Lauren
Wozniak’s Homepage
Random Musings (My sort of blog) The Quote Board
Hello everyone and welcome to my homepage! I am junior studying at the College of Arts
and Sciences at the University
of Pennsylvania, in
About Me
Theology-
I
am an evangelical Christian. In my
experience, the best answers to the fundamental questions of human experience
are found in the Bible. By secular
cultural standards, I would be classified as theologically conservative. I hold firmly to the principles of the
Reformation- salvation comes by faith alone in Jesus Christ alone, by God’s
grace alone. I believe in the doctrine
of the Trinity, and also the absolute truth and inerrancy of Scripture. However, as yet I reserve judgment in the
Calvinist/Armenian debate, between a moderate Arminian position (including a
view of total depravity in which God brings each person to a truly free choice
by His grace, which is beyond the person’s natural ability), and moderate
Calvinism. Here in
Physics-
I
love physics- very few things, I think, reveal God’s glory as much as the
deceptively simple equations of physics.
When I was young, I never stopped pestering my parents, asking why
things happened the way they did. I’m
still trying to answer that question, so not surprisingly,
I’m pursuing theoretical particle physics.
There have been a great many advances in theoretical particle physics,
from supersymmetric extensions to the standard model to superstring (M)
theory. Unfortunately, the field is
highly specialized and difficult, so my knowledge is sadly lacking and I do not
know which I would like to pursue. Ideally,
I would like to understand numerous branches and try to unify them, or be able
to cull some of them. I have a strong phenomenological
leaning, which stems from a fear that perhaps theoretical particle physics are
building large castles in the air, without much solid reasoning to support them
besides abstract notions of elegance and mathematical simplicity. Of course, not having enough background to
understand most of these fields, I also cannot yet judge whether their
theoretical underpinnings are solid, but I would like to critically study all
of them, and hopefully do something to bring order to this subfield of physics.
One of the things I
insist upon is that physics should not be thought of this intense field only
for the brilliant (because then I certainly don’t belong), so I have a goal to
explain the less intuitive things- especially quantum mechanics- at a level
most people can understand. I hope
someday this will help me when I teach physics to a future generation of poor
confused undergraduates.
Mathematics-
What
would a physicist be without mathematics?
If physics left me any time, I would pursue a second career in
mathematics. Not surprisingly, I’m drawn
to the theoretical side of math- I love the elegance of proofs. My favorite subfield of math thus far is
complex analysis, which has some of the most powerful theorems I’ve run
across. I think,
if I understood it better, I might also enjoy abstract algebra, because to the
extent that I comprehended what we were doing in class, it was absolutely
fascinating. I am drawn to mathematics
because of its rigorous formulations and truth conditions; unlike most of the
humanities, there is a right and wrong, which can be objectively established.
Philosophy-
As
yet, much of my philosophical system is in flux. Thus far I’ve mostly discovered what I
disagree with, instead of deciding what I agree with. I am an empiricist, mostly in the tradition
of John Locke, with increasingly more and more Berkelian leanings. I am mostly interested in philosophy of
science and metaphysics, particularly in what quantum mechanics means for
philosophy. I wish more physicists took
an active interest in the philosophical foundations of their field
(particularly the abstract particle physicists who are introducing things for ‘mathematical
elegance’), and that more philosophers (particularly metaphysicians) would take
the time to understand quantum mechanics. I am not a physicalist, and although I am as yet
officially undecided about idealism versus dualism, I do have a leaning towards
idealism. However, the idealism I prefer
does not entirely strip away the external world, simply the “thing-in-itself”,
leaving everything minds (such as ours) are capable of perceiving, either
directly or indirectly. My ethics are,
of course, Biblically-based, but I do not think that means that there cannot be
a logical foundation for God’s commands, although I do not know it. I also enjoy formal logic.
Politics-
I
am a traditional conservative on the modern political spectrum, but certainly
not a neo-conservative. I do think that
the government needs to be fiscally responsible (which is sadly lacking today),
and I do think that the government should interfere as little in people’s lives
as possible. However, I also think that
government has some important responsibilities, extending beyond protection
from undue force, and so I am not a libertarian. If I had time for political philosophy, I
would probably try to argue that my position is the “realistic libertarian”
position, i.e. takes into account more human depravity. In particular, I think the government has a
strong responsibility to protect the environment, which private entities tend
to not do very well (not that governments have a stellar track record either,
though).
Background/Other-
I
am from a small, small school in a small, small town in western
Classes
Spring 2007:
Physics 412 (Introduction to Quantum
Mechanics II)
Physics 362 (Electromagnetism II:
Magnetism, Maxwell’s Equations, and Electromagnetic Waves)
Math 420 (Ordinary Differential
Equations)
Philosophy 527 (Origins and Meaning of
Quantum Theory)
English 020 (Literature Before 1660)
Physics 522 (Auditing) (Introduction to
Elementary Particle Physics)
Fall 2006:
Physics 411 (Introduction to Quantum Mechanics I)
Physics 364 (Measurements Laboratory)
Physics 361 (Electromagnetism I: Electricity and Potential Theory)
Math 370 (Algebra I)
Philosophy 244 (Introduction to Philosophy of the Mind)
Spring 2006:
Physics 250 (Principles of Physics
IV: Modern Physics)
Physics 351 (Analytical Mechanics)
Math 361 (Advanced Calculus II)
Philosophy 005 (Formal Logic I)
Linguistics 231 (Intermediate Irish
Gaelic II)
Fall 2005:
Physics 230 (Principles of Physics
III: Thermal Physics and Waves)
Math 410 (Complex Analysis)
Math 360 (Advanced Calculus I)
Philosophy 080 (Aesthetics)
Linguistics 230 (Intermediate Irish
Gaelic I)
Summer 2005:
Philosophy 004 (History of Modern
Philosophy)
Math 241 (Calculus IV)
Philosophy 002 (Ethics)
Spring 2005:
Physics 171 (Honors Physics II:
Electromagnetism and Radiation)
Math 240 (Calculus III)
Math 205 (Introduction to Modern
Algebra II)
Political Science 110 (Comparative Politics)
Linguistics 131 (Beginning Irish Gaelic
II)
Fall 2004:
Physics 170 (Honors Physics I:
Mechanics and Wave Motion)
Math 114 (Calculus II)
Math 204 (Introduction to Modern
Algebra I)
Folk 009 (Writing About the
Remembered Past)
Linguistics 130 (Beginning Irish Gaelic
I)
Contact email: laurenatupenn@yahoo.com