You are in the official 1998-99 General Catalog
for California State University, Fresno.
You are in the official 1998-99 General Catalog
for California State University, Fresno.
Minor in Physical
Science
Single Subject Teaching Credential
in the Sciences
Michael J. Zender, Chair
Vanvilai Katkanant, Undergraduate Adviser
Manfred Bucher, Graduate Adviser
James P. Vesenka, Premedical Adviser
Steven J. White, Preoptometry Adviser
Floyd L. Judd, Brandt Kehoe, Gerardo Munoz, Hugh A. Williamson
The fascination of physics is that it is so fundamental: the continuing
attempt to understand how things work. It combines observational and experimental
grappling with nature to get the facts of behavior, with the creative synthesis
of these facts into theories and laws of nature, often beautiful in their
simplicity and universality.
Albert Einstein said, "They [the laws of theoretical physics] should
form the basis from which a picture of all processes of nature can be derived
by thoughtful deduction -- and these include also the processes of life."
He also said, "The deeper we search, the more we find there is to know,
and as long as human life exists, I believe it will always be so."
More specifically, physics includes the study of the fundamental particles
that make up nuclear particles, of electromagnetic, gravitational, atomic
and nuclear forces, of energy, of light and heat, of electronics and the
structure of materials, of the interiors of the earth and the stars.
Our faculty came here to teach and do research. Several faculty members have research projects involving students.
Classes are small; our upper-division and graduate classes run from two
to 15 in enrollment. Physics majors get to know each other very well. They
develop friendships with peers, faculty, and staff which extend beyond graduation.
We have two medium-power lasers, which greatly increase our capabilities
in modern optical studies, including Raman spectroscopy and nonlinear optics.
The department has a well-equipped clean room with laminar flow hoods, evaporative
and ion beam sputtering chambers, and high temperature ovens for thin film
research. Also housed in this facility is a fully-equipped scanning probe
microscope with low current scanning tunneling, lateral force and intermittent
contact atomic force imaging capabilities - contained in an environmentally
controlled chamber for research involving the self assembly of biomolecules.
A dedicated networked computer houses an SPM image library for K-12 education
purposes. We also have facilities for doing X-ray fluorescence analysis
(XRF) and radioactivity measurements. We have easy access to both mainframe
and microcomputers.
In addition, our physical facilities are undergoing a multimillion dollar
renovation. The renovation project will substantially improve both our research
and teaching capabilities.
Approximately half of our bachelor's and master's degree graduates have gone directly into graduate school at various institutions, pursuing master's or doctoral degrees in physics or related fields. The other half have found employment in teaching, in industry, in government, and in the medical professions. We have also observed a recent increase in a continuing demand for high school physics teachers.
Physics graduates have the versatility, knowledge, and analytical skills necessary to adapt quickly to the opportunities which arise in the dynamic world of modern science and high technology. Our graduates report interesting, exciting careers with increasing levels of responsibility and satisfaction.
