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Curriculum Vitae of the WWT
Here I will tell you who I am, and if that bores you or
if you don't really care who I am, then skip this place. I promise to talk
less about myself in the other places.
First, let me answer the obvious question, “Why do I call myself the
World’s Worst Tourist?” In my travels, some of the most boring,
least-rewarding experiences are the top tourist attractions. I cannot
imagine why people will stand in line for hours to see them, perhaps just
so they can say they saw them. My favorites are rarely considered by tour
guidebooks, and may not even be considered tourist attractions to the
typical “best” tourist. They often happen when I get lost, which is most
of the time I am traveling. Some of the most interesting things change
from day to day and are best experienced by adopting a “non-tourist”
attitude, not just traveling to see things, but to interact with, be with,
and learn from people and places. My recipe for touring makes it more a
life process than a trip to go to see something, and is, in this sense, a
never ending adventure in living. Of course that won’t work for everyone
or anyone all of the time. Occasionally, even I behave like a great
tourist, but I always return to being the worst.
I am a physicist whose entire career has been devoted to working with
lasers, light and images to observe, measure, and understand nature. I am
blessed with an opportunity to face challenges to go beyond the edge every
day, to measure, see, and sometimes understand the unknown and unseen. I
have discovered that this is not limited to science. Anyone can look
around anywhere and do this.
I received a PhD in physics at the University of Tennessee in 1967. That
was about the toughest thing I ever did. After that I was an associate
professor of Physics at the University of Tennessee Space Institute,
worked in the aerospace industry and started three companies. Two of them
were successful, and the other one was......., well,........ a learning
experience (Fortunately, it was the first).
I now work in the third one, MetroLaser, inc., in Irvine, CA, and have
done so for nearly 15 years. A friend and I started MetroLaser with the
goal of creating a good place for us to work, and we achieved that goal.
We surrounded ourselves with good laboratories and smart people. I plan to
hang out there maybe forever, although maybe not as much as I have in the
past.
From 2000 until 2005 I was the principal investigator for a space flight experiment,
called SHIVA, Spaceflight Holography Investigation in a Virtual Apparatus.
We planned to conduct an experiment in orbit on the International Space
Station, Freedom, with the help of astronauts in a few years. At one time
I had hopes that I might actually go there myself. The Challenger and
other accidents essentially closed off that possibility. SHIVA is the next
best thing; I will visit Space Station Freedom virtually. We have figured
out a way to use holography to enable us to look into a window located on
earth (actually a hologram) and effectively see into a test chamber
located on the International Space Station. Isn’t that about the coolest
thing you ever heard? Then with the Columbia accident and President Bush's
change in direction for NASA, SHIVA, along with all other Space Shuttle
experiments was cancelled, so we had to prove things on earth instead. See
A Message from the Universe.
Traveling and work have given me the opportunity to observe many cultures
and fascinating differences between people and places. My curiosity for
cultures and love of art provide themes for me to explore when I travel,
and I find some of the most interesting art and culture can be found in
the streets, homes, and work places. I look upon museums as hospitals for
sick art that cannot survive in its proper venue. The live, healthy art
still thrives in the churches, homes, stores, and streets for which it was
created. I like to explore all of these, including the museums.
I owe much of my love of art and music to a mother, who, as a talented
artist herself, instilled and always encouraged my interest in art. I
studied art formally beginning at the age of 7 under
Miss Corrine Houston,
a well known nineteenth and Twentieth Century Tennessee artist who had
trained under an Italian master at the beginning of the 20th Century. I was thirty years
old before I could afford to own any of "Miss Corrine's" art, except for
tattered paintings and sketches on paper she gave me as examples. A career
as a scientist left little time to paint, and only at times desperate for
the therapeutical value of painting did I find a brush in hand until more
recent years. In the past five years I have made more time to paint and
work with pastels.
I am on the editorial advisory staff of three technical journals, which
lets me see a lot of science before it is published. My career is almost
as much about writing and language as it is about science. I owe much of
my love for writing to a few amazing teachers in high school and college
who started me up in such a way that I can never stop. If you made it this
far, we would probably make good friends.
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