Living with Science

With great clarity do I remember when I first became enamored by science; the first time I just simply "got it", that initial "A-ha" moment - it was love at first conceptualization.  From a young age, my interest in science was piqued, and with time, this interest only became stronger.  And now, today, what was once simply interest is now, more or less, a complete lifestyle.  However, I can ramble on about protocols and experiments complete with positive and negative controls in the kitchen and elsewhere, or I can stop where I am and redirect to something completely different.

 

Oscillatory Pressure 

I've been playing the piano since I was eight years old.  The lessons I have learned through playing the piano for over twenty years have been invaluable.  I've learned the simplistic view of music: sounds blending together, silence breaking up the sounds, melodies, harmonies, phrases, etc.; the view one sees when reading a musical score.  But I've found there to be more depth than that.  There are patterns, waves, resonance and dissonance, timbre, and aesthetics.  Things that alter the way one feels about the music.  


Many of the feelings music carries are in the dynamics, but sometimes the different sounds from different instruments attacking and sustaining the same note can make a world of difference.  I discovered this first hand, but not behind the ivory of a piano.  Rather, my experiences as a trumpet player in the jazz band, concert band and orchestra developed my sense for the emotion a piece can carry.  

The emotional power harnessed by music was only one of the reasons I decided to learn to play guitar.  While there is something inherently relaxing about sitting down and playing through a sonata or two on the piano, there are emotions that the piano does not capture the way a guitar can.  Once again, it's the attack and decay that make all the difference in perception. 

 

Statics and Dynamics 

I had one sole function on the team.  I was fast.  I was small.  I had good stick control.  When the ball dropped, I would swiftly dart in, avoiding the long stick defense, to scoop the ball, then dodge the six foot sticks and other mid-fielders as I trucked the ball from one goal over to our attack at the other goal.  Throughout my three seasons of lacrosse, I made this run many times, each with it's own interesting twist... usually how I ended up getting checked.

While I love to think about the force required to accelerate a ball to the high speeds it travels at, my favorite application of engineering to extracurricular activities was with Jiukido Jiujitsu.  I practiced Jiukido Jiujitsu for three years while attending Georgia Tech.  The basis of most of this martial art was the manipulation of one body to have the mechanical advantage over the other.  Similarly, while practicing Shinobi Ninjutsu and Cobra Kai - Shaolin Kung Fu, mechanical advantage, stress, and strain were all factors that were considered on a more personal level. 

 

Maximum Potential

I was seventeen when I earned my Eagle Scout rank in the Boy Scouts of America.  That was the same year when I trekked through the mountains and desert of Cimarron, New Mexico at the Philmont Scout Ranch for ten days.  In previous years I had explored the Boundary Waters and Quetico by canoe.  One year we traveled over eighty miles in six days.


Since moving to San Diego, I've been able to hike more readily so hiking has become a frequent activity.  I find that while I'm hiking I am observing the wildlife and plant life, trying to identify what I can and make note of what I could not.  I always hiked prepared, leaving armed with good hiking boots, medical tape, phone, sunscreen, hat, and Camelbak.  While I'm not sure one gets high on a mountain top, I can assure you, that at the top, that person has reached his or her maximum potential.

 

Wave-Particle Duality

While I was living in Atlanta, I was a member of the Atlanta Botanical Gardens, a place where I went to decompress from the stresses of graduate school.  I'd often stroll around taking pictures with my Canon Powershot, usually ending up in the orchid room, which I have to say is the best orchid room I have ever been to.  I loved the complexity of the orchids, and capturing them as pictures proved to be rather challenging.  

When I heard about the orchid show, I immediately rearranged my schedule to be there.  And I was, equipped with my camera and some filters and magnifying lenses from my dad's camera kit.  What I came home with are still some of the best pictures I have taken.  

The Single Lens Reflex camera I first learned about aperture, speed, and ISO was my dad's Canon F-1, which he used in the mid-1970s.  It was completely manual, which was okay, as I wasn't using it for anything important, however inconvenient and expensive since I had to use film.  

Eventually I was able to purchase a dSLR, which would allow me to use what I knew from the F-1 along with convenient automated features.  Having this camera increased my photo output ten-fold.  I educated myself on how to improve my photography and went on day trips practicing the different styles I had read about.  The predominant theme that seems to come out of my photography is less artistic and more scientific.  The subtlety can change the way one perceives the image, and the main objective in taking pictures is to convey a message that another will perceive.