ICBP 2004
So I’m here in Gothenburg, Sweden, attending the 5th International Conference on Biological Physics. So expect a few posts on interesting talks, posters, etc that I come across. (I love the internet - would you have known that several of my earlier posts came from the Singapore airport departure lounge?)
This morning there Adrian Persegian gave a talk about pressures and forces involved with DNA. He spoke very well, clearly and concisely, although some of the significance of the talk was lost on me, as I didn’t really have the background. A couple of interesting things were that he was really pushing the aspect of getting interesting “and enjoyable” physics from biololgy, and presenting his work with the angle of why should a physicist be interested. This is interesting, since often biophysics talks are aimed at biologists, and why they might want physicists to help them.
Another interesting thing he did was to say “let’s talk like people” when he thought his last comments were confusing. Then he’d come out from behind the lectern (gasp!) and talk and gesticulate, as if he was having a real discussion, and really wanted us to understand rather than just nod and smile and think how clever he and his research is. He approached his whole talk as less of a “communicate my research” and more of a “why should you care?” kind of talk. A refreshing change! Then again, as an invited speaker, he doesn’t have to convince everyone that he’s good! But if you ever attend a conference, you’ll realise that most physicsists (heck, most people) just aren’t good public communicators. A pleasant start to the conference.