Communications of the ACM
Physics Professor a Modern Day 'mr. Wizard'
"My main goal is to help people understand and get excited about science and physics," says Rhett Allain, an associate professor of physics at Southeastern Louisiana University.
Credit: Southeastern Louisiana University
Ever wonder about the energy in a Super Bounce Ball? Or what about the scientific accuracy of those guys on television's Mythbusters program?
Did you ever ponder the question, "Why do mirrors reverse left and right, but don't reverse up and down?"
Physicist Rhett Allain thinks about things like this all the time and has incorporated them into his role as an educator.
Several years ago, Allain, an associate professor of physics at Southeastern Louisiana University, started Dot Physics, a blog that addresses different issues in the realm of physical sciences. He uses his blog topics as examples in his lectures to students. Dot Physics has become a popular feature in "Wired" magazine and on the Internet, receiving over 430,000 hits over the last several months.
In effect, Allain has become Southeastern's own version of "The Science Guy," or — for the older generation — "Mr. Wizard." Allain attracted considerable attention nationwide when he analyzed the physics behind "Angry Birds," a popular game frequently downloaded for entertainment on cell phones and other devices.
"I initially started the blog as an aid for my students to show them how I wanted them to solve problems I presented in class," Allain says. "I enjoyed it so much that I couldn't stop. I just kept finding new ideas, new projects and new problems to analyze."
Most of his posts include photos, graphs, charts and other visuals to help readers understand the discussion.
His colleagues support his efforts. "As physics professors, we try to get our students to 'think physics,'" says Gerard Blanchard head of the Department of Chemistry and Physics at Southeastern. "That is, we want them to see physics at work all around them every day. Allain's blog takes this to a much larger audience."
Allain prides himself on the fact that the ideas and concepts he writes about in his blog are typically laid out in an easy to understand format. When most people hear the word "physics" it brings to mind complicated graphs, laws and principles, he explains, but he works to keep it at a level where everyone can appreciate the science.
"Sometimes I'll post things that are pretty complicated, but most of the time I try to aim for the general public to explain things in terms that anyone can understand," he says. "The topics can range from upper-level graduate issues to something so basic a fifth grader can understand it."
Allain harbors no secrets about the success of his blog, but points out a very interesting way for beginning writers to go about creating a blog and making it work. The key to a successful blog, he says, is to begin by writing for a single audience member — yourself.
"I tell people who are starting a blog that the first person you are writing for is yourself because you might be the only one reading it," he says. "And that's ok. If you start a blog with the intent to get as many people to read it as possible, then it's probably not going to be very successful. But if you're writing it for yourself, and you really enjoy what you're doing, then the success may come later."
Allain says he will continue to discuss his ideas online and hopes others will come to enjoy and learn more about science through Dot Physics.
"My main goal is to help people understand and get excited about science and physics," he says. "I think the blog has done a good job of accomplishing that."
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