pheloniusfriar | A race against time... it's always "time"...

I found out some very sad news last week (I'm a bit behind in finding out though because it happened in 2011)... Dr. Allan Griffin from the University of Toronto died on May 19, 2011 at the age of 72. Firstly, I have never met him, although I wish I had (I did correspond very briefly once though). Secondly, he is one of the inspirations and in some ways driving force in my attempting to get my degree in theoretical physics. Specifically, he wrote a book in 1993 called "Excitations in Bose-condensed liquid" that was one of the only theoretically and mathematically rigorous treatments of Bose-Einstein condensates in existence at the time (at a time when most physicists were pretty much actively ignoring the field). I used the Canadian inter-library loan system to borrow a copy from the National Library of Canada (a system that has since been dismantled, I might add, under the current Conservative government in this country) and did my best to read it.

I understood the general arguments that the book was making, but I could not follow any of the mathematics it was presenting. It was sufficient though to convince me that a deep theoretical treatment of Bose-Einstein condensed states was a reasonable thing to explore, and that tied in with other ideas I have had about the nature of things, and that led me pretty much directly to university (well, with a 16 year pause while I raised my two daughters mostly as a single parent... my children were and remain my priority). I had hoped, against hope, that I would finish my degree and be able to do my post-graduate work at very least in the presence of Dr. Griffin (he was active until the end), if not with him. That fantasy is now a thing of the past and I need to figure out another strategy for pursuing the subject matter he was both an expert in and tireless advocate for (Carleton University has no expertise in it whatsoever... although the physics department there does make contributions hugely greater than its size or budget would seem to suggest is possible, which is one reason I went there to study). Griffin's book remains my litmus test as to whether or not I'm ready to start my real journey in physics... when I can understand it cover to cover, I'll be a full (rather than larval) physicist ["when you can snatch this pebble from my hand, Grasshopper"... heh] and I will be ready to start kicking some physics butt. I think I'm about 40% of the way there and could, if I focused hard on it, move that extra 60% in a year or two.

So... Dr. Allan Griffin, you have had (although you never knew it) a profound impact on my life and may ultimately, through me, have a further impact on the field of physics (hey, a guy's gotta dream, okay? Don't criticize, heh). Time will tell... oh, and did I ever mention that's one of the things I understand? Time? Yeah... I gotta get my ideas down on paper sometime soon.

In Memoriam: Allan Griffin