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Saul Perlmutter is one of three scientists awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics this morning. This news is exciting enough, but Perlmutter is no ordinary Nobel Laureate. I learned from Eva Amsen that Perlmutter is also a violinist and teaches a course at UC Berkeley titled Physics and Music. From the course description:
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?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.
Glad to see a musician, educator, and scientist becoming a Nobel Laureate. Congratulations to Perlmuttter!