What do you do?

Jim, My main interests were in the earliest and latest stages of stellar evolution (much earlier/later than the current middle-aged Sun, for example). I did a lot of instrument development to address these problems and worked at optical and infrared wavelengths. I kind of fell into it when I couldn't figure out how to get through graduate school in either math or physics... posted by Meldyck Thats sounds extremely interesting to me Mel. I would have thought that studying the latter part of a Star's life (especially ones that are much more massive than the our sun for example..and the kind of super violent endings they can have), would be more suited for higher frequency analysis (such as in the x-ray or gamma ray end of the spectrum)....but I can also see how the optical, infared, and radiowave end of the spectrum could still provide valuable information about the end of a star's life that could not be known by looking at higher frequency radiation. Was part of the reason you stayed in optical and infared wavelengths because the technology available today for observing the higher end frequency radiation was simply not available say 30 or 40 years ago? I am jealous that I am not involved in projects that are anywhere near as interesting as the ones you have probably been involved in.....Abstract Math and Theoretical Physics could be a bit over-rated in some sense....although to me, I just think of all of these different disciplines as being tightly connected....each needs the other so to speak....the astronomers make these wonderful observations and the theorists then try and explain them with the most abstract mathematical tools and physical theories available (along with the important help and input of the astronomer's as well!). I majored in Low Dimensional Geometric Topology while in grad school (a branch of math intimately connected to some of the newest theoretical models in physics and cosmology)....my reward now is to get to teach addition and subtraction of signed integers to a bunch of bad attitude kids day in and day out....(not to say that there aren't rewards to teaching....I always throroughly enjoy teaching a significant percentage of my students each semester....its just that other significant percentage of realy bad attitudes that ruins it for me). Newmastersswimmer

Jim, My main interests were in the earliest and latest stages of stellar evolution (much earlier/later than the current middle-aged Sun, for example). I did a lot of instrument development to address these problems and worked at optical and infrared wavelengths. I kind of fell into it when I couldn't figure out how to get through graduate school in either math or physics... posted by Meldyck Thats sounds extremely interesting to me Mel. I would have thought that studying the latter part of a Star's life (especially ones that are much more massive than the our sun for example..and the kind of super violent endings they can have), would be more suited for higher frequency analysis (such as in the x-ray or gamma ray end of the spectrum)....but I can also see how the optical, infared, and radiowave end of the spectrum could still provide valuable information about the end of a star's life that could not be known by looking at higher frequency radiation. Was part of the reason you stayed in optical and infared wavelengths because the technology available today for observing the higher end frequency radiation was simply not available say 30 or 40 years ago? I am jealous that I am not involved in projects that are anywhere near as interesting as the ones you have probably been involved in.....Abstract Math and Theoretical Physics could be a bit over-rated in some sense....although to me, I just think of all of these different disciplines as being tightly connected....each needs the other so to speak....the astronomers make these wonderful observations and the theorists then try and explain them with the most abstract mathematical tools and physical theories available (along with the important help and input of the astronomer's as well!). I majored in Low Dimensional Geometric Topology while in grad school (a branch of math intimately connected to some of the newest theoretical models in physics and cosmology)....my reward now is to get to teach addition and subtraction of signed integers to a bunch of bad attitude kids day in and day out....(not to say that there aren't rewards to teaching....I always throroughly enjoy teaching a significant percentage of my students each semester....its just that other significant percentage of realy bad attitudes that ruins it for me). Newmastersswimmer