Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Pianist Corner Are you weird?...

I am lucky that although I don't work directly for the chemistry department, I do work closely with members of the department almost every day. I just love chemistry and have always been grateful that I discovered my interest in chemistry in high school, due in part to having a great teacher. I enjoy analyzing scientific data like NMR and IR spectra and I believe that my 20+ years of doing so has helped with my learning to read music and recognize the patterns within. I'm not wild about pure lab work but am more than happy to analyze any compounds that someone else synthesizes

American Idol was won by that kid with the guitar...

My answer to the OP question is "YES!" I am weird. I am lucky to have two or three wonderful "piano friends" who really understand...and I think my teacher appreciates my intensity about my learning and studying so carefully. I basically think about piano, piano literature, what I'm working on, what to focus on at my next practice time at the piano... anything piano, most of the time..While driving or exercising, I can listen to a particular work I am interested in repeatedly for weeks at a time. Of course, I am attentive to my family but they all know that they do not get a nice dinner on the table during the weekdays as I have to practice! My day job is in a school system (severely involved, special ed) and I do play the Bach Partita No. 2, Sinfonia, twice daily while I play the wooden frog (metronome) to my multiply challenged students, some with autism. It really helps gain their attention before I work with them. My husband is really into rowing and is as intense about his sport as I am about piano...so we can share our passions although we each do not really "get" what the others does! I am lucky in that I live in a community that values music, our high school was recently an award recipient for the best band program in the country... and I live in a college town with one of the best piano programs in the country, too.

Are you referring to what is called, "real-time PCR"? I need to learn more about that. Does the light cycler monitor/display the incorporation of fluorescence as it happens? Does this mean that running gels on the PCR products is not required? That would certainly save valuable time!
(Or am I mistaken?)

Do you have one? Quite decent microscopes can be had for surprisingly affordable prices these days. No, they won't have Leica lenses, but they can be extremely good. National is a good brand that offers some basic educational models.

WHAT THE HECK THREAD HAS THIS BECOME?

I'm going to take some pain medicine because my head hurts reading all of this.

Poster: jnod
Subject: Re: Are you weird?...

Great book for chemistry weirdos" "Uncle Tungten" by Oliver Sacks.
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Oh yes, I've heard of that one. We have that book in the chemistry library and I've been meaning to check it out. I listened to Oliver Sacks book called Musicophilia. That was interesting.

gooddog has unleashed a monster!

a Good and Happy monster of course.

My first job was in Biochemistry research. Got my name on a paper too These days I am fond of frogs. And propagating plants is always thrilling.

I wish. Our school 'scopes are more than 30 years old and have to be repaired constantly. We can't afford to purchase 32 new microscopes at $250 to $400 a piece.

That sounds cool! I'm strongly considering a career in chemistry. I've always tended towards wanting to be an engineer, but I've discovered that chemistry is a real interest for me. I can thank a great lecture prof and an even better lab instructor (who has a PhD in physical chemistry) for that.

Dang! That's a shame. My personal microscope is a National, and while I'd love to have something even nicer, it's excellent for what it is.

It's the revenge of the resident nerds for all the years of weighty musical discussions around here.

[edit] Apologies for the strung together posts...

Would you tell a child that a digital piano works with hammers & strings like an acoustic piano if it easier to explain and easy for the child to understand? Would that be close enough to the truth?

Likewise Newton is not close enough to right for anybody who needs to grasp the fundamentals.

Cheers & Happy New Year

Not yet, but I intend to buy one...

How quickly some forget how important the basics are...

That's super Horowitzian! There are many opportunities in the field of chemistry. I took a somewhat non-traditional path after graduate school and worked for a manufacturer of scientific instrumentation for 14 years before moving into academia. The senior chemistry major who told me that quantum mechanics really helped him understand his previous chemistry classes started out as an mechanical engineering major and ended up switching to chemistry after taking general chemistry as a freshman. My degree is in organic chemistry but my PhD thesis was more leaning toward physical organic chemistry (rather than synthesis or methodology) while the jobs that I've had have tended toward analytical chemistry.

Best wishes! May I recommend this book? It's an excellent introduction to both microscopy as well as purchasing a quality instrument.

I can honestly say that I've never had this kind of response to one of my little technology asides! Though seriously, these things move so quickly that it's tough to keep up. Many universities have continuing ed courses that teach some of this stuff I know.

Thanks, foxy! I've heard quite a bit about chemistry being the hottest research field in recent years. Your story is most interesting. So is that other guy's. I'm an engineering major right now. That could very well change.

Deborah,
Three pages (and counting) of replies in as many hours - maybe you aren't so weird after all?

Exactly my point. Teaching Newtonian gravity is not teaching the basics. Newton is INCORRECT. This has been known for a century and yet it's news to some science teachers in the U.S. Little wonder we're not the big guns in science anymore.