Modoc ED wrote:"furthering his research into Condensed Matter Physics" -- Would that be like taking some snow into your hands and compressing/squeezing that snow into a "snowball" like in chemistry where you bond molecules (snowflakes) together to form a larger denser molecule (snowball)?
Actually, it's more like this abstract from his first published article I cited the title to in my post above:
Abstract:
Rotating polar linker groups in the cubic metal-organic framework single crystal known as IRMOF-2 were investigated for freedom of motion, response to an external electric field, and effects of dipole-dipole interactions. The crystals consist of octahedrally coordinated zinc oxide clusters linked by the bromoterephthalate group, which contains a rotatable bromo-p-phenylene moiety. We confirmed the rotation by dielectric spectroscopy and found a 7.3 kcal mol-1 barrier. The non-polar analog, IRMOF-1, containing terephthalic acid, was used as a control system. DFT and MP2 computations of the rotational barrier yield results in agreement with the observation, with B3LYP/SDD being the best. A Monte Carlo analysis of the equilibrium polarization fluctuations was used to assess the possibility of polar ordering and the potential for electro-optic applications.
BlueStateSaint wrote:I came to the conclusion that as book-derived intelligence trickled in one ear in these people, common sense came flooding out the other ear at a pressure that most cities' fire departments would kill to have in their fire hydrants.
Book smart is not street smart.
I couldn't agree with you more. Our kids grew up with me frequently ranting about some smart idiot at work, how little common sense they had, and how too many people are, "Book smart and life dumb." We are fortunate in that both our kids are long on common sense as in truth I'd have never let them grow up without heavy doses of common sense.
Peter is a true scholar in that he speaks French fluently, is widely read in the great philosophers, economists, and politicians, loves Greek history and reads extensively in the fields of ethics and logic. He graduated from CU Boulder Magna Cum Laude in both Engineering and Physics while completing a minor in Philosophy to boot. An with that strong science and engineering background, he's not a prototype geek or introvert. He was on the debate team and loves too read, debate, and discuss the political, social, and intellectual issues of the day.
Not to be outdone, Amy is a natural born artist who's finishing up her bachelor's degree for a career in interior design. She is every bit as talented as her brother but just in a different way. While Peter can't understand why everyone doesn't see the answer to some complex physics problem, Amy can't understand why everyone can't paint or do sculpture as naturally and expertly as she can.
Needless to say, the wife and I had all we could do to try to keep up with them when they were growing up.
