Schrodinger, his cat, and me…

Last night I worked a bit late and thought I would step out of my office to find a quiet office suite.  Instead, in the fishbowl conference room in the middle of our floor, a Professor led a class lecture about Quantum Mechanics (because of the space ‘crunch’ at our university, even the administrative conference rooms are used as classrooms after-hours).  I stood there, looking through the window at the prof’s powerpoint slides for a good 10 minutes until I peeled myself away to head home (if I hadn’t had the kids to care for, I probably would’ve lingered even longer).  His lecture about Schrodinger’s equation brought back fond memories from high school when I first learned about quantum mechanics via this book that I swiped from my father’s bookshelves (oh, and then there were those eager conversations with my Chemistry teacher afterwards, too, as I tried to make sense of what I was learning)…

It’s a thrill to know that the faculty that I rub shoulders with on a daily basis are doing such path-breaking work.  And that I get to eavesdrop on their lectures (and aid with their pedagogy and research through my administrative position) is similarly thrilling.  I’m not cut out to be a Physicist, but I know a thing or two about cats and boxes (and cats in boxes), and I remember when I first encountered Schrodinger’s cat and realized that my view of the world would never be quite the same again.

Image of my favorite Ellykitty in a box.