Image via Gustavus.edu
Box? What Box?
Nobel laureate Steven Chu is reported to be the new administration’s choice to head up the Department of Energy.
Chu’s original expertise lies in the area of experimental quantum physics. His Nobel award in 1997 was for using a novel way to stop atoms from moving, so that they could be studied in detail. What was so unique that it deserved a Nobel prize?
He used lasers, the very tools most of us think of as burning hot.
Doctor Chu’s thoughts have obviously never seen the inside of ‘The Box’.
From ThinkProgress:
Chu, a Nobel Prize-winning physicist, is the director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California where he has been addressing the climate crisis by pushing breakthrough research in energy efficiency, solar energy, and biofuels technology.
Colleagues who know Chu best say “he’s not a manager, he’s a leader.” In an interview with the Wonk Room, David Roland-Holst, an economist at the Center for Energy, Resources and Economic Sustainability at UC Berkeley, described Chu as a “very distinguished researcher” and “an extremely effective manager of cutting edge technology initiatives.”
This past summer, Dr. Chu spoke at the National Clean Energy Summit in Las Vegas, convened by the Center for American Progress, UNLV, and Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV). In one of the lighter moments during his remarks, Chu claimed that efficiency gains and lowered costs have been shown to be possible when the jobs were assigned to engineers, not lobbyists.
The (Mis)Spoken Word
You’ll notice that Dr. Chu, in the video above, says that 3 degrees C is equal to 11 degrees F, which is obviously wrong. Astute observers will notice that the chart dispayed to support his words clearly shows ‘5 degrees’, and not 3 degrees. Using 5C, the math does indeed work out to 11F.
As is common with many folks when speaking publicly, the good doctor simply misspoke. It is OBVIOUS that he should have said ‘5′ instead of ‘3’.
Seems reasonable to me that as a public speaker, Dr. Chu simply misspoke.
I am Jon, and I too, have had problems speaking in public. (Just look through Wordout and it becomes obvious…)
