Dr. Todd Duncan
Visiting Assistant Professor (2006)
Department of Physics
Pacific University
Forest Grove, OR 97116
Ph: 503-352-2065
FAX: 503-352-2933
Office: Strain 122-D
duncant@pacificu.edu
Education
B.S., University of Illinois, 1992
M.Phil., Cambridge University, 1994
Ph.D., University of Chicago, 1997
I came to Pacific in Fall 2006 after nine years on the faculty of the Center for Science Education at Portland State University. My research and teaching are organized around the theme of "looking for meaning in the modern scientific universe." Science has uncovered remarkable insights that have profound implications for our perspective on who we are, where we came from, and where we are going (e.g. scientific cosmology, relativity, quantum physics, ideas of systems theory, emergent complexity, biological evolution, etc.). But it can be difficult to translate this knowledge into a form that concretely helps us see ourselves as part of the cosmos. In fact, the scientific picture of the universe can be alienating, presenting a challenge to our ability to find a true home for ourselves within the model of the universe it describes. My work focuses on developing ways for people to see a place for themselves within the context of our scientific understanding of the universe. Teaching and research form two complementary and equally important aspects of this effort, which is articulated in the Science Integration Institute I helped found.
I love the sense of community at Pacific and the healthy balance between scholarship and teaching. Classes I teach include cosmology, introductory physics, electricity & magnetism, quantum mechanics, and optics labs in the School of Optometry.
My current scholarship is focused on two main projects: With coauthor Craig Tyler I'm finishing up a textbook, "Your Cosmic Context: An Introduction to Modern Cosmology," due out from Addison-Wesley in January 2008. With Jack Semura I'm exploring the idea that the second law of thermodynamics is fundamentally about information. Clues from multiple areas of physics suggest the intriguing possibility that we might need to take information seriously as a fundamental building block of the universe, on par with energy, charge, mass, etc. Perhaps if we can uncover the fundamental laws governing information dynamics, it will turn out that quantum behavior and the second law of thermodynamics are just different aspects of the dynamics of information, leading to a deeper understanding of the nature of ultimate reality.