Reflections on the Interview

This is an immediate follow-up to the previous post with John Pharo's and my interview with Professor Richard Ellis.

Quite a few things surprised me. One of the first things we learned about our interviewee was that at some point Professor Richard wanted to quit astronomy for advertising. Oddly enough, it's reassuring to know that rage-quitting isn't a modern fad and disinterest in a field of astronomy doesn't necessarily convey disinterest in all of astronomy.

In retrospect, he might have been able to get a different PhD thesis other than the tedium of studying solar composition if he had been a bit more assertive, but he felt humbled by the professors in the field. And while pursuing any research it is important to keep the big picture in mind. Where does my research fit into the realm of astronomy? What consequences will it have if true?

The pattern to getting to a research and professorial position involves a lengthy post-doc period of research that often continues after you get your professorial position. Pro Richard had worked quite a few years on searching for supernova, and much of that time with the Supernova Cosmological Project. Perlmutter, who shared the Nobel Prize for explaining the expansion of the universe, had spent much of the last 20 years on the same project. But Pro Richard pointed that you had to balance personal content into the equation, which is why he prefers to take on several varied project over the same course of time.

What was perhaps the most illuminating story was the initially misguiding conclusion that the universe was actually decelerating. After only a sample size of 8 supernovae (several of which are type 1b and not standard candles, and only a couple were appropriate for the study), it seemed that the universe was actually slowing in its expansion. After using a sampling of 50 supernovae, the SCP team published a paper on their conclusion that the universe was indeed accelerating in expansion. This is particularly significant to us for 2 reasons. It would be mind-rattling to publish a paper you were convinced was onto something, only to publish the polar argument a few years later. Second, such an argument of expansion came as a surprise to many in the scientific community, so the charisma and confidence of advocators was important in persuading the community.

Career-wise, Pro Ellis felt that while astronomy was still a strong field, biology was the fastest growing current field. I was especially intrigued by his relative laxness to submitting research proposals and his willingness to engage in a variety of subtopics in astronomy. Variety is a pleasant alternative to the indecision in career paths I'm facing. Especially pleasant was the distinction between the avid proposal printing astronomer early in the career, with the more composed, content, and curious astronomer later in the career.

Some useful addenda: Professor Richard Ellis is an observational cosmologist known for his work in supernova, universe expansion, and dark matter. He also has a wikipedia article.

For some really interesting reading, check out Science and Philosophy, a 2007 interview of Professor Richard Ellis by a history of science graduate student. Professor Ellis ended his interview with us almost exactly, talking about how emails were rare and most communication was with telexes back in the 80's.

I wanted to say a few words about his distinctions between the US and Europe (the land of hermit scientists) but John's Blog covers it well.