Borovsky to deliver fall Mellby Lecture on ‘The Music of Physics’
St. Olaf College Professor of Physics Brian Borovsky ’94 will deliver the 43rd annual Mellby Lecture on November 20 in Viking Theater.
His lecture, titled The Music of Physics, will begin at 11:30 a.m. It is free and open to the public, and will also be streamed and archived online.
In this lecture, Borovsky will explore the connections between physics and music — two disciplines he is passionate about — and share examples from his teaching and research.
“To me, the distinctive music of physics arises from the way it makes precise statements about the physical world based on underlying ideas that are profound and open to interpretation,” Borovsky says.
The concept of waves is hugely important to this exploration, he notes. In his lecture, he will discuss the essential properties of waves and bring his work to life through demonstrations.
“If music and the particles inside atoms are equally well-described as waves, what is waving in each case? I will show how answers to these questions can lead to surprising conclusions about the nature of the physical world. The picture that emerges is strikingly different from the predictable clockwork universe of 18th and 19th century physics,” Borovsky says. “To sum it up: by spending time with waves, we’ll aim to reveal some deeper mysteries about the world and understand ourselves better as human beings.”
“By spending time with waves, we’ll aim to reveal some deeper mysteries about the world and understand ourselves better as human beings.”
— Professor of Physics and Director of Engineering Studies Brian Borovsky ’94
About Borovsky
Born and raised in Stillwater, Minnesota, Borovsky is a 1994 graduate of St. Olaf. He earned his Ph.D. in physics from the University of Minnesota, held a postdoctoral research position at North Carolina State University, and previously taught at Grinnell College before joining St. Olaf in 2008. He has served as the director of Engineering Studies and the chair of the Physics Department. His teaching spans a range of subjects, including Quantum Mechanics, Materials Engineering, Electricity and Magnetism, Advanced Physics Laboratory, and the interdisciplinary course Musical Acoustics. He was one of the founders of the Science Conversation program, a three-course sequence that sought to integrate the natural sciences, social sciences, and humanities.
Borovsky’s research program is dedicated to understanding the physics of friction, or tribology, with practical applications in the fields of micro/nanotechnology, environmental sustainability, and medical devices. He works with students in his laboratory to measure friction in microscopic, high-speed sliding systems with lubricant films as thin as a single molecule. This work has led to publications with student co-authors in journals such as Small and Tribology Letters and has been supported by the National Science Foundation.
Beyond his scientific career, Borovsky is an accomplished musician and an active member of the brass band community. As a student, he played euphonium in the St. Olaf Band and toured the British Isles. He is currently a member of the Sheldon Theatre Brass Band, where he plays solo euphonium. With this group, he earned second place in the North American Brass Band Association technical soloist competition in 1997. Borovsky is also a member of the Finnish-American Brass Septet Ameriikan Poijat (Boys of America), where he plays the alto horn. He lives in Northfield with his wife, Tory; son, Carter; German exchange student, Oskar; and Bruno the dog and Bugsy the cat.
About the Mellby Lectures
The annual Mellby Lectures remember St. Olaf faculty member Carl A. Mellby. Established in 1983, they allow professors to share their research with the public. Mellby, the “the father of social sciences” at St. Olaf, started the college’s first courses in economics, sociology, political science, and art history. He was professor and administrator from 1901 to 1949, taught Greek, German, French, religion, and philosophy, and developed the college’s honor system.