Initial Conditions: A Physics History Podcast

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Quantum Counterculture Aug 11, 2022

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Inspired by David Kaiser's 2011 book, How the Hippies Saved Physics: Science, Counterculture, and the Quantum Revival, this episode will cover the discomfort many physicists experienced while grappling with quantum mechanics and how their unconventional methods led to quantum key encryption. Like many Americans of the 1960s and 70s, some physicists took part in questioning traditional institutions. They engaged in philosophical questions of quantum mechanics driven by Bell’s Theorem that revealed entangled particles’ seemingly father-than-light communication could not be explained by any known mechanism. While other physicists put their heads down and calculated, these hippie physicists dabbled in psychedelics, consulted with magicians, attempted to communicate with ghosts through atomic decay, and tried to communicate with each other–telepathically. They also questioned whether Western science's objective observer tradition was sufficient for quantum physics where observing a particle’s behavior changes it. Though some of their investigations may be deemed pseudoscience, there was value in thinking outside the box (or infinite potential well, for the physicists listening) and from their work, we know more about quantum mechanics and its applications.

Energy Crises and Climate Change in the 1970s Aug 04, 2022

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This episode describes efforts undertaken by the Department of Energy in the late 1970s to study the environmental, economic, and social consequences of anthropogenic climate change. In the early 1970s, President Richard Nixon confronted a series of energy crises. Blackouts in major U.S. cities, natural gas shortages, and the 1973 OPEC oil embargo led to cold winters, hot summers, and long lines at the pump. In response, Nixon began reorganizing the executive branch to better respond to such crises, an effort that would continue during the terms of his successors Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter. One proposal that Nixon’s new energy advisors suggested was to burn more domestic coal and oil. Meteorologists, atmospheric scientists, oceanographers, and scientists in related fields paid close attention to these new energy policies. Some, including William P. Elliott, then working in the Air Resources Laboratory at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, responded with alarm. Based on the papers of William P. Elliott, this episode covers federal research efforts on anthropogenic climate change during the Carter administration. A handful of scientists began organizing a research program within the new Department of Energy to study the consequences of relying on more fossil fuels. That is, until the sudden closure of that program in 1981. We’ll also discuss how debates about climate change from nearly fifty years ago still resonate today.

Enter the Anthropocene: Climate Science in the Early 20th Century Jul 28, 2022

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In this episode we discuss the efforts of three scientists–Svante Arrhenius, Guy Callendar, and Charles David Keeling–to figure out exactly what fossil fuel emissions might be doing to the atmosphere and the global temperature. Surprisingly, Arrhenius and other early climate scientists didn’t necessarily think that global warming would be…such a bad thing? But by the 1970s scientists began to push for more concerted efforts to research the effects of increasing carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere. We’ll pick up that part of the story in the next episode. You’ll also hear about Guy Callendar’s contributions to climate science. Guy was a fellow who held no academic degrees in science but did live through a dangerous childhood. We’ll conclude with Charles Keeling and his famous curve showing how the CO2 concentration in the atmosphere began increasing at an accelerating rate during the twentieth century.

Eunice Foote: A Once Forgotten Climate Science Pioneer Jul 21, 2022

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Perhaps because she was a woman, or perhaps because she was American, Eunice Foote did not receive credit for her 1856 discovery of the heat-absorbing properties of carbon dioxide and water vapor. In this episode, we will tell the story of the once forgotten climate scientist, activist, and inventor, Eunice Foote, with help from Sir Roland Jackson of the Royal Institute and University College London. Though little is known about her or her perspective, her life and scientific contributions contextualize not only a history of climate change science but of the experience of women in science. This episode starts our journey through the history of our understanding of the greenhouse effect and global warming.

Trailer Jun 15, 2022

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