Spring Break
Traveling the Universe with JHU cosmologist Adam Riess
Issue date: 10/9/08
His highways: stars and the limitless stretches of space. His fuel: philosophy's most arresting and perplexing questions of existence. His vehicle: scientific inquiry.
Adam Riess confronts extreme topics with never-ending wonder. In his Bloomberg office he leans back into his chair and appears to be in intense thought, while still remaining alert and attentive in conversation. He agrees with others who have called this past decade the golden age of cosmology, and indeed he seems to be enjoying life as an astrophysicist.
A recent recipient of the MacArthur Fellowship, also known as the "genius" grant, Riess tackles the problem of dark energy, a mysterious force influencing the geometrical shape of the universe. The picture of a great scientist extends far beyond numbers and research - it encompasses a character with unique thoughts, dreams and imagination in envisioning, as well as understanding, the cosmos and life within it.
Origins in science
"I've always loved explaining things," Riess said, as he reminisced about his childhood. He was always running up to his sister or his parents to say "Guess what!" after discovering something new. And certainly he has spent his life growing this love, spreading and evolving it into teaching.
Riess said that he had become intrigued by "the idea of learning how to learn things." Recently, his 4-year-old daughter found a tiny fish and declared that it was a lobster. Riess corrected her - "No, it's a crayfish." - and found a Wikipedia picture as evidence. He emphasized how important it was that she saw the reason for herself. Though she remained insistent of the fish's lobster identity, Riess was happy to share the method of learning with her; a validation of his theory that "teaching is a way of life."
According to him, what is wonderful about teaching science in particular is that it is "showing … the piece of data, the observation," so students can find comprehension beyond answers. "It's not about shoving and pounding and demanding that this is the way it is," he said. Thinking scientifically is a process as important as its results.
Adam Riess confronts extreme topics with never-ending wonder. In his Bloomberg office he leans back into his chair and appears to be in intense thought, while still remaining alert and attentive in conversation. He agrees with others who have called this past decade the golden age of cosmology, and indeed he seems to be enjoying life as an astrophysicist.
A recent recipient of the MacArthur Fellowship, also known as the "genius" grant, Riess tackles the problem of dark energy, a mysterious force influencing the geometrical shape of the universe. The picture of a great scientist extends far beyond numbers and research - it encompasses a character with unique thoughts, dreams and imagination in envisioning, as well as understanding, the cosmos and life within it.
Origins in science
"I've always loved explaining things," Riess said, as he reminisced about his childhood. He was always running up to his sister or his parents to say "Guess what!" after discovering something new. And certainly he has spent his life growing this love, spreading and evolving it into teaching.
Riess said that he had become intrigued by "the idea of learning how to learn things." Recently, his 4-year-old daughter found a tiny fish and declared that it was a lobster. Riess corrected her - "No, it's a crayfish." - and found a Wikipedia picture as evidence. He emphasized how important it was that she saw the reason for herself. Though she remained insistent of the fish's lobster identity, Riess was happy to share the method of learning with her; a validation of his theory that "teaching is a way of life."
According to him, what is wonderful about teaching science in particular is that it is "showing … the piece of data, the observation," so students can find comprehension beyond answers. "It's not about shoving and pounding and demanding that this is the way it is," he said. Thinking scientifically is a process as important as its results.
Be the first to comment on this story