Skip to main content
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • ’Cuse Conversations Podcast
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
STEM
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • |
  • Alumni
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
Sections
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • |
  • Alumni
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • ’Cuse Conversations Podcast
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
STEM

How physics makes things work is focus of free public event

Thursday, October 8, 2009, By News Staff
Share
College of Arts and Sciences

Louis A. Bloomfield, professor of physics at the University of Virginia, will present “How Things Work: Physics in Everyday Life” at 8 p.m., Friday, Oct. 16, in Syracuse University’s Physics Building Stolkin Auditorium. The lecture is the opening event for the Fall 2009 meeting of the New York State Section of the American Association of Physics Teachers (NYSS-AAPT), hosted by the Department of Physics in SU’s College of Arts and Sciences. 

Bloomfield’s lecture will be preceded at 7 p.m. by “Crushing Physics Demos,” presented by Sam Sampere, physics department laboratory manager. The demonstration will feature the physics of a crushed steel barrel, holes blown through soda cans, shattered wine glasses and more. Both events are free and open to the public. 

The Fall 2009 meeting of the NYSS-AAPT will continue on Saturday, Oct. 17, with presentations by Alan Van Heuvelen, professor emeritus of physics and astronomy education research at Rutgers University; Martin Forstner, assistant professor of physics in SU’s College of Arts and Sciences; and Joseph Zawicki, associate professor of earth sciences and science education at Buffalo State College, State University of New York. Registration information is available at http://nyss-aapt.org/.

Bloomfield is widely recognized for his teaching of physics and science to thousands of non-science students and is renowned for using everyday objects to help non-scientists discover and understand the physical concepts that make things work. He also works extensively with professional societies and the media to explain physics to the general public. He frequently serves as a physics consultant and as an expert witness on legal matters that require a broad understanding of physics and scientific issues.

“The world around us is rich with physics if only we take the time to look,” Bloomfield says. “On my agenda for this lecture are roller coasters, bicycles, clocks and microwave ovens. We’ll use these objects and more to address such important questions as why you feel pressed into the seat as you go over the top of a loop, and why you don’t put metal in a microwave.”

Bloomfield is the author of more than 100 publications in the fields of atomic clusters, auto-ionizing states, high-resolution laser spectroscopy, nonlinear optics, computer science and general science literacy. He wrote “How Things Work: The Physics of Everyday Life,” 4th Edition (Wiley, New York, 2010) and “How Everything Works: Making Physics Out of the Ordinary” (Wiley, New York, 2008).

A fellow of the American Physical Society, Bloomfield is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Apker Award of the American Physical Society, a Presidential Young Investigator Award of the National Science Foundation, a Young Investigator Award of the Office of Naval Research, and an Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship. He received a Ph.D. from Stanford University in 1983 and was a postdoctoral fellow at AT&T Bell Laboratories before arriving at the University of Virginia in 1985.

  • Author

News Staff

  • Recent
  • University Musicians, West Point Band to Perform Together This Weekend As Part of Events Around Military Appreciation Day
    Friday, September 22, 2023, By Christine Weber
  • Turning Young Enthusiasts Into Scientific Researchers
    Friday, September 22, 2023, By Wendy S. Loughlin
  • Languages Unlock Opportunities for English for Lawyers Alumna
    Thursday, September 21, 2023, By Hope Alvarez
  • Fall 2023 Career Week: Helping Students Achieve Professional Goals
    Thursday, September 21, 2023, By Gabrielle Lake
  • A Commitment to Arts and Sciences Excellence
    Thursday, September 21, 2023, By Dan Bernardi

More In STEM

Turning Young Enthusiasts Into Scientific Researchers

Miguel Guzman ’24, a native of Lima, Peru, is a senior biotechnology major in the College of Arts and Sciences with an entrepreneurship and emerging enterprises minor in the Whitman School of Management. His research centers on developing bio-enabled protein…

Center for Sustainable Community Solutions and Environmental Finance Center Announces New Director

The College of Engineering and Computer Science is pleased to announce the transition of Melissa Young into a new role as director of the Center for Sustainable Community Solutions-Environmental Finance Center (CSCS-EFC) at Syracuse University. CSCS-EFC is housed within the…

Civil and Environmental Engineering Professor Attends UN Session on Reducing Plastic Pollution

Civil and Environmental Engineering Professor Svetoslava Todorova attended the second session of the United Nations (UN) Intergovernmental Negotiations Committee on Plastics this summer in Paris, France. Todorova was invited as an academic expert based on her research on the environment,…

Experts Say Federal Agency or Global Organization Should Govern AI, New Survey Co-sponsored by Two University Institutes Finds

A new survey co-sponsored by two Syracuse University institutes finds that a majority of computer science experts at top U.S research universities want to see the creation of a new federal agency or global organization to govern artificial intelligence (AI)….

Q&A With School of Information Studies Dean Andrew Sears: Seeing Countless Opportunities in the Ever-Changing Tech World

In the rapidly changing world of technology, School of Information Studies Dean Andrew Sears knows it’s hard to predict how technology and the iSchool will evolve if you look too far into the future. But, he knows if you pay…

Subscribe to SU Today

If you need help with your subscription, contact sunews@syr.edu.

Connect With Us

  • X
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
Social Media Directory

For the Media

Find an Expert Follow @SyracuseUNews
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
  • @SyracuseU
  • @SyracuseUNews
  • @SUCampus
  • Social Media Directory
  • Accessibility
  • Privacy
  • Campus Status
  • Syracuse.edu
© 2023 Syracuse University News. All Rights Reserved.