Richard Collins having fun
I work on gravitational wave detection and imaging for fun. I studied physics and astrophysics at several universities, but then worked in international development and computer systems for organizations to make a living. I studied statistical mechanics and thermodynamics at UT Austin in the 1970s when Ilya Prigogine and Bryce DeWitt and Madame DeWitt were there. Prigogine soon after got his Nobel prize in Chemical Physics for “systems far from equilibrium”. Then I went to University of Maryland at College Park and studied gravitational theory where Charles Misner, Kip Thorne and John Wheeler were working on theory of gravitational fields. But I also met Joe Weber and found his student Robert Forward who laid the foundation for gravitational wave detection. And I worked with Steve Klosko on a NASA project to measure and calibrate the earths gravitational field in detail sufficient for the needs of earth and solar system gravimetry and navigation.
I have devoted the years since about 1978 til now, every year filling in pieces of the puzzle of how the gravitational potential works at a quantum level (for atoms and inside atoms).
So it is not so much “fun” as you might think, but it gives me great satisfaction when I see how it works and can be used and modified and understood. I like building scientific models and then optimizing them. I like building social, economic, financial, organizational, technological and scientific models of society to watch how they work and try to help solve things like poverty, famine, climate change, and such.
I only have a few years left in my life. I do not want to waste them watching movies, or playing games, or spending them on play that anyone can do. It is a personal conceit that I matter at all to the world or anyone. But it gets me through 18/7 workweeks and I get to see the most beautiful and complex things that are part of the natural and human worlds.
For many years I carved statues in wood and stone. But I knew I would never be an artist like that. So I set up a website Sculptor.Org and gathered all things related to sculpture and sculptors. Over 10 years I helped hundreds of sculptors and companies to build their websites and make a global open market. I got to 50,000 unique visitors each month and was saving that market place a lot of money just by showing where things can be found. But I wore out and just gave it away. Now I am worn out and weak and tired. I just do what I can with the Internet Foundation and the “gravitational engineering” for fun.
