Physics for the 21st Century

A Future with High Technology

Lorita Watson

The beginning of the 21st Century was marked by the The Year 2000 problem, also known as the Y2K problem, or the Millennium bug. It was a problem for both digital (computer-related) and non-digital documentation and data storage situations which resulted from the practice of abbreviating a four-digit year to two digits. Companies and organizations worldwide checked, fixed, and upgraded their computer systems. It is only fitting that the 21st century be marked by problems requiring a technological solution. This is the only beginning of the problems to come as, we face more and more challenges involving energy, sustainability, population, climate change and a host of issues yet to be identified. There is so much to do and we have to create the generation to do it! I advocate on the behalf of STEM for women and minorities, populations that have current low numbers in STEM related fields. What I hope to accomplish as a STEM advocate is to inspire women and minorities to fill the ranks of those studying physics, whether formally or informally. The future promises to be as challenging with as many questions as answers. Who is it that will identify and resolve the questions of the 21st Century? What infrastructure needs to be established to successfully create the many experimentalist, theoretical, observationist that will be required? Physicists are big children who have retained their curiosity and idealism. imagination is more important than knowledge. Resolution of the challenges ahead requires new ways of thinking, as demonstrated in the pursuit of quantum computing. Many notions have been deemed counter-intuitive even, this requires creating, developing, nurturing and supporting cogent minds. Society should be providing the very foundation for success in math and science, to create the many biophysicist, physicists, engineers, in 1 It is Albert Einstein who said,

droves to answer the many questions of tomorrow.

Many of these problems require world wide

scientific collaboration, theorizing, experimenting and analyzing data and the U.S. should commit to producing the tens of thousands of scientist that will lead the way. The last century has led to some remarkable motivated by war and space race. findings and technological innovations,

What will be the motivating factor in the the 21 st century such

that it will be as prolific as the 20th century for America? And as importantly what will be its motivating factor? With the lack of emphasis on STEM: Science, technology, engineering and math, which promotes observation and critical thinking skills it is hard to believe 21st Century America will be without a change in will. The history of physics, the study of basic laws of nature, has been precarious. I attended a high school where all students were required to study physics and it was possible. Flash to today, there persist an infrastructural problems in providing physics at the basic level, a lack of programming . Students may have peripheral knowledge of physics via popular science shows like Nova, and Discovery yet are not actually exposed to the rigorous process of science, Scientific Method , and surely not the mathematical calculations, Calculus. Does the United States hope to lead in this century as it did the last without advanced math and science education? Physics for the 21st Century is a broader study of physics than what was traditionally taught twenty years ago: it consists of subatomic, atomic and molecular, and cosmology. Physics was my major in undergraduate and it was mostly of atomic and molecular level, more aptly Classical Physics. Not much emphasis was put on quantum mechanics, there was plenty of theoretical, dominated by calculations, more than experimental. 21st Century physics requires elaborate expensive experiments, it branched out in both ways because of the scales, to include subatomic extremely small and 2

cosmology, extremely vast.

Institutions require massive investment in resources to properly fund a

physics program. While the breadth, of physics has grown, unfortunately it is a discipline that students are required to study less and less in high schools, subsequently colleges physics programs have less and less candidates. While Physics and Math are at the core of future success in the United States,
1

physics is deemed the liberal arts of high technology. their programs.

More physics departments are discontinuing

Furthermore, we as a nation should look to build capabilities in Math and Science, physics is a math laden topic, especially at the theoretical level and sooner or later one has to deal with the math. A particular draw for today's students could be the emerging physics, considering today's mp3, telecommunications, and lasers among a few items that have changed our very existence. By

exploring today's technology and how they came about; the why and how, while researching and developing future emerging technologies one can motivate students interest in the physical sciences. Government funding was instrumental in the success of the of war efforts as it was later in the 1960's space effort. During World War II many physicists were redirected to the war effort, military airplanes, It was not

industrial complex; subsequently advances resulted in a myriad of industries: manufacturing, weaponry, medicine, cars, communication, computers, and agriculture.

again until the 1970's that the lofty pursuit of of the what and why's of the universe were revisited by a loose group of physicists who decided to explore quantum physics, or modern physics.
2

Physics popularity has waxed and waned over the last century. This latest revival is marked by the first decade of the 21 Century, by more technological innovations than all other centuries combined
1

Kaiser, David, How the Hippies Saved Physics Kaiser, David, How the Hippies Saved Physics 3

in new materials, systems, medicines, transportation and communication. The 21st Century promises to be even more productive as long as a strong commitment to physics among other sciences is practiced. I found it interesting that once computers, when considered monotonous, low skilled and low wage work, was dominated by women. As a matter of fact, I had the pleasure of meeting Admiral Grace Ada herself, a pioneer in computers. Yet, today it is male dominated for the opposite reasons, it is considered challenging and lucrative. Today for those reasons the lucrativeness and challenges of the field today's women should consider it as a viable career option, particularly studying and researching quantum computing. But to even consider this at the university levels women must be properly prepared at the K-12 level. The historical role of women in the computers further my resolve to continue in my efforts in increasing the number of women in the field with a greater emphasis on the many challenges ahead for them to problem solve. There is a vast need to build an infrastructure to support a pipeline of women and minorities into high technology. It is a very exciting time for 21st Century physicists. Some discoveries, or should I say theoretical experimental correlation may take a lifetime, as with the The Higgs Boson, god particle. Future efforts may result in equally significant discoveries. While acknowledging a need for a new way of thinking and envisioning the universe we still look for one universal solution to both classical and quantum theories, namely String Theory. Imagining one answer to all there is in the world is

mind boggling, systems does not compute, but in physics, well science that is OK. One may have a life time or two to answer the question and discover a few surprises along the way. Such that the breadth of physicists is larger than ever, one can not discount the historical findings and discoveries of classical physics, subatomic and molecular can be taught at the high school 4

level, later introducing subatomic and cosmology in college. Classical physics can continue to be the basis of what is originally taught in secondary level physics while exploring overall theories and breadth of 21st Century physics, hoping to motivate students to pursue a field of study in physics at the University level.

The United Stated is said to suffer from a skills gap, some would say an education gap in math and science.
3

Companies lack candidates they can train on their increasingly complex and

complicated machinery, some even require programming. If we want the economy to improve as well as the quality of life there is a real need to increase the pipeline to the University science programs. We need more career and college ready students, this requires rigorous programming at the K-12 level as well as preparing teachers who are proficient in the math and sciences to train them. So at last its a multi-level problem that society has let exasperate over decades. More funding needs to go to schools to increase rigorous programming; furthermore we need to look at revamping the traditional schooling to include schoolless learning to help increase these numbers. Recognizing these shortfalls, we can look at innovative ways to vamp up student numbers, using blended learning much like Physics for the 21st Century, written materials , video lectures at home, while increasing the number of in class recitations and hands-on laboratory and a social media component. Strategies such as mentoring, co-ops and internships as well as tours to world class facilities and universities for women and minorities students may increase interest and grow competencies in the sciences.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/25/magazine/skills-dont-pay-the-bills.html?pagewanted=1&h p 5

Technology in this century has so many possibilities: the discovery of new materials, so many possibilities hard to fathom, and digital information which can result in new ways of design, genetic information which can lead to more effective targeting of diseases leading to less evasive,

procedures, shorter and less costly hospital stays. Significant progress is likely across a broad spectrum of technologies, such as quantum computing that can result in secure transactions and communications, it has so many far reaching possibilities, dynamic processing of information. These technologies have implications for national security which has tremendous funding, as well as e-commerce, finance , and banking that can possibly redefine what we know as money. The 21st Century began with geeks scrambling to offset the Y2K glitch. So how will the century come to a close? What will read on the atomic clock? How these challenges are met will depend on America's will, much like the Space Program. What we don't know in science is OK! It is not only a discipline for the curious, creative, imaginative, but for those who enjoy problem solving in all its manifestations. The future calls for all America's will to develop as many scientists as possible

to meet the challenges of the 21st Century Physics, including enlisting populations; women & minorities, who have been traditionally excluded. Resources Kaiser, David, How the Hippies Saved Physics

Mueller, Richard, What our Next President Need to Know Physics 101: What our next President Need to Know http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxCSkckihDk http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2010/22/image/a/ 6

http://spartandaily.com/92297/against-the-odds-sjsu-women-excel-in-engineering http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/25/magazine/skills-dont-pay-the-bills.html?pagewanted=1&hp