Author Archives: Max Dopsch

A New Look at an Old Question

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I thought that Mr. Sloan’s presentation on the trial of Galileo was very well done and pretty interesting.  One reason for this is that I’m simply fascinated with how all of these different astronomers arrived at their various conclusions, which Mr. Sloan explained rather well.  I’m a physics major, so this stuff is right up my alley.  Another reason why I found the talk to be thought-provoking is that it spoke to an issue that resonates with me personally.  I come from a somewhat religious family and went to a Jesuit high school, where religion was at the center of the education.  So the idea of whether science stands opposed to religion has been somewhat answered for me through my experience–as far as I can tell, the answer is no.  My education has been something of a testament to that.

But anyway, back to Galileo.  I ultimately do agree with Mr. Sloan’s conclusion with regard to the Galileo case.  It appears to me that political and other cultural factors played a much bigger role in the opposition to Galileo’s heliocentric model than any sort of religiously substantive dispute did.

Food for Thought

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Has somebody else made that pun yet?  I’m sure somebody else thought of that already.  Meh, I’ll keep it.  Anyway.

I thought that this Becker-Rose Café was nice because it is directly relatable to a facet of our everyday lives.  I’ll be honest, this was probably the least interesting one that I’ve been too in quite a long time–while I of course see the value of various food initiatives, I don’t find them particularly invigorating.  That said, I eat at Rose a handful of times every week and last week’s café has helped enhance this experience.  This is for two reasons: first of all, it’s nice to get a deeper understanding of the faces behind the food that I get to enjoy.  Secondly, I;m much more aware of the thought processes that go into what ends up on my plate.  Being aware of these processes has actually made me more likely to go along with the (healthy) logic behind them.  For example, I hadn’t noticed that the selection and layout of the food in the hall is designed to make me want to focus on vegetables.  Now that I am aware, however, I have been consciously deciding to put more vegetables on my plate.  It makes me appreciate Rose that much more–not only the tastiness of the food, but also the concern for the welfare of the students behind it.

Sea Glass

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Professor Harvell’s presentation of the Blaschka Glass models and her documentary work of them providing an interesting look into the way that science is connected to history.  Oftentimes, when we think of science here at the university, we tend to look at it as independent of time (physics majors, please resist the relativity joke).  Even when we do think about the temporal component of science, we only use time in the evolutionary sense.   Besides those of us in rather niche programs like STS, we rarely look at the history of science and how we got to our current level of knowledge.

My appreciation for Professor Harvell’s presentation is that it addresses this precise gap in the typical lenses that we use to look at science.  It’s quite an interesting this to see how people in the mid-19th century imagined the creatures of the deep, and it’s remarkable to learn that we are still using their models as the standard from which we search the seas.

Additionally, the artistic component of the glass pieces is also astonishing, though this warrants less explanation.  Both the detail, accuracy, and unqualified beauty of the pieces is extraordinary.  To this point, when Professor Harvell’s asked us to identify which image contained a glass piece and which contained an actual organism, I guessed incorrectly, as did other seated near me.

A Common End to an Uncommon Story

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Seeing Amy was a pretty good way to spend time in the lull preceding Fall Break.  Before I go any further, a general public service announcement: Cornell Cinema is awesome and more people should take advantage on it.  I typically go at least once a month and I can’t recommend it enough.  Cool theater, cheap tickets, good film selection.  Check it out. (Disclaimer: I don’t work for the Cinema.  Really.)

As for the documentary that we saw on Thursday night, Amy was a really interesting look into the life of a superstar who suffered a tragically common fate.  I thought that the documentary started out slowly at first as it laid out the exposition for Amy Winehouses’s rise to fame.  The thing that I appreciated most in this part was a greater understanding of her musical roots.  As a musician, hearing her perform jazz as a teenager really sheds light on the motifs and stylings that she would later work into her pop hits.  And of course, while it’s not the most entertaining to watch, this exposition is necessary to show how she really was just a sweet kid at heart–making her death that much more tragic.

The latter part of the documentary depicts her struggle with drugs and alcohol.  While this section moves much more forcefully, it’s much more in line with the typical story of a person who struggles with the limelight. This makes the overall focus of the film not so much about a particularly devastating period of time for one women, but rather about the innocence that was lost on the way.

Connecting with the Past

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I thought that Garrick’s tour was a lot of fun and quite informative as well.  From an actual learning experience standpoint, I actually liked the opening talk about Cornell’s history the most.  I had no idea that the origins of Ithaca had to do with its accessibility from the ocean via Cayuga’s connection to the Erie Canal (I did know that you could reach the St. Lawrence Seaway from the southern tip of Cayuga, but that’s only because I was looking at a rather large map of the area down at the sailing center a couple of weeks ago).  I had never before pictured the trade origins that contributed so heavily to Ithaca’s establishment, in addition to the abundance of harvestable energy in the form of waterfalls.  The image in my head of people sailing goods down Cayuga Lake is a rather cool one.  I actually instructed in one of the small boat sailing PE classes this semester, and having spent a lot of time in the same body of water (albeit in a much smaller boat) was rather cool.

The other highlight for me was the War Memorial room.  As a member of Naval ROTC, I have a lot of appreciation for everything that goes into that room, the memorial, and Cornell’s connection to the military.  Fun fact for anybody who’s curious about the War Memorial: there are 264 names of Cornellians inscribed there.  There were actually 265 to die in the war though–one went home and fought for Germany.  His name, unsurprisingly, is not there.

Cayuga’s Waters… and Land

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Prof. Cheyfitz opened his conversation up with a question (which I’ll paraphrase here): who in this room is aware that we are standing on Cayuga land?  Not too many people in the class raised their hand, the total number certainly comprising a minority.  I did the classic half-way gesture–as soon as a thought about it, of course I was on Cayuga land.  But that was pretty much the first time I had ever thought about it.

Herein lies the problem with the way that most of us view Indian history in regard to our current situation.  It’s just not at the front of our minds to the extent that it ought to be.  For this reason, I found Prof. Cheyfitz’s talk to be very worthwhile.  In addition to him just being a wonderfully engaging speaker, the content that he presented was thought-provoking and informative.  In a short hour, my knowledge of the current situation of the Indian peoples increased by an order of magnitude.

The most interesting argument that the professor made was with regard to the use of the term genocide.  He takes the term to extend beyond its normal usage.  While I find his usage contentious, I definitely appreciate another potential avenue to look at this issue.

Finding a Different Takeaway

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I find myself in a somewhat unique position regarding Professor Schwarz’s talk at the Becker-Rose Café on Wednesday night.  Being in Naval ROTC, I’m not particularly concerned about finding a job because I already know what I’ll be doing after graduation.  I have a minimum five year active duty service commitment as an officer in the U.S. Navy, so the whole searching for internships thing isn’t very relevant to me.  The way I see it, Professor Schwarz’s talk doesn’t necessarily have to be interpreted as a plan for professional success.  His wisdom works equally well for personal success, and certain parts of his discussion really showed how much he stresses that it’s not all about the end goal.  I personally noted this in how often he reminded the crowd–a bunch of over-achieving Cornellians–that this whole journey is supposed to be fun and enjoyable.  While I don’t have to look for a job in three years, I certainly have my fair share of work to do in the meantime, and Professor Schwarz’s advice is rather appropriate in that light.

I think that viewing the Professor’s talk as more of a whole-person advisory than a professional manual is important.  That’s not to imply that everybody is taking it that way, but I certainly see how some could.  Cornell is definitely a place where people can take themselves too seriously, so remembering to laugh a lot and enjoy the ride is a solid piece of wisdom that many may otherwise forget.