Meters, Curies, Rabies = France
12:00 p.m., Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2006
University Java in Spiva Library
Admission: Pick up free lunch ticket in
Webster 337C at least 24 hours in advance

Presenters: Dr. Gerald Schlink, professor of biology, and Dr. Michael Garoutte, associate professor of chemistry

Within a few city blocks of each other in Paris, you can observe the beginnings of a critical part of science, i.e. measurement. The standardization begins with a meter stick embedded in a wall for all to use and progresses to the use of crystals and changing resistance to measure radioactive decay. And, the journey ends at the biological use of spinal cords to enumerate the cause of rabies. This talk covered the roots of these concepts.