This Limerick Life - Phil Samways
Phil is a University of Limerick lecturer in Electronic and Computer Engineering. He hails from England but settled in Limerick over thirty years ago. From an early age he has been fascinated with science and particularly astronomy which has become a central focus for his life
I first arrived in Ireland in 1977 to work in the newly created National Institute of Higher Education (NIHE). I had seen the advertisement for a teaching position in Limerick while reading the Times Education Supplement. I graduated, originally, from Manchester University but choose not to take astronomy as part of my degree preferring to focus on Electronic and Computer Engineering instead.
I absolutely love campus life at the University of Limerick and especially its semi-rural environment. The University is such a wonderful environment in which to work, and I consider myself very lucky to have the opportunity to work there. Compared with my life in the UK, my life here is a sort of Utopia which I share fondly with my wife and daughter.
My earliest involvement with science came as a bit of a shock to my immediate family. When I was seven years old I tried to magnetise a small piece of wire by inserting it in an electrical socket at home. I succeeded but at the cost of blowing all the fuses and electrocuting myself in the process!
From a very early age, I was fascinated by science. I did all sorts of experiments at home, some of them crazy! I owe a great deal to my parents and older brothers and sister who taught me a range of skills from how to spin a cricket ball to building and flying model aircraft. I think because of these early experiences, I have always put great emphasis on the importance of practical skills. There is a great difference between theory and practice no matter what your area of study. I'm a firm believer that you need to have practical experience of what you are teaching in order to inspire your students.
We take science and technology so much for granted, and I am annoyed by those who criticise it. Just think of medical diagnostics and treatment, transport, communications… All these advances come from the appliance of science. Maybe our politicians need to understand more about it.
Although I have spoken about my love of science and technology, I don't consider myself a slave to it. I don't walk around with the latest iPod gadget in my ear, or a lap-top under my arm looking for the nearest wi-fi locations!
I can definitely remember that the start of my involvement in astronomy. It came as a result of watching a live broadcast of a very young Patrick Moore reporting on a solar eclipse. I then went to one of his lectures in London, and my fate was sealed!
Apart from my work at the University, I teach Astronomy for "Astronomy Ireland". Astronomy is essentially a branch of Physics, which describes how the world around us 'works', and it is such a shame that, along with mathematics, it is seen by most as just another difficult leaving certificate subject. For me, maths and physics are genuinely beautiful subjects. The difficulty is that, just like watching a serialisation of a Jane Austen novel, once you miss one episode, it's hard to follow the rest. Physics is like that. Knowledge builds on previous knowledge. That's the power of it. Of course, our knowledge is not complete, but it is continually improving so that we know much more about how the human body works, about the Earth, its history, and the development of its environment than we did 200 years ago.
One thing I am sure of: we are not alone in the cosmos! We know that there are many planets revolving around stars like our sun. The chemical building blocks of life are everywhere in the Universe. On Earth, we find life thriving in the most extreme conditions. There may have been life on Mars but it is now extinct. One theory is that life arrived on earth carried from space by asteroids and comets. They bombarded our planet periodically throughout its existence and may do so again! One gap in our knowledge is how life itself started. Having complex chemicals is one thing, but the step to life is a huge one.
I am not impressed with stories about alien abductions and UFOs. Evidence that alien civilisations built the pyramids is weak at best. If extra-terrestrials have visited us, why would they keep their presence a secret from us all this time? Could we meet up with these Extra-terrestrials?
Our fastest rockets would take tens of thousands of years to reach the nearest star. We cannot visit them and it may be impossible for any species to travel through space to visit us. Maybe they cannot detect our radio waves or we cannot detect their signals. DNA may have travelled through space on asteroids and landed on earth but where did it come from and how was it created?
I believe that all life is sacred but I am not a fanatic about it. I would try and avoid killing things if at all possible. If I do inadvertently kill something I hate it because there is a wonder to all life. Human beings have this idea that we are "in charge" of the earth and all its life forms. I don't agree with that but certainly we are in a privileged position that should not be abused.
I have been vegetarian since my early thirties and hate animal suffering. One event, in particular, influenced my decision to become a vegetarian. I remember being served pheasant for a meal one night while living in England. At that moment something changed in my thinking. We gave away all the meat that we stored in the freezer and started over anew. I eat a whole-food diet as much as possible, and love fruit.
Animals cannot speak so we cannot know how much they suffer. The argument for using animals in experiments to advance medical science is complex but the exploitation of animals in the cosmetics industry is very wrong.
I enjoy exercise, and have always been involved in competitive sporting activities, mainly racquet sports. In recent years, I have discovered ballroom dancing, which I would thoroughly recommend to everyone. I believe it's important to keep fit both mentally and physically. The human body is designed to be active.
I do not believe in divine retribution but one day devastation may come from above - in the form of so-called Near Earth Objects (NEOs). There are countless asteroids and comets within, or close to, our solar system, and the fear is that one or more of these giant objects may change orbit and head for earth. We do not currently have the technology to monitor all these.It is known, for example, that at least one such object crashes into earth every few million years, and that about every one hundred million years, there is a large, devastating impact. We would need to nudge these objects away somhow if we are not to share the plight of the Dinosaurs some 65 million years ago. Just one strike then, in the Yucatn Peninsula near Mexico, ended their global existence forever!
As our knowledge improves, we are learning a great deal about the nature of our planet's history and evolution, and the vastness of the universe. We have come to realise how fragile and delicately balanced our planet's existence truly is. The natural world around us is a wonderful place. Let's look after it and all the other living things that share it with us.
Interview: John Rainsford
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Monday 21 May 2012
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