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Public Speaking
A Sampling of Kitta’s Public Speaking[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_column_text]
“Monkey in the Middle: The World of the Science Writer”
Present Day Club, Princeton, N.J. (Jan. 2017)
“Science writers must constantly balance the interests and needs of the public with the demands and expectations of scientists. And this leads us to ask — What is the proper role for scientific leadership? The public wants to know what the latest advances in medicine, science and technology mean for people, businesses or the natural world, even when they don’t understand how they work. Physicians, scientists and other researchers can play an important role not only in communicating the facts, but also the value of medicine, science and technology.”
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”963″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”right” css=”.vc_custom_1520809394319{margin-bottom: 10px !important;}”][vc_single_image image=”964″ img_size=”full”][vc_column_text]Photos: Kitta at the podium and the attendees starting to be seated[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_separator css=”.vc_custom_1520812880678{margin-top: 20px !important;margin-bottom: 20px !important;}”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row hide_bg_image_on_tablet=”” hide_bg_image_on_mobile=”” css=”.vc_custom_1520810285489{margin-bottom: 20px !important;}”][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_column_text]
“Lyman Spitzer”
On the occasion of the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce’s celebration of the 350th birthday of New Jersey, I spoke about the visionary physicist who placed #5 on the list of “The All-time Top 25 Innovators in New Jersey History” (Oct. 2014)
“Lyman Spitzer, who was gentlemanly and soft-spoken, founded (the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory) and pioneered the field of fusion research. At Princeton, where he chaired the Department of Astrophysical Sciences for three decades, he was legendary among colleagues for his original brand of thinking, his perfectionism, his patience and his quirky sense of humor. In 1946, long before the Russians launched the satellite Sputnik, Spitzer wrote a classified paper describing the need for a floating space observatory and lobbied the U.S. government for it, actions that led him to become known as the father of the Hubble Space Telescope. During a weekend in Aspen, Colorado, in March 1951, he conceived of the fundamental idea of fusion energy while on a ski lift. When he returned home, he convinced the U.S. government to allow him to start the laboratory. He also was the first to understand that stars continually die and are reborn, the basis of the modern field of stellar dynamics.”
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”966″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”right”][vc_column_text]Kitta MacPherson speaking at the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce’s celebration of the 350th year of NJ statehood, after accepting a top innovator award from the Chamber on behalf of the late Lyman Spitzer, the founder of the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_separator css=”.vc_custom_1520812898500{margin-top: 20px !important;margin-bottom: 20px !important;}”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
“Translating Science and Technology”
Princeton Writes, Princeton U. (Oct. 2014)
“What is the proper role of research communicators? The public wants to know what the latest advances in medicine, science, and technology mean for people, businesses, and the natural world, even when they don’t understand how they work. Communicators can play an important role, not only in communicating the facts, but also the value of medicine, science, and technology.”
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“Writing Relativity”
Reiss Award Lecture, Fairleigh Dickinson University, Madison, N.J. (August, 2012)
“Albert Einstein’s theories of relativity – both “special” and “general” — are among the greatest achievements of human thought. Working as an obscure patent clerk in the dawning years of the Twentieth Century, the soon-to-be-world-famous physicist published a series of scientific papers that included these concepts and produced a new view of how the universe really works, overthrowing Newtonian ideas. Einstein’s universe was an infinite, ever expanding, ever accelerating one where the only constant was the speed of light. What a story for a writer to translate, convey and popularize! The tale of Einstein and his discoveries has elements of drama (the brilliant breakthroughs), pathos (the lonely quest), suspense (Will he be able to do it? Will anyone understand if he does?), love (his young wife waiting at home), conflict (his young wife waiting at home), and friendship (his loyal friend Besso cheering him on.) There are, indeed, writers who have successfully tackled the epic effort of chronicling and conveying one of the world’s greatest intellectual accomplishments. They have described the theories accurately, and cogently explained them, meeting the standards of lucid science writing. They have also done so in a literary fashion, incorporating many of the tenets commonly expected in literature.”
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“Moving Toward a Communications Plan for American Magnetic Fusion”
Fusion Power Associates Meeting, Washington, D.C. (Dec. 2012) [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]