed. There is some import contained within.

On Friday, I was privileged to attend the lecture by Dr. Ruth Ann Sime, author of Lise Meitner: a Life in Physics. Aside from being a thoroughly pleasant person, Dr. Sime enlightened us with her research into the life of a woman who was instrumental in the discovery of fission and yet received no credit. Due to her gender and Jewish ancestry, her research in Germany was glossed over and her collaborator, Otto Hahn, received the Nobel.

Aside from being one of many painful stories of prejudice, Dr. Sime's narrative and comments after the lecture painted Meitner's story as a deeply personal blow to her friendship with Hahn and a failure of the scientific community to act with objectivity. Richard Feynman reminded us: "Science is what we have learned about how to keep from fooling ourselves." We have been fooled in the past and present into assumptions about people based on their race, gender, ethnicity, etc. Just as we now guard against the rise of another Hitler-esque regime, we must remain vigilant to avoid falling into the trap of prejudice again. That goes especially for those who practice and respect science. Surely you are NOT joking, Mr. Feynman.

Incidentally, I had the opportunity to guide Dr. Sime around our experimental area for a little while, and she was continually amazed by the facility and extraordinarily complimentary about everyone she met here. So, kudos to NSCL employees!

From the past to the future: NSCL played host to 25 sixth graders on Saturday. They were all part of a science club based in St. John's, and spend several weekends each year exporing laboratories around Michigan. They were very appreciative when they left; thanks to Lindsay Hebeler, Micha Kilburn, and Ania Kwiatkowski for taking five hours of their time to "wow" the kids with nuclear science.

Aside from the usual tour, we had the students use nuclear models made from magnetic marbles to simulate and study many aspects of nuclear science: the Chart of the Nuclides, radioactive decay, half-life, halo nuclei, fission and fusion, fragmentation, and separation. Activities were very hands-on and really held their interest. One of the adults who came along kept commenting on how it was "just what the students need." As always, my hope is that a few seeds of curiosity were planted in those kids that will one day lead them to choose physics as a major, or dare I hope, a career in nuclear science.

I plan to post instructions for some of these activities (e.g. "Isotope Bingo") on the outreach page soon, and I really look forward to repeating and improving on the experience in the future. As a testament to how exciting the event was, I still haven't gotten my voice back.