Berkeley Prof Wins Nobel Prize for Physics

College Search & Selection
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<p>Saul</a> Perlmutter awarded 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics</p>

<p>GO BEARS!!</p>

<p>Prize is shared with another team of two researchers (one being a Johns Hopkins professor).</p>

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<p>Great for Cal, but all three winners have one thing in common…Harvard! Harvard just added three laureates to its illustrious list!</p>

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<p>Does he teach undergraduates?</p>

<p>Has he ever taught undergraduates?</p>

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<p>What a most irreverent and irrelevant question!</p>

<p>Of course, he taught undergraduates. See <a href=“http://ls.berkeley.edu/?q=node/514[/url]”>http://ls.berkeley.edu/?q=node/514&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Such announcement deserves a special mention:</p>

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<p>Please applaud the fact that at Berkeley, he has developed a course for non-scientists on “Physics & Music.”</p>

<p>Does the Campanile sound out of tune to you? What does this have to do with our understanding of the Big Bang? And how would thinking about this help me to write a better English essay, defend an innocent person accused of murder, save the world from the next plague, or at least understand why my friend can’t carry a tune?</p>

<p>Physics and Music is a course designed to help students think about how to approach the world with the eyes, ears, and mind of a scientist. We will use the domain of music and sound to ask what we can learn about the nature of reality and the methods that we humans have developed to discover how the world works.</p>

<p><a href=“http://lsdiscovery.berkeley.edu/detail_archive.php?identity=330[/url]”>http://lsdiscovery.berkeley.edu/detail_archive.php?identity=330&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>I think it is very impressive that he is the 5th Nobel Prize winner from Cal in the past 11 years. There goes another parking spot! My S was sure happy… they cancelled his Physics class today because of this.</p>

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<p>can you imagine this…died 3 days before prize was announced…but for the first time it will be awarded post-humously! for his work treating the disease that eventually killed him</p>

<p>[Dead</a> Nobel medicine winner to keep prize - Health - Health care - msnbc.com](<a href=“http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44755546/ns/health-health_care/t/dead-nobel-medicine-winner-keep-prize/]Dead”>http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44755546/ns/health-health_care/t/dead-nobel-medicine-winner-keep-prize/)</p>

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<p>Remember this thread when another discussion pops up about Cals demise vis a vis, say, USC or Stanford.</p>

<p>Go Bears.
PS in my own undergraduate days at Cal, I took courses from 2 Nobel laureates. So much for those stories how the big professors dont teach “kids.” Maybe they dont at Harvard, but they did and do at Cal.
Go Bears.</p>

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<p>^^</p>

<p>LOL. Sarcasm does not work well. We should remember how claiming someone who spends little to no time TEACHING as a bona fide professor is utterly ridiculous. A seminar for NON SCIENTISTS every few years? Big deal. </p>

<p>There are reasons why this eminent scientist is hanging his shingle at Cal, but teaching is the furthest one possible. LBNL is his home.</p>

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<p>George Smoot, Cal’s last physics prof to win a Nobel Prize taught undergrads … photographic evidence is here (last photo):
[George</a> F. Smoot - Photo Gallery](<a href=“http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/2006/smoot-photo.html]George”>http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/2006/smoot-photo.html)</p>

<p>Xiggi, Alex Filippenko, a prof who worked closely with Perlmutter is a fantastic, engaging teacher and teaches quite a few undergrad classes. </p>

<p>If you don’t like the “Physics & Music” class, perhaps you’d like the “Physics for Future Presidents” class:
[Physics</a> for future Presidents](<a href=“http://physics.berkeley.edu/academics/Courses/physics10/teaching/Physics10/PffP.html]Physics”>http://physics.berkeley.edu/academics/Courses/physics10/teaching/Physics10/PffP.html)</p>

<p>;)</p>

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<p>UCB, I have no doubt that there are high profile professors who teach undergrads at Cal. At the same time, I know that most such professors, both at Cal and at other elite universities (including small private ones such as Chicago, Columbia, Harvard and Stanford), avoid teaching undergrads as much as possible. I do not understand why anybody brought this subject up.</p>

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<p>xiggi:</p>

<p>while you see the glass half-xxx, I see it the other way. The fact that a now-Noble Laureate teaches a non-major, intro class is beneficial for ALL undergrads at Cal, including foreign language majors, English majors and even ECON majors. All students can experience physics from one of the great scientists of our time. Win-win, IMO. (Such courses fulfill GE/distributive requirements, which all students must take.)</p>

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<a href=“http://legacy-cdn.smosh.com/smosh-pit/052011/haters-hate-monkey.jpg[/url]”>http://legacy-cdn.smosh.com/smosh-pit/052011/haters-hate-monkey.jpg&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>See Post One in this thread! </p>

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<p>Bluebayou, I do not have a problem with THAT fact. I do have a problem with pretending that this scientist is a DEDICATED teacher. I do not have a problem that a research university acts … like one! Hiring this scientist to head a very important research project for the US government is a decision for Cal to evaluate. It is obvious that Cal as the manager of the LBNL has to provide the necessary staff. But let’s recognize that this staff is dedicated to their projects and their research, and NOT to the education of students, except for a bit of PR and “feel-good” token classes. </p>

<p>Alexandre is correct that this is not an isolated issue, but it does not make it less of an issue that lacks all transparency. A researcher teaching a “fun” class is it what it is. If Greg Mankiw decides that the best use of his time would be to “teach” a class of balancing a checkbook at Harvard, so be it. I would think that teaching advanced Econ to advanced Econ majors would be better; that is just me. I fail to understand why this Nobel winner does not teach advanced undergraduate Physics majors at Cal, but again that is just me!</p>

<p>Nothing will stop cheerleaders of an institution to applaud the amazing recognition of winning a Nobel prize. And, nothing will stop others to take a critical look at the fact that most high-prized researchers are accidental teachers and have little to no impact on the undergraduate department. </p>

<p>As everything in the analysis of higher education, it all depends on the lenses one decides to wear. It is what it is! And it is an issue that lacks the most basic transparency. It would not be bad to have a current tally of the hours taught by this researcher during his tenure at Cal. Dark matter and black holes come to mind!</p>

<p>Fwiw, the proof of the pudding is in the eating. Let’s revisit this issue in two years and measure the dedication to teaching by adding the classes targeting undergraduates that will be led by this scientist. Does not get any simpler than that. My take is that it will be quite similar to the number of classes led by Aaron Rodgers on throwing a frisbee.</p>

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But this particular Nobel Prize winner developed an undergraduate course for non-majors. I think this classifies more than “little to no impact” on the undergraduate department. I’m proud Berkeley seems to be an exception to the “fact” that most high-prized researchers are accidental teachers. Perhaps this is why Berkeley has been rated highly on USNWR’s “dedication to undergraduate teaching” ranking? </p>

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Haha! You haven’t taken the course. Why be so dismissive of it? </p>

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Cal needs and deserves some good news.</p>

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Being a public university, you can check some of these things quite easily.
Looking at the online schedule of courses for Spring 2012, Cal’s two most recent Nobel prize winners will be teaching undergrads. Econ Nobel Prize winner Oliver Williamson will lead the Senior Honors Thesis and Saul Perlmutter will teach his “Physics & Music” class to undergrads.</p>

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Liability might be too high with arm this strong:
[Week</a> 4: Aaron Rodgers highlights](<a href=“http://www.packers.com/media-center/videos/Week-4-Aaron-Rodgers-highlights/546a3fcd-29ca-4c5e-be64-9ad772e76d8b]Week”>http://www.packers.com/media-center/videos/Week-4-Aaron-Rodgers-highlights/546a3fcd-29ca-4c5e-be64-9ad772e76d8b)</p>

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<p>Saul Perlmutter, Prof. of Astrophysics, U.C. Berkeley
A.B. 1981 from Harvard College
Ph.D. 1986 from U. C. Berkeley</p>

<p>Brian Schmidt, Professor, Australian National University
B.S. 1989 from University of Arizona
Ph.D. 1993 from Harvard University</p>

<p>Adam Riess, Professor of Physics & Astronomy, Johns Hopkins
B.S. 1992 from MIT
Ph.D. 1996 from Harvard University</p>

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<p>Perhaps that IS just you, my good friend. Several decades ago, a guy named Seaborg (as in Glenn on the Periodic Table of Elements), used to personally teach Frosh Chem at Cal. He personally chose to teach Intro Chem, not the advanced or honors course. He wanted to teach Intro Chem. He used to say something to the effect that, 'chem has been my life…and if I can’t get 18-year-olds excited about chemistry…" </p>

<p>Intro Chem was all that Glenn Seaborg taught (in addition to research and grad courses). He even showed up in the Frosh lab sections – driving the TA’s crazy – to help the non-advanced Frosh students.</p>

<p>Yes, he could have taught advanced Chem to upper division students, but chose not to. </p>

<p>It just depends on how you look at the half-filled glass.</p>

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<p>btw: Not sure who those folks are…outside of LACs and colleges like the Cal States, research predominates at the University level (by definition).</p>

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<p>Ugh…people have a reputation that Berkeley has giant class sizes and distant professors.</p>

<p>Smoot taught Physics 7B when I was at Cal 2 years ago–AFTER his Nobel prize. That’s Physics II for Scientists and Engineers which every engineer/scientist/mathematician has to take.</p>

<p>You’ve got all these humanities people putting down Berkeley. Its annoying. If you want to study philosophy, poli sci or whatever go do it somewhere else, say at Harvard or Yale. But nobody, and I mean nobody, beats berkeley for EECS.</p>

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<p>Or how deeply colored the tinted lenses are when looking at teaching sinecures. Half-filled or half-empty glasses do not change a iota about the classes and their targeted audiences.</p>