Donald C. Salisbury

Associate Professor of Physics

 

 

I have taught at Austin College since 1987. Prior to that time I worked at a number of institutions, including visiting appointments at Reed College and Hobart and William Smith Colleges, and research positions at the Free University of Berlin. My B. A. is from Oberlin College (1968) and I received my Ph. D. from Syracuse University (1977). My dissertation advisor in relativity theory was Peter G. Bergmann. The high energy particle physicist A. P. Balachandran also played an important role in my formation.

I served as the Chair of the Austin College Physics Department from 1996 to 2005.

My current research activity is in classical and quantum theories of gravity, the history of general relativity, numerical relativity, relativistic quantum mechanics, and in applications of high energy physics in cosmology. I the past few years I have also been fortunate to be able to research and develop courses dealing with the emergence of modern science, focusing primarily on Galileo. Grants from the National Science Foundation have enabled me in the past to support summer undergraduate participation on computer calculations in relativity at the Center for Relativity of the University of Texas at Austin, where I was for several summers appointed a Visiting Scholar. In the summer of 2004 I collaborated with AC students Allison Schmitz and Josh Helpert on campus with the support of an Austin College Priddy Grant. The results of this research on observables in a simple cosmological model have been submitted for publication. In the summer of 2006 Andy Dao worked with me on the development of Java-based simulations that will eventually be incorporated into an on-line introductory textbook on cosmology. I have also conducted summer research at the University of Barcelona, the University of Florence, the University of Maryland, and the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science in Berlin.

The Department of Physics at Austin College has a history of innovation in physics teaching. The most recent development was the award of a grant from the Education Division of the National Science Foundation to assist in configuring a computer-based laboratory-classroom for introductory physics and astronomy. I served as a Co-Principal Investigator on the project .

I have taught most of the courses in our Austin College physics curriculum. I have also contributed frequently to the Heritage of Western Culture core. My teaching schedule over the past ten years can be found here.

I have been for many years the organizer of a regional colloquium, now called the North Texas Relativity and Cosmology Seminar, with meetings mainly at the University of Texas at Dallas. I have served as an elected Physics/Astronomy Councilor of the national Council on Undergraduate Research and I functioned for a year as the physics/astronomy Associate Editor of the Council's Quarterly publication.

My three most recent January Term courses, in 2003, 2005, and 2007 were devoted to: The Life and Times of Galileo: the Origins of Modern Science (in Florence, Pisa, Siena, Padua, Venice, and Rome - Italy), In the recent past I have also taught Astronomy of Ancient America, an introduction to scientific computing in C, Mesoamerican astronomy, and introductions to relativity and cosmology.

In May of 2007 I will be co-teaching with Galileo historian Tom Settle a Chautauqua course for college teachers entitled "Galileo's Science and its Artisanal, Commercial and Engineering Origins". This is course number TXA-9 listed on the national Chautauqua web site. Please check here for current information and also for information about the May 2004, 2005, and 2006 courses.

Besides my wide interests within the physics discipline, I try to maintain skills in Spanish, French, German and Italian.

My Curriculum Vitae is available here.

Physics Home Page

 

 

Last Revision March 18, 2007

 

Send questions or comments to: dsalisbury@austincollege.edu