The Untempered Schism

I recently visited Caltech, where I earned my undergraduate degree. I met old friends and caught up on the stories of old classmates. The challenges of a Caltech education and its lifelong impact on students made me think of a cute analogy with characters and events of the long running science fiction television series Doctor Who.

Doctor Who relates the adventures of the Doctor, an alien who wanders through space and time, thwarting the bad guys and helping those in need. He is of an ancient race of time travelers. One of their customs is to select their best and brightest children to gaze upon the Untempered Schism, a rift in space and time, exposing the children to the wonders and dangers of the Universe.

Caltech is a bit like the Untempered Schism, with students exposed to a firehose of information in Freshman Physics, Math, and Chemistry courses. I put together some images of Professor Richard Feynman, a long time Caltech scientist, lecturing on Physics, with a quote from the Doctor about the Untempered Schism.

Click to see larger images. Yes, the images are a little tongue in cheek.

I unfortunately never met Professor Feynman. He had passed away a few years before I came to Caltech. However, he is an icon of Physics and Physics instruction at Caltech to this day.