Bagpipes : )

 “And yet, it just won’t go away:

I feel it and cannot understand it;

Cannot hold on to it,

Nor yet forget it;

And if I grasp it wholly,

I cannot measure it!”  - Richard Wagner

(Wagner’s words copied from intro panel of Roger Jones’ book. *)

This week, I am registering for classes.  I am thrilled to learn that senior citizens receive major tuition discounts (my vanity caused my fingers to hover - actually hesitated - over the key pad before typing the word senior).  At University of Michigan, I can take all the classes I want for a flat rate of $2,000.00.  A person 65 or older may do the same at U of M for $1,000.  Wayne State University allows a seventy-five percent discount.  Ah, my Scottish heritage kicks in when I hear tidings such as these motivating me to make several calls.  Each university contacted has such programs, different, but like U of M, lower costs for tuition thus giving me several choices of where to complete my beginning courses.  I am looking for introductory levels in both astronomy and physic making a community college a possibility.  But, I want an interesting, exciting class – both Wayne State and University of Michigan have their own planetariums.  For me, there is nothing worse than listening to a lackluster presentation coupled with makeshift labs that do not seem real.  Still, I may take the community college route to build confidence.

I desire to come out of this first term with an understanding of the basic elements that link me (and ultimately culture) with science (I’ve chosen to spotlight astronomy and physics).  Oh perhaps, if I am intrigued enough in a particular area, over time - years - I will master the intricacies of some technology but that is not my intention.  I would rate myself illiterate in physics and I find that fact to be intolerable.

If I am blessed (some may say cursed), I have, maybe, twenty years of life left; so, physics literacy definitely is attainable.  Further on, I would like to be able to relate science to the spirit and meaning of life.  I believe science has a responsibility toward this question.  To my knowledge, this discipline (revered as it is) has never offered an answer to the purpose of human existence.    Roger S. Jones (former Professor of Physics University of Minnesota) wrote in 1992:  “The character of a miracle, however, cannot be judged by whether or not it complies with the known laws of science.”   Has this changed within science?  In my past experience, science was always kept separate from the humanities.  Will I discover that division still exists? 

Science has transformed my world; I am being asked to embrace personal change and political views based on what the “experts” have shared with me.  No, let me correct the word “asked”, instead technology has radically split reality without cultivating my soul (the spirit of living) and with zero input from me.   I want to add to the discourse as I learn.  Definitely a lofty goal, my intent to write about science but after all, a physicist is human and science is a human endeavor. Well, at least I have found one commonality – our humanness  : )

Since the technological revolution has needed funding and support, I expect science to demonstrate humility toward my effort to be educated.   After all, there is ability aside from all the good scientific advances has afforded us, to also blow us to smithereens. 

I am intimidated; this coupled with a sincere quest to have intelligent awareness of an area of study that I have ignored, should make me work hard.  I do not want to accept the next far-reaching discovery without any thoughtful reflection as to what I am gaining along with what I may be giving up.  Enough though, for now, I need to select the proper class for this term and if you are a reader younger than I, there are some benefits to age – my tuition costs less than yours.

*Jones, Roger, S.  Physics for the Rest of Us.  New York: Fall River Press, 1992 (2011 edition).