Losing a leader

[Tyler]

Since I have been using my real name in this league, any intrepid googler already knows how old I am, what high school I went to, what 5K races I've run, and my college and major. So I don't think I'm revealing much when I tell you that I'm currently an undergraduate student at Case Western Reserve in Cleveland (w00t!) and I was saddened today when I found out that Lawrence Krauss will be leaving the physics department to take a positition with Arizona State University. Although Krauss was infamous on campus for avoiding traditional teaching responsibilities, he was fundamental in turning the Case physics department into the world-class research institution it is today. As a member of this department, I'd like to take this chance to say: .

[John]

That's a real shame. Case has been moving up in the estimation of many people. Things like their affiliation with the Cleveland Clinic really help, but in the end it boils down to top-notch professors so it's sad to see one of them departing. Obviously he made quite an impact on you, Tyler; any time a prof can do that, it speaks well of him indeed.

I'm going to have to check out that book he wrote: The Physics of Star Trek. There's a preview of it on Google Books and it looks really cool. It even has an intro from Stephen Hawking himself!

[Tyler]

The Physics of Star Trek is a great book. If you want something a little more technical but still quite readable by a physics layperson, I highly recommend Atom. And if you want something I haven't been able to get into beyond Chapter 1, check out Quintessence.

Krauss was a guest lecturer at least three times in my physics classes last year (he does love the fresh minds. I think upperclassmen bore him) and also co-ordinated one of my second semester courses. In his words, this meant that "I'm the guy they put in charge of screwing this class up for you people."

One of his lecturers began with a slide entitled "The Best of all Possible Worlds"* (or something like that. It was about the fundamental physical underpinnings of the universe). He began his lecture, then suddenly stopped cold. "Do you people want to talk about this or something cool?" he asked. "Something cool!" the class chorused, and he then proceeded to ramble about star formation for an hour, all off the top of his head. He got so carried away he tried to draw on the overhead screen with chalk. He'll be missed.

* he also once ended a class by saying "You're all ****ed and will never get jobs" because of Congress' recent slashing of university research funding.