If you’re of a certain age, you know Alan Alda from his wonderful acting in television shows and in movies. But you may not know of his long-standing interest in science communication and his podcast Clear and Vivid (named for the characteristics that he feels all communication should have.)
Alda and I had a great conversation about the idea that we are made of waves, and what it means for our relationship to the universe. A slimmed-down version of that discussion is now available on his podcast. I hope you enjoy it!
Separately, as promised: to my last post, which covered various ways of depicting and interpreting wave functions, I’ve added explanations of the two quantum wave functions that I placed at the end. Tomorrow I’ll take a step back and consider wave functions from a larger point of view, taking a brief look at what they are (and aren’t), what’s “wavy” (and not) about them, and at their roles in contexts ranging from pre-quantum physics of the 19th century to quantum field theory of the 21st.
One Response
Susan J Feingold susanjfeingold@gmail.com
When I came back from 36 years abroad [in 2003] I heard that Alda was teaching scientists to do “improv” to better reach a non-scientific public. This was at the Stonybrook campus of SUNY. Having just explained to wildlife folks about the probablities of wolf-caribou equilbrium with and without hunting [by humans]. And I was understood. I felt that you need more than improv to explain your views. But one can not do everything, I had no resources to go to Stonybrook. So I left it. And I had no idea that Alda was still doing a podcast. Thanks for mentioning this.