Dear Reader,
As scientific and technological progress marches steadily onwards, it is an
increasingly common mistake to compartmentalize the world into two overly
simplified camps of science and everyday life. Self-professed members of both
groups tend to forget that barriers constructed between academic disciplines
are mere constructs to better organize the collection and dissemination of
information. Nature does not see walls between Wilder, Steele, or Gilman, nor
does it promise the knowledge gathered within those buildings exclusively to
white-coated researchers.
The science of the day-to-day is often forgotten, but in this increasingly
technologically dominated world ignorance can mean being left behind. Thus,
it is important to acknowledge the essential science that is all around us even as
Dartmouth students.
Seemingly simple processes such as the bells of Baker-Berry, described by Andy
Zureick ’13, or the snow and ice covering the green, described by Yuan Shangguan
’13, are actually governed by complex physical and chemical properties, which
took centuries to elucidate.
This daily communion with science is our societal inheritance from scientific
forebears, but also our way of coping with stress and demands as students. This
is further evidenced by articles regarding both alcohol by Jay Dalton ’12 and
caffeine by Will Heppenstall ’13.
Even the most overlooked and ostensibly personal occupations such as
daydreaming, written about by Emily Stronski ’13, and our mood in relation to
the food we consume, written about by Sarah-Marie Hopf ’13, have delicate, and
often elegant scientific explanations.
It is our sincere hope that you enjoy reading this article of the DUJS, and that
as always you take part in our mission statement to bring science out of the
acetone-washed laboratories and into your minds as readers.
Sincerely,
The DUJS Editorial Board