Volume 38 • 1 September 2006Lunch with Sir Anthony

Lunch with Sir Anthony (Nobel Prize, Physics, 2003)

When you sit down to lunch with a Nobel Prize winningphysicist, what sort of casual questions do you ask?

“Sir Anthony” do you quip, “do you prefer to think of quan-tum entanglement as a convenient fiction or a manifestationof multi dimensional universes?”

“I prefer to go climbing.” He might well return, in referenceto a lifelong interest in rock climbing. Quite in keeping witharriving to his talk on a bicycle, sporting a backpack - justyour average 68 year old Nobelist!

Well, I did dine beside Sir Anthony Leggett – 1993 physicsNobel laureate – but I decided to limit questions to those thatwould not exaggerate the differences in our understanding ofphysics. That seemed best for both our digestions.

So how does one arrange to listen to Sir Anthony speak ofhis life in physics research and break bread with him after-wards? You have to be one of eighty science teachersselected by Waterloo’s prestigious Perimeter Institute toattend an all-expense paid week in quantum physics ‘bootcamp’. High school teachers from across Canada and as faraway as Australia merged at the Institute for an intenseweek of quantum physics. This is a topic which is sparinglyintroduced in high school physics programs but which is thecornerstone of the Perimeter Institute. It is also whisperedas being at the cusp of a technological breakthrough more

significant than the silicon age, i.e., the age of the computer.

The intent of the summer program is to inform and educatephysics teachers about cutting edge theoretical physics anddevelop curriculum materials suitable for introduction tohigh school students. To accomplish this you immerseteachers in quantum physics in the morning, complete withinteractive lectures and world-class guest speakers – suchas Sir Anthony - and in the afternoon teacher teams distillthe day’s lessons into a potion high school students couldimbibe and enjoy.

Returning to matters of digestion, after listening to humor-ous anecdotes from the extremely approachable SirAnthony on his lifelong passions for rock climbing and phi-losophy, I was enticed away by a luscious dessert table.After years of brown bag lunches and cafeteria food, evenSir Anthony could not keep me from the exquisite fare pro-vided by the Perimeter Institute. As I stood sipping my ‘darkespresso blend’ gourmet coffee (apparently our Canadiancoffee is a bit weak for many of the internationalresearchers at the Institute) I found myself standing besidea slightly disheveled, tousled haired man (not Einstein!) ani-matedly explaining ‘string theory’ to a handful of teachers.

I recognized him as Dr. Lee Smolin, renowned Harvardphysicist and author of two mainstream books The Life ofthe Cosmos and Three Roads to Quantum Gravity. His com-

««« By Dave Doucette Dave Doucette, a physics teacher at Dr. G.W. Williams S.S. in Aurora, is a frequentpresenter at STAO conferences and various Faculties of Education. His writings haveappeared in The Crucible, The Science Teacher and The Physics Teacher. Dave will bepresenting a session on 'Physics of Martial Arts’ at STAO 2006.

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ments on collaboration in a high school program on quan-tum gravity lured me into the conversation. Here I was talk-ing with, perhaps, a future Nobelist! Talk about a rich meal- lunch with Sir Anthony and dessert with Lee Smolin!

What conflagration of errors thrusts a lowly high schoolphysics teacher into such intimate contact with theseparagons of abstract thought? Not random effects or luckbut the measured efforts of those at the Perimeter Institute.The Institute is the inspiration of Mike Lazaridis, co-founderof Research in Motion (RIM), international home of theBlackberry.

Lazaridis founded the Perimeter Institute in Waterloo in1999 with a foundation grant of $100 million. The Insitute’sjoint mission statement is to develop a world-class thinktank for theoretical physics and an outreach program toimprove public appreciation towards science in general andphysics in particular. The first mission is already achieved,with the Institute competing for the same physicists asHarvard, Cambridge, Princeton and MIT. The second is, per-haps, even more challenging... which is how I found myselfdining with Sir Anthony and Dr. Smolin.

The outreach program is the arm of the Institute working tochange public perception of physics and physicists. They dothis through a series of initiatives. I was part of two one-week summer programs for teachers called Einstein Plus.This is followed by two two-week immersion sessions for100 high school students across Canada. The outreach pro-gram runs year-round.

An ongoing series of public lectures by visiting and residentphysics researchers has been phenomenally successful andthreatens to outstrip local faciltities (currently at 550 partic-pants per lecture). The program also goes on the road, withthe amiable and enthusiastic Outreach Director, Dr. DamianPope, making physics both accessible and mysterious inelementary and secondary classrooms across Ontario andCanada.

Damian, a boyish and brilliant physicist with a delightfulAustralian twang, delivered our morning enrichment lec-

tures on core concepts of quantum physics, entanglement,quantum computing, teleportation, relativity and other suchmind-numbing topics. And he made it fun, with interactivewhiteboarding exercises and his hockey-stick pointer (wenever did get the story on that one!).

Damian listened, encouraged and clarified in the afternoonsas we struggled to develop materials for high school. It isnot easy, we soon found, and will likely take two to threeyears to field test and finalize materials. The Instituteintends to make these materials publicly available on theirwebsite once completed.

We ended our week in quantum ‘boot camp’ filled with pur-pose and wonder – and more than just a little gratitude atbeing wined, dined and treated with respect and deference(did I mention the night at Stratford?). We cannot help butreturn as more enthusiastic teachers. Yet that is not enough.The need to modify our teaching practices was also madeclear. The Institute workshopped teachers on methods ofinstruction based on current models of student learning.They encouraged us to move from being the ‘sage on thestage’ to the ‘guide on the side’ — more akin to being a coachthan a conventional teacher. A little like quantum physics –stimulating yet a little intimidating. They encouraged littlesteps... to keep from falling flat on your face, I figured!

So think about it – what do you ask a Nobel Prize winningphysicist as you nibble at your grilled baby corn? Just aboutanything youwant, I found;they aren’tmuch differentthan you and I.Well, exceptperhaps awhole lotsmarter.

Volume 38 • 1 September 2006Lunch with Sir Anthony – Page 2

A teacher-participant takes aim along a state-of-the-art laserdevice during a tour of the Institute for Quantum Computing

(IQC) at University of Waterloo. Photo courtesy of Diana Hall, Bell HS, Ottawa

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