3 Pictures 3 Words Reflection

Salisbury Not Steak!

Something I was unprepared to love so much was the Salisbury cathedral. It was a stop on the way to Stonehenge so I didn’t think much of the idea. But I was stunned at the beauty of it. The gothic architecture was stunning and I am pretty sure we had discussed this cathedral during my history of art classes. I took the time to light a votive candle as well and make a donation which gave me a nice moment to myself to reflect and pray in what used to be a Catholic cathedral.

An Unexpected Cleopatra

When we decided to go to the British Museum, I expected it to be similar to the Natural History museum. At that museum, it had been a lot of models of animals and gems, focusing on the world we currently live in. The British Museum flooded me with historical artifacts and information and I was stunned by everything I saw. I did not expect to see the mummy of Cleopatra! It was incredible. I also really enjoyed the exhibit on Japanese history and the opportunity to see the Rosetta Stone.

 

Row to Myself

Yes it was great to have the leg room, but joking aside it was a unique experience that we had traveling abroad during the beginning of a global pandemic. Nearly empty airplanes, restrictions in stores, and increased flight security were all new and part of our trip. We are so lucky to have returned safely and healthy, but we all had to be aware of our everyday risk behaviors and limit the chances we would pick up a disease. We all shared our hand sanitizers very generously and avoided touching things unless absolutely necessary. Even though we didn’t get to go into Paris, I know it was for the best. We got to see so much about London as a result and dive even deeper into the history and culture that it had to offer.

History of OSU Reflection

During this project, I was amazed at how cohesive it ended up being. It was hard to see until the very end, but we really came together to make a great presentation that flowed in a logical way.

I thought it was amazing that one group was actually able to interview the man who discovered the 22nd amino acid. I wish I had been there to ask questions and listen to the process of how they discovered it in person.

Through my own research, I was really able to learn a lot about OSU’s medical school and the physicians who contributed to it and the medical center. OSU really has produced some amazing people who have made essential contributions to science and the world. It makes me proud to go here and get an education from this university. Hopefully I can one day contribute as these people had.

Dr. Mathur Reflection

I didn’t realize that Stephen Hawking was most famous for proving that black holes violated the rules of quantum mechanics. Honestly, I only knew that he did work with black holes. I did see the movie The Theory of Everything but that didn’t really outline much.

I also didn’t realize the definition of a star was a bunch of nuclear explosions contained by gravity. The fact that black hole formation actually relies on violations of the Pauli-exclusion principle is something I didn’t expect to be brought up, but makes sense. Black hole formation seems to include so many relatively simple physics and chemistry concepts that come together in a crazy way. I have heard of Hawking radiation but had no idea what it was. I had a huge “OHHH” moment after he did the math and showed what it was. It was so cool!

It’s nice to know that our sun will not become a black hole. I don’t know why that’s comforting to me, but it is.

Dr. Klinghorn Reflection

In the beginning, I was intrigued by the progression of opium and its names as it goes from a crude drug to an extract to finally a semi-synthetic. This is the difference between opium and heroin which I was unaware of. I also did not know that the anesthetics used in dental work is based on the cocaine model. Even more surprising is the FDA approval of cocaine HCl as a topical anesthetic in nasal surgery.

I was additionally interested in the discussion of Quinine and Artemisinin-Based Combination Therapy as treatments for malaria. I took Biology 3401 last semester and spent half a semester talking about malaria. We went into detail about the treatments–specifically these two chemicals– and it was nice to see it reiterated as innovations in medicine. It was also nice to see Youyou Tu discussed and credited in both situations.

Dr. Alber Reflection

Dr. Alber is very passionate about the work that she does and is very informed about Louis Pasteur. I was very interested at the amount of info she knew and about its connection to Arbois. I will definitely be eager to hear what she has to say on the trip and during our time in Arbois.

Something that I hadn’t considered was the political influence on his discoveries. Dr. Alber was very knowledgeable and I believe correct in the connection between political climate and the race to discoveries. We still see this today and it would be nieve of us to assume there was no such connection. We focus on the history of scientific discovery a lot in the class, but it is also important to consider the military history, political history, and cultural history so we may but our scientific history into context.

Dr. Cogan Reflection

The discussion of what really makes a scientific revolution happen was interesting to me. To discuss the qualities of a scientist participating in a revolutionary discovery as well as the cultural background necessary for a society to experience it was something I haven’t thought of before. Specifically, I liked the debate we had about the word, “genius”. Not all of the people who made these discoveries of elements during this “chemical revolution” of sorts were considered geniuses. A lot of them simply had the money or the time to dedicate to looking. It’s interesting to apply this to today’s world and be aware of it.

Dr. Breitenberger Reflection

I always knew that women were underrepresented in science, but I also noticed another trend after listening to Dr. Breitenberger’s lecture. If a woman is remembered for her accomplishments, some kind of affair or bad personality often follows. It is as if people back then thought, “if she is to be remembered, then we must also account for her stubbornness or her affairs”. I have seen male scientists’ personal lives also brought into the conversation, but it is with every single woman I’ve heard of that her genius has to be explained with a negative trait. It’s just something I noticed and hopefully I am wrong.

Dale Gnidiovic Reflection

I thoroughly enjoyed listening to this talk. His passion for fossils, minerals, and dinosaurs is evident as he lights up whenever he is describing them. I was fascinated by Ohio’s fossil history. I had no idea how important we were when it came to fossil discovery–especially with mammoths and mastodons. I also had no idea those were two separate organisms…I thought they were all just mammoths! To say I’ve held a tooth from each of them in my own hands is an awesome thing to be able to say.

I was able to ask lot’s of questions and Dale was amazing about answering them. As a kid, I also went through a phase of being pretty hardcore about dinosaurs. Part of me still holds onto that interest. To ask questions guided by the science and knowledge I now have as a college student and have them answered by an expert was an amazing opportunity. I also found it funny that he gets so many people coming to him with their “finds” and how most of them end up being nothing. Granted, I know I wouldn’t be able to to tell the difference between a fossil and some regular stones. It’s good to know someone does though–just in case.

Dr. Anelli Reflection

To begin, I loved her enthusiasm when it came to talking about Darwin. She is incredibly knowledgeable and I think she was a great compliment to the movie. I went into the movie night without any idea of Darwin’s life, but by the end of this week I feel like I have such a deeper knowledge and interest in his life and theories. It makes me excited to see his home in England during the trip.

Dr. Anelli talked a lot about his relationship with his wife which allowed us to fill in the gaps from the movie. I like hearing about who Darwin was as a person, as they are able to derive from his letters, since we sometimes only focus on the discoveries that are made by a scientist. It’s incredible how much dedication people have to chronicling his life through his letters! It is amazing the time and effort that has gone into that project. Overall, I enjoyed the talk and the group discussion as well as the opportunity to ask questions.

Dr. Weisenberger Reflection

I enjoyed this lecture more than I had anticipated. I knew of the sesquicentennial but had no idea the super cool events and pages that the University had put together for it. I was very intrigued by the Research Office’s compilation of 150 researchers who have made an impact over the past 150 years. Learning about the history of OSU was also interesting. This page will be a great resource as I look for advances made in medicine through OSU which I will be researching for our project. It’s amazing how I have spent 4 years here learning about science but had never once stopped to question the history of these scientific discoveries–let alone the ones made here at OSU. I am eager to hear the lecture on space that is coming up here in a few weeks since I know that the researcher is on the list of 150 top contributors at OSU.