Short History OSU Reflection

Looking back at our projects, I think they went really well and looked very presentable. For my groups project specifically, I thought it flowed very nicely and was well thought out. However, I do think we could have added visuals like the other group did which I felt helped to keep engaged with the project as a whole. For the final project, my group is already planning on adding many pictures and videos to aid the audio. I enjoy the freedom and flexibility of this project as it is a sort of “free for all” where we can express o0ur interests. Overall, I think the short history of OSU project was successful and the final project can only go up from here!

London 3 Pictures 3 Words

Visit Darwin’s Garden

Something that I unexpectedly enjoyed the most about visiting the Down House was Darwins gardens and green house. I really enjoyed strolling around and looking at all of the beautiful plants. It was also really interesting to spend time in a place where Darwin spent so many hours making observations and conducting experiments. This was also just a great opportunity to spend time in a beautiful place outdoors!

 

 

Tour to Ourselves!

Brooke and I scheduled a walking tour to go to all of the famous Jack the Ripper sights. Well turns out the tube systems can be a little confusing at first, so we ended up getting there a late and the tour left without us. Nevertheless we were determined to take the tour into our own hands and walk to the sights ourselves. After about an hour or so in the small (and arguably terrifying) town of Whitechapel, we understood why this place would be a perfect place for a serial killer to live.

 

Zoology is universal.

When I found out London had a Zoology museum, I was very eager to go. The Grant Museum of Zoology was a small museum that held thousands of interesting preserved animals including some rare skeletons. I really enjoyed visiting a museum that had just a zoology focus, i really felt in my element! Another interesting thing about this museum was that you could “adopt” a certain animal which would raise money for conservation, documentation, and renovation of displays. I was really glad I stumbled across this gem in London!

Dr. Mathur Reflection

This evenings speaker was Dr. Mathur and he spoke to us about Stephen Hawking, black holes, and physics. He began his discussion about what the basic definition of a black hole is. A black hole is a a star that collapses in on itself. He then continued describing the basic physics of space. I learned about neutron stars and how they are very large and spin around extremely fast. I thought this was really interesting to think about something so large spinning around thousands of times per second. It makes me think about how many things in space are almost unfathomable to comprehend, which is always fascinating to think about. He then continued discussing several physics and chemistry principles leading into Stephen Hawking’s work in showing that black holes can actually happen. I also enjoyed how he talked about stars size and relation to how hot they are. I learned from him that stars can only be so big; he gave the example how a star cannot be 1000x as big as the sun. He also mentioned that if you see a star in the sky that is blue it not only means it it very hot but it also means that it is very large. It is always interesting to learn things about stars and be able to look up into the sky at night and see something you’ve never noticed before. His explanation of the equation for two objects with mass at some distance from each other was at first confusing but then fascinating when he told us that it was discovered that particles can be made “for free” without cost of energy. This concluded his discussion of basic physics. He then continued the lecture on black holes now with everything he discussed applied. He then discussed Stephen Hawking’s discoveries he made in relation with this. I enjoyed how he taught us basically everything we would need to know to understand these discoveries he made. I learned a lot of new things I didn’t know before, for example the information loss paradox.

 

Overall, I feel that Dr. Mathur made physics interesting and engaging. I also enjoyed how he used the chalkboard instead of a powerpoint presentation. I feel this was more interactive and classic lecture style. I also can tell Dr. Mathur is an extremely knowledge and passionate about the subjects he discussed which also made the talk more interesting.

 

Dr. Kinghorn Reflection

When I found out that Dr. Kinghorn was going to be talking to us tonight about Medicinal Plants, I was really excited about his presentation. As a Zoology major, a lot of my classes are predominately animal focused, but there have been some opportunities to learn about plants and those are some of the classes I have loved the most. Plants really are fascinating with all of their variety and uses.

I enjoyed how Dr. Kinghorn discussed all the common drug names we here everyday came from plants and described their history. I thought it was really interesting because I have always been interested in how drugs are made and what their origins are. It was also very interesting how he described enthnopharmacology and how it relates to so many drugs that are used in the US. It was interesting as well to hear that such a large amount of drugs used in the US can be traced back to plant organs.

Dr.Kinghorn continued his dicussion on what achievements and discoveries were made by different British and French scientists. It is very apparent that these scientists had a great impact on the use of plants in drugs and the development of other uses for other medicinal plants. I also really enjoyed hearing the early experiments/theroies of the uses of these drugs. Many of the stories are very comical and its always interesting to look back and see how far medicine has come. His information on the background of marijuana, THC, and CBD was very interesting and informative. I always enjoy hearing other peoples inquiries on the topic of marijuana.

I am continued to be so amazed by all the intelligent people that are involved in many common things in our world today. It makes me really appreciate the science and hard work that goes into all of these discoveries.

 

 

Dr. Cogan Reflection

Although chemistry has never necessarily been my strong suit, it was interesting to learn the origins of how oxygen was discovered because it is literally all around us all the time. I also enjoyed the discussion of the characteristics of what a genius was. I feel there are many stereotypes that are made about what a genius is or is not. I feel that a genius may not fit a certain mold but may have similar traits to other geniuses and other great thinkers of the time. I also liked the discussion of trying to forget everything you know and come up with what air is. This really puts in perspective that many of these early discoverers did not have much to base their ideas off of. Also, it highlights that these people really had such intelligent ideas about the world and thought differently from others. We can reflect back to the time of these great discoveries to to where we are in science now and really be grateful for all that it was and has become.

Dr. Alber Reflection

Learning about Pasteur in detail and getting to know all the things he have done makes me excited to visit Arbois. It was interesting to hear about his great impact in chemistry with asymmetry, racemic mixtures and chirality because I have been learning about those things in classes for many years now. This discovery then led to his discovery of what fermentation actually is which is a aspect of food science and chemistry that I find interesting. Also, his discovery of vaccines is such an important scientific advancement that has such a significant impact on us to this day.  I always think its interesting to learn about early scientists who essentially had nothing to base their ideas off of and yet they thought of so many things that were found to be true while designing experiments to support it. Additionally, that throughout the presentation, the different cities of France were referenced on a map so that we could understand their distance relevant to where we will be on our trip. It also provides a nice perspective of how close we are to the homes of many discoveries. Overall, it was nice to learn about Pasteur in depth before going to Arbois and hopefully there will be more to be discovered while we are there.

Dr. Breitenberger Reflection

I always enjoy an opportunity to learn about women in history, especially if it has to do with science. It was interesting to learn about the women in the very beginning and where the roots of many things with women in science began. There was one thing in particular that I noticed throughout this presentation and that was, when women are talked about in history, their husbands are always mentioned as well. For example when Marie-Anne Lavoisier was mentioned, it was mentioned that she was the wife of Antoine Lavoisier. For this specific example I understand that her husband helped her in the lab but I feel that when women are mentioned in history, whom they were married to is always mentioned even if they are of no relevance. Also, I feel when men are mentioned in history  when making a scientific discovery their wives are not often mentioned. Not sure if there is actually any significance of this but I just thought that it was interesting how women’s husbands are usually mentioned when talked about in history and correlates to the theme that women were often not given credit/given less credit than men/ adding men alongside women give them more credibility. I would definitely like to know if anyone else notices this or knows more about this? It is just something I couldn’t help but notice

Overall, I really enjoyed this talk. Listening to history of women in science is very engaging and always interesting. I always want to learn more about the amazing things women have done!

Dr. Gnidovec Reflection

Going to Orton Hall for Dr. Gnidovec’s talk was a really awesome experience. I had not spent much time in that building before so it was nice getting to visit it and see the character that it has. I also thought his talk was really interesting and engaging. Previous to his talk, I did not think fossils were very interesting but after hearing what he had to say, it sparked an interest in me. I also enjoyed how he related different artifacts and stories to museums we will go to on our trip. I also liked how he passed different fossils around the room so that we got to see them first hand. Overall, a very surprising and interest experience for me!

Carol Anelli Reflection

Carol’s talk was very interesting and knowledgable. You can really tell she has a true passion and deep knowledge of Darwin. She also knew a great deal about other people, ideas, and events that influenced Darwins theory. I enjoyed how she started from the very beginning with the earliest theorists and philosophers. Additionally I enjoyed how she touched on so many different subject areas (Geology, Theology, History, ect.) that have impacted all the people whom she discussed. This really showed the whole picture of how all of these ideas came to be and why. About mid-way through the lecture the “Finding Darwin” activity was distributed. I thought this activity was a good way to discuss with others about what they know about Darwin and connect information together to answer the questions. Overall, this lecture was informative and engaging; I really appreciated getting a chance to get to know even more about Darwin.

Jan Weisenberger Reflection

Listening to Dr. Jan Weisenberger’s talk was both interesting and inspiring. I especially enjoyed how she started from the very beginning of OSU, regarding history and discoveries, and worked her way to more recent events. Getting to see where OSU originally started and how it has developed over the years historically and scientifically was very fascinating. Additionally, I enjoyed that she highlighted on many women in OSU’s history that have made an impact on science. I feel that it is very important to talk about women in science and discoveries made by women, especially long ago. Overall, I learned a lot from Dr. Jan Weisenberger’s talk and it sparked my interests further into history and science.