Sunday, July 30, 2023
By:
Did you know interning at a library and archives would involve a lot of reading and writing?
I did. And yet, I feel like I somehow managed to underestimate the sheer amount of reading and writing I'd be doing, as I tackled finishing an article draft for Physics Today and putting together my last teaching guide this week.
The reading in question? Scans of the original publications that were groundbreaking in atomic theory: Ernest Rutherford's gold foil experiment, Millikan's oil drop experiment, Niels Bohr's proposition of the model of the atom, and Henry Moseley's rearrangement of the periodic table, to name a few. In digging through these journal articles, I found a new appreciation for my field, and especially for the writers who can put their thoughts to paper coherently (something Millikan especially struggled with).
From here, I kept piecing my last teaching guide on atomic theory together; excerpts from the papers found a home in a student handout, and raving about the things I read found a home being explained wildly to Ruthie, my roommate.
Ultimately, though, I got a draft of an article to Physics Today, and my final teaching guide is nearly done.
As for external fun this week, Wednesday kicked off strong with the world premiere of the symphonic staged concert of the musical RENT at the Kennedy Center, and... wow. I don't know if I'll ever be able to listen to RENT without a full trombone section ever again. Thursday saw the conclusion of LIGHTSPEED, the tabletop role-playing game Emily and I wrote for our intern friends. They were given the goal of stealing a serum before it gets transported to its final location, as it navigates a galaxy on a DC-metro-esque galactic rail system. They bought a ship at a discount from Danny D'Veeto, reunited him with his lost love, and rolled surprisingly well in their daring escape from the facility where the serum was being held. It was a blast to run with everyone, and I can't wait to tweak the game and play it again sometime!
Tonight, just before I wrote this blog, Ruthie, Tiffany, and I went to Union Market for dinner and oat milk soft serve, and I think I'm going to be dreaming about black sesame for the next month.
Here's to Week 10, finishing all my work, and writing my presentation!
MJ Keller