Welcome
I received my PhD in theoretical chemical physics in 1997, and after a few years of post-graduate research, I began working in the drug discovery industry in 2002. My scientific publications mainly focus on topics of interest in statistical mechanics, computer aided drug discovery, computational chemistry, cheminformatics, and kinases as drug targets.
In 2009, a brief conversation with a friend brought forth in my mind the realization that science (something I am truly passionate about) is often poorly communicated to non-scientists. Moreover, there is a long, rich history of pivotal scientific achievements by some key individuals that (I feel) has gotten clouded (or simply lost) by much of the current popular science literature, and I wanted to bring these to light as well. It was these reflections that motivated me to write a popular science book. Find out more about me ...
Energy, Entropy, Atoms, and Quantum Mechanics form the very foundation of our universe.
But how do they govern the world we live in?
What was the difficult path to their discovery?
Who were the key players that struggled to shape our current understanding?
The Cosmic Machine takes you from the earliest scientific inquiries in human history on an exciting journey in search of the answers to these questions. In telling this fascinating story of science, the reader is masterfully guided through the wonderment of how scientific discoveries (and the key players of those discoveries) shaped the world as we know it today.
With its unique blend of science, history, and biographies, The Cosmic Machine provides an easily accessible account without sacrificing the actual science itself. Not only will this book engage, enlighten, and entertain you, it will inspire your passion and curiosity for the world around us.
Why Everyone Can – And Should – Learn Quantum Mechanics (Salon)
The 5 Things You Wish You Better Understood About Quantum Mechanics ... more here
Einstein and the Quantum (Scientific American)
By 1926, Albert Einstein had become completely unforgiving of quantum mechanics’ probabilistic interpretation of the universe and would step away from it forever ... more here
Why Nobody Believed Einstein When He Discovered How Light Worked – Reworked Excerpt from the Book (Salon)
In 1905, at the age of twenty-six, Einstein published four major papers and finished his PhD thesis. Each of these papers was groundbreaking and would change physics forever. However, it was the first of these, On a Heuristic Point of View Concerning the Production and Transformation of Light, which Einstein referred to as “very revolutionary” ... more here
Quantum Confidential: The Lost History of Quantum Mechanics (Interesting Engineering)
Before we had quantum entanglement, multiverses, Schrödinger’s cat, and Einstein’s denouncement of quantum mechanics (“I am at all events convinced that [God] does not play dice.”), we just had “chunks” of energy, or energy quanta ... more here
Engaging Your Daughters In Science (Huffington Post)
As a parent of two young girls, I try to help them see the unique perspective science has to offer. Now, I don’t know if they’ll grow up to be scientists ... more here
How Can We Make Science Interesting To Kids? (CEOMOM)
This school year is under way. Students everywhere have started new classes and many have encountered science in their curriculums ... more here
Four Important Scientists That You Probably Don’t Know – But Should (Forbes)
The history of science is full of people who struggled, suffered, and made huge contributions that benefitted us all towards understanding the universe we live in ... more here
Honoring A Pioneering Woman In Physics (Scientific American)
Lise Meitner solved the problem of nuclear fission—and although she never got the Nobel, she is the only woman outside of mythology to have an element named after her alone ... more here
How The Moon Changed Galileo’s Life Forever (Forbes)
All those years ago, Galileo had been swayed away from his work by the alluring Moon ... more here
The 4 Big Discoveries Underpinning Our Knowledge Of The Universe (Discover)
For many, science is nothing more than that class you were required to take in school. However, whether you realize it or not, science is all around us, and it impacts every aspect of our lives. And, the stories behind key scientific discoveries, though not commonly known, are truly inspiring ... more here
