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Education and outreach

Education and outreach

Blog life: Cocktail party physics

03 Aug 2007

Blogger: Jennifer Ouellette
URL: twistedphysics.typepad.com
First post: February 2006

Who is the blog written by?

Jennifer Ouellette studied English at university and says she “stumbled into writing about physics”, eventually becoming a full-time science writer for popular-science and trade magazines. She has written two books: Black Holes and Quantum Cats and The Physics of the Buffyverse, the latter of which attempts to use the TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer to illustrate concepts in physics.

What topics does the blog cover?

Ouellette says the title of the blog comes from a description of her first book, which was a series of short essays mixing concepts in physics with art, literature, history and pop culture. In a more literal sense, the blog contains several recipes for physics-themed cocktails, from the “Laser Beam” to the “Black Hole” (which is so-called because “after one of these, you have already passed the event horizon of inebriation”).

Who is it aimed at?

As an outsider coming into physics herself, Ouellette writes accessibly for non-specialists. But her blog is obviously read by physicists too – she met her fiancé Sean Carroll, a cosmologist at the California Institute of Technology, after they read each other’s blogs. Naturally, the engagement was announced via both Cocktail Party Physics and Carroll’s blog Cosmic Variance.

Why should I read it?

As you would expect of a professional writer, Ouellette’s entries are polished and humorous. Her enthusiasm for science and scientists is obvious; and as she is not confined to one research area, she is free to hop around fields, frequently visiting conferences in search of good stories.

How often is it updated?

Entries are less frequent than on other physics blogs – only one or two per week – but they are also much longer, reading more like fully fledged magazine columns than the usual rattled-off blog posting.

Can you give me a sample quote?

“I must confess to finding it easier to write about applications of physics rather than the basic science. But when I started covering the quantumdots area, I learned some useful things about the ‘electrons and holes’ effect that is critical not just to quantum dots, but also lasers and other semiconductor physics. This is not an easy thing for a layperson to visualize, although physicists toss those terms around like high-school slang.”

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