A Physicist’s Travels

September 11, 2009

Being a particle physicist requires a lot of travel. In general, being a scientist means going to conferences, visiting other institutions, and collaborating with a global network of colleagues. The tools of particle physics tend to be consolidated at single locations, rather than at one’s home institution. As a result, particle physicists do a lot of commuting and telecommuting. Since the latter is still catching up with the quality of the former, we drive and fly all over the place.

For a long time, I’ve wanted to put a big Mercator projection of the globe on a wall and stick pins in it. Each pin would indicate a place I have been in my life (for more than just 1 day – I’ve been to plenty of airports just to connect). It would give me a sense of just how much running around I’ve been doing, largely in the name of science. The only reason I saw Wisconsin was because I wanted to pursue a Ph.D. in physics. I went to California not for the dot-com explosion but for the mini big bang being created at the PEP-II collider at SLAC. I went to Texas to be an instructor and a researcher. I went to Montreal to give a seminar. I went to Uppsala in Sweden to participate in a workshop on an electrically charged Higgs boson.

What brought me to Missoula, or Grand Island, or Ely? Each pin is a story, if not a collection of them. Think of the tales you can tell the person who looks at your map.

I owe a lot of my exposure to the world to physics. I expect a great deal more I as continue to grow in this field. Meanwhile, I’ll share with you my little life map – my digital Mercator projection with push-pins.

View Life Map in a larger map

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