Physicists, Mathematicians, and Their Love for Chalkboards
The aesthetic aspect of using chalkboards in a classroom
Do you remember the chalkboard era? I was in the fourth standard in school when the chalkboards in our classrooms were replaced with white marker boards and to be honest, I didn’t quite like it. There’s this deep aesthetic in writing with chalks on a blackboard. I’m not really sure if I’m the only one who thinks so though. Even in today’s day and age, many great universities prefer using chalkboards. If you ask some prolific mathematicians and physicists all across the world about what they prefer more, I’m pretty sure most of them will say chalkboards. Mathematics is, in many ways, artistry, it is also craftsmanship, and the pleasure of crafting geometrical diagrams, shapes, patterns, labeled drawings using different colored chalks is beyond the conventional pleasure of teaching using modern technological screens.
If you ask me, I would rather sit in a small classroom with a blackboard with a professor writing with colorful chalks than sit in a huge classroom where the professor has all modern tech setups for delivering his lectures. The vibe itself is just so different. Albert Einstein used chalkboards, Richard Feynman had his Caltech boards filled with mathematical equations and diagrams, Professor Walter Lewin, mathematical physicist Edward Witten, Juan Maldacena, and many others still use chalkboards. The classrooms at Harvard, Princeton, Stanford, Cambridge, MIT, and many other great universities and scientific institutions still use chalkboards for teaching and learning.
In this story, I shall share the 10 most brilliant physicists and mathematicians captured with their iconic chalkboards.
Paul Dirac
Paul Dirac is considered to be one of the pioneers of quantum mechanics. He was the first to predict the existence of antimatter which are crucial elements in our understanding of the universe. He won the 1933 Nobel prize in physics along with Erwin Schrodinger, for his works on atomic theory. In this image, Dirac is seen standing right in front of his chalkboard scribbled with physics equations.
Richard Feynman
I couldn’t stop myself from including Richard Feynman on this list. As artistic as his personality was, his chalkboards were more expressive and vividly reflected his charismatic character and his style of teaching. The image shown below is one of my favorite ones. I mean just look at his presentation on chalkboards.
Terence Tao
Arguably the smartest man on the planet today is Professor Terence Tao. He was a child prodigy and mastered different areas of mathematics at an early age. The 2006 Fields Medalist is the youngest mathematics professor in the world. Currently, he is a professor of mathematics at UCLA. Prof. Tao has his own unique way to teach math and his iconic style is reflected through his chalkboard scribbles.
Lisa Randall
Prof. Lisa Randall is a Harvard professor of particle physics and cosmology. Her research is primarily focused on the interactions of matter, cosmological models of the universe, fundamental forces and many other important disciplines of theoretical physics.
Prof. Walter Lewin
Everyone is familiar with professor Walter Lewin, especially the ones who specialize in physics. The retired professor is famous for delivering undergraduate physics lectures at MIT which are widely viewed on YouTube. He is best known for his extremely enthusiastic and practical way of teaching physics concepts which is one of the primary reasons why most students loved learning from him.
Albert Einstein
Einstein is the most famous genius of the world best known for his works on general and special relativity, his works on the photoelectric phenomena, and Brownian motion. He won the 1921 Nobel prize in physics for the photoelectric effect. In this picture, he is seen lecturing an audience in Paris, and his chalkboards look brilliant just like the man himself.
John Wheeler
Prof. John Wheeler is seen here lecturing at Cambridge and as far as I can see, he is teaching about Einstein-Rosen bridges. Rarely these days do we get to see such an astonishing presentation on chalkboards by any professor. The colorful diagrams depict the dedication of the physics professor and his love for teaching.
Dr C.V. Raman
I was stunned when I first saw this image of Dr. C.V Raman standing in front of his blackboard. At first, I thought those charts and diagrams are imprinted there, but apparently, they are hand-drawn by the prolific Indian physicist. Dr. Raman was 1930 Physics Nobel laureate for his works on the scattering of light known as ‘Raman scattering’.
Wolfgang Pauli
In 1925 “Pauli exclusion principle” was proposed by theoretical physicist Wolfgang Pauli, who is also one of the pioneers of modern quantum mechanics. He won the 1945 physics Nobel Prize for his contributions to the understanding of elementary particles in the quantum world.
Stephen Hawking
‘A brief history of Time’ was one of the first science books that I’d read. The book ignited my interest in science and scientific literature. Stephen Hawking is one of the most prolific and inspirational scientists to have ever lived on this planet. His lectures and seminars would always be filled with enthusiasm, motivation to learn and understand about the universe, and life. In this picture, Prof. Hawking is seen all smiling in front of his chalkboard. I dearly miss him.
If you were given a chance to attend any one of these lecture classes, whose class would you attend? Let me know in the responses.
PS: Parts of this article have been extracted from my Twitter thread and the images belong to the respective archives and owners which have been mentioned alongside each.
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