Blogger: Gordon Watts
URL: gordonwatts.wordpress.com
First post: December 2006
Who is the blog written by?
Gordon Watts is an experimental particle physicist at the University of Washington in the US. Since mid-2007 he has been on sabbatical at the Centre de Physique des Particles de Marseille in France, and is currently working on the ATLAS detector for the Large Hadron Collider at CERN.
What topics does the blog cover?
Watts writes in the blog that he loves particle physics because it is the perfect intersection of physics, computers and hardware, and these interests are reflected in the subjects he posts about. There is a fair amount about computer programming, which will not mean much to anybody unfamiliar with this topic (and, to be fair, Watts seems well aware of this), but many of his discussions of the physics itself are interesting and accessible to readers outside the field. Like most bloggers, Watts likes commenting on interesting or amusing articles he comes across, and in a recent post drew attention to an article in Science suggesting that a Higgs boson may have already been found — just not the one that everyone is looking for. Understandably, politics has also featured quite heavily of late, as the US primaries are in full swing.
Who is it aimed at?
Primarily other physicists — although even physicists without a very good knowledge of how computers work might struggle with some of the posts. Watts also frequently discusses his family (several of whom are also physicists), food (for instance the superiority of French cheese) and politics, all of which means that there is also plenty to interest the non-physicist.
Why should I read it?
It gives a good insight into life as an experimental particle physicist, and the fact that Watts divides his time between France and the US adds an extra dimension of interest. It is also very useful for particle physicists who want to know where the best sandwiches can be found (the Tastee Sub Shop near Rutgers University, apparently).
How often is it updated?
Every day or every other day, and posts generally run to several hundred words.
Can you give me a sample quote?
They say that [the reason people decide to become physicists] is usually the high-school teacher — if you have a good high-school teacher, it is likely that you will be open to studying that field when you get to university. For me it was my Dad. He is also a particle physicist. He used to take me to work when I was a kid — at 10 years old I got to play with a PDP-10 computer. But a good part of the reason I liked going into Rutgers was the food we’d pick up on the way in. Tastee Sub Shop. I don’t know what it is about their subs that they get so right. The tomato and the oil and vinegar are somehow so much better than anyone else’s. And these things are nothing fancy — just the standard ingredients. Puts the Subway sandwiches I eat when I’m at Fermilab to shame.
