I have always loved science and math. I was a math nerd in high school and on the math team. At 16, I went off to Cornell and was on Deans List. I graduated with a BA in physics and moved on to graduate school at Brown University and got a PhD with a thesis in astrophysics. I have had a fifty-year career in many diverse physics-related areas including acoustics, submarine stealth, ultrasound, metamaterials, ultrasound, infrasound, lithium-ion batteries, and nanotechnology. This wide range...
I have always loved science and math. I was a math nerd in high school and on the math team. At 16, I went off to Cornell and was on Deans List. I graduated with a BA in physics and moved on to graduate school at Brown University and got a PhD with a thesis in astrophysics. I have had a fifty-year career in many diverse physics-related areas including acoustics, submarine stealth, ultrasound, metamaterials, ultrasound, infrasound, lithium-ion batteries, and nanotechnology. This wide range of topics has given me a good understanding of how the universal basics of math and science are the underpinnings of our understanding of the world. Along the way, I have had several amazing experiences during which remarkable and unexpected things have happened in the lab or elsewhere where the absolute power of physics, mathematics, and logic shine through, making me say "Ain't science wonderful." I am collecting these stories into a memoir.
My teaching experience started in graduate school, where I worked with undergraduates in physics lab courses and taught a semester in astrophysics. I also organized a community-based evening astronomy lecture series at the university's telescope facility. We would select an object to be viewed and encouraged the people to look though the telescope to see it and then hear a lecture about it. After graduate school I did some tutoring for several years for local high school students . Most recently, for about ten years as a research affiliate at MIT, I worked very closely and hands on with undergraduates in the Chemical Engineering lab course.
My approach to tutoring is twofold. First, I believe that while the concepts in math and physics can be challenging, with very clear and patient explanations using carefully chosen, well defined, and precise words, they can be understood. Sometimes an illustrative story can help. Second, I understand that students can be held back by math anxiety and I try to inspire confidence in their work to overcome it.
