ScienceMakers Toolkit Manual - The History Makers

Physics
down so easy, it was like I couldn’t believe how simple it was, and he convinced me that it really is that simple,
that a lot of times people who teach it make it very diffi cult, so it was very simple, he was very brilliant in doing
that.
Clip 3 - Master’s Thesis: My thesis was in fi ber optics…I built a fi ber optic temperature sensor…basically a
fi ber that had built a glass oven around the fi ber and then we put like a bunsen burner under the glass and see as
the light propagates through the heated portion of the fi ber, see what it looks like on the exit end of the fi ber. If
you heat the fi ber up, it’s going to expand and contract and it’s going to change. So it was a temperature sensor,
sensing heat.
Clip 4 - Working at Space Camp: I was what they called at the time an educational lecturer at the Space
Camp and I taught astronomy and optics and…I did telescope viewing and those types of things for the students.
Taught Mars exploration, the space shuttle timeline to the kids. Taught them what it, how they eat in
space. How they sleep in space. How they prepare their food. How they use the restroom. That was one of the
main questions kids wanted to know. You know, those type of things…There is such a thing called, they call it
the slinger, you know, when you use the restroom, if you have to use as they call the number two. You have to
be strapped in because you know, the kids say, you know, what happens, these are the kids’ questions, like what
happens if you pass gas? Do you become a solid rocket booster? Because you’re in zero gravity so you have to
be strapped in, you know and held down and do your thing.
Clip 5 - Intellectual Capital: There’s a great deal of intellectual capital that exists in the minority community
and the, and females. I was reading on article that said if…The way we do not use the talent or the wealth that
we fi nd among women in science. The stock market wouldn’t do that. It would be considered a tremendous
waste. And I agree with that…It’s just untapped. It’s not encouraged ‘cause when you talk about in the homes…
Most people want their son to be a doctor, a lawyer, a teacher, a fi reman, or a policeman, but you never, you
rarely hear, unless they’ve been exposed to science, a chemist, a physicist, or you know, an engineer. I didn’t
know what it was.
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