Khan Academy

My father actually introduced me to this site, http://www.khanacademy.org/. It claims to be the beginning of an educational revolution (though maybe not in those words). There seem to be two goals, the first being to make education accessible to all people, and the second being to allow the possibility of "flipping the classroom". A good introduction talk is the video on their main page, Salman Khan talk at TED 2011 (from ted.com), which is also on youtube. 

Really awesome physics simulator

I was sent this link last summer, and the videos blew my mind. In case the link's not working for you, it goes to an article about Lagoa Multiphysics, a 3D graphics program. Now, I know next to nothing about how physics simulations are done for videos (video games, movies, and all that), but based on how complicated physics is for a two-body system, it blows my mind that people are able to get such realistic models for such complicated motions. I'd love to see the approximations used for all this stuff. Oh, and if you're the type who wants to do this kind of work, friends of mine at RPI have complained enough about programing the physics for a computer game that I'm pretty sure studying there would be a good first step.

Calculus of Variations

     I am currently taking a class in the calculus of variations.  I find it an odd course, since it is taught in French, each class is almost entirely lecture, and we have neither a textbook nor any graded homework.  Regardless of my personal confusion as to the pedagogic methods (well, except the French- that's because I'm at a French-speaking university), I have learned quite a bit about the calculus of variations. My first introduction was in my mechanics class, through Taylor's Classical Mechanics, and while I found the Euler-Lagrange equation as covered in my class useful, the generalizations I have learned this term could have been and could continue to be useful.

Coulomb Pucks Introduction

My part of the first research project I have been part of was called “Electric charge memory design using finite element methods in Java”.  I worked on this during the summer of 2010 and continued work during that fall term, until I got too busy with my coursework (around the end of October).  This project is led by Professor Andrew Skinner and has involved other students in previous years (currently, spring 2011, my friend Lyle is working on another piece).  I was examining the electric field of a conducting cylindrical disk with rounded edges and a cylindrical central opening.  The majority of the research involved programming and evaluating a numerical model of the electrical potential and electric field in order to gain an understanding of the relationship between the radius of curvature and electric field at the edges of the conductor.  Several particular designs of these disks, “Coulomb Pucks”, were also evaluated.  The goal is for the disks to hold charge as steadily and long as possible when chemically coated with an insulating layer on the exterior surfaces.  The intended application of the final product is to demonstrate and examine electrical properties in physics courses.  An additional product is the program which calculates the fields of the puck which can be re-purposed for a charged conductor of any shape, and can then be applied to future research in the field.

More information on this product will be put on another page, accessible from the right panel; from there, click on "Home" in that panel to get back to the main page (yes, that may seem obvious, but one of these days my grandmother may want to read this, or yours).

Physics and Philosophy Review

Modern physics, the realm of physics containing relativity and quantum theory, set the scientific world buzzing during the first half of the 20th century.  Since it also allowed the creation of the atomic bomb, the entire world became concerned with the matter.  Werner Heisenberg, who played an important role in the development of modern physics (you know- the Heisenberg uncertainty principle) and won a Nobel Prize for his work, considers the philosophical impact of modern physics in Physics and Philosophy: The Revolution in Modern Science.  This book compares the conceptual understanding of reality through the lenses of quantum physics and major philosophers’ formulations.  

Statics of Granular Materials

Hello,
One of the first things I'm going to try to put together on here is an introductory text on granular materials. Everything I know at the moment is based off an independent study I did in the summer of 2010, but as it fascinates me I imagine I will learn more and add to the text.  I am putting it up as a page, so you can get to it from the right- it's beneath "Home". I apologize for the awkwardness of the page, as it is just one giant document, but once I learn how to program internal links, there will be a table of contents at the top. A note on use: you are welcome to use the information and to quote me, but cite your source; if you are using the material when teaching, please send me an email (I just want to know, you are welcome to use it this way); if you are making/plan to make money off of it, get in touch asap so I don't sue/plan to sue you: this is my work, and I'm sure we can come to an agreement.

Book Review: The Red Queen

LONG LIVE THE RED QUEEN

by Jay Brett

Sex permeates the American culture, from our commercials to our political debates. Certainly college students spend a significant portion of their free time searching out or talking about sex. For anyone who is interested in why humans devote so much energy to sex and love and why we find it so challenging to find a good partner, I would recommend skipping Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus and reading The Red Queen: Sex and the Evolution of Human Nature instead.

Current Resume (ish)

Below you will find a version of my resume, containing information geared primarily toward academia and research. Many things are left out here (for instance, I spent a summer selling kitchen knives once), but this is a good overview in case any recruiters are looking for this type of information.

Introduction to me

Hi!

My name is Genevieve Brett, but I generally go by Jay. I am currently an undergraduate student majoring in physics and mathematics through Skidmore College. I say "through" because this term I am abroad at the Universite de Sherbrooke in Quebec, Canada. I am starting this blog to keep track of research projects and ideas and anything that I think would be useful to other people in my field. I am planning to go to graduate school, most likely in applied mathematics, and so I am following Matt Might's advice to blog, as his reasoning seemed justified, and I imagine that any notes I decide are important enough to put here now could be useful in the future.

All right, I'll start putting up more soon, but that's all for now.