UNSW science websites best on planet
7th October 2005
Professor Joe Wolfe and his team at the University of New South Wales School of Physics have been honoured this week by Scientific American’s 2005 Science and Technology Web Awards that recognise creative and innovative websites.
Each year, the US science journal’s editors select their favourite 25 websites from the galaxy of IT, technology and science sites that inhabit the World Wide Web. Well-resourced US institutions such as Harvard, MIT, Cornell, NASA and the US Academy of Natural Sciences backed most of the winning sites.
However, Professor Wolfe and his colleagues at the UNSW School of Physics were recognised for two websites – one on musical acoustics, the other on Einstein’s theory of relativity, dubbed Einstein Light. No other Australian websites were recognised.
The UNSW sites use a range of multimedia – images, animations, film clips and sound files – to create an enjoyable, entertaining learning experience.
Asked why he and his team – George Hatsidimitris, John Tann and Dr John R. Smith – bother to invest considerable time and resources to create multimedia websites, Professor Wolfe said:
“If you do it once and you do it well, a website is there whenever you need it and more importantly, it’s there whenever someone else needs it. It’s also like a report to the shareholders. That is, universities are paid by taxpayers to do research and to communicate it. So the music acoustics website, for example, is a way of showing what we did with the resources.”
Professor Wolfe has won numerous awards and recognition for his teaching, scholarship and innovative websites. In 2004 he was awarded the Australian Awards for University Teaching for Physical Sciences and Related Studies. In 2003 he was recognised with an award by the Acoustical Society of America for a website article on clarinet acoustics.
The citations for the winning UNSW websites say the following:
Music Acoustics: http://www.phys.unsw.edu.au/music
Listen up! Aimed at scientists and musicians alike, this site offers a panoply of resources on the sound of music. From answers to rudimentary questions like "What is a decibel?" to the physics of the didgeridoo; from audio files of concert musicians playing clarinet concertos to detailed explanations of cochlear implants, 'Music Acoustics' is a compelling and harmonious compendium of research at the crossroads of physics and music.
Einstein Light: http://www.phys.unsw.edu.au/einsteinlight
Einstein spent decades trying to understand relativity. Thanks to the efficient folks at the University of New South Wales, you can do it in just five minutes. The site is divided into five sections: Galileo, Maxwell, Einstein, Time Dilation and E=mc2, each featuring a one-minute (or less!) multimedia movie on a major player or principle of the space-time game. Hosted by fast-talking physicist Joe Wolfe, the movies offer quick overviews and quirky animation, plus links to more in-depth articles on the topic at hand.
Each year, the US science journal’s editors select their favourite 25 websites from the galaxy of IT, technology and science sites that inhabit the World Wide Web. Well-resourced US institutions such as Harvard, MIT, Cornell, NASA and the US Academy of Natural Sciences backed most of the winning sites.
However, Professor Wolfe and his colleagues at the UNSW School of Physics were recognised for two websites – one on musical acoustics, the other on Einstein’s theory of relativity, dubbed Einstein Light. No other Australian websites were recognised.
The UNSW sites use a range of multimedia – images, animations, film clips and sound files – to create an enjoyable, entertaining learning experience.
Asked why he and his team – George Hatsidimitris, John Tann and Dr John R. Smith – bother to invest considerable time and resources to create multimedia websites, Professor Wolfe said:
“If you do it once and you do it well, a website is there whenever you need it and more importantly, it’s there whenever someone else needs it. It’s also like a report to the shareholders. That is, universities are paid by taxpayers to do research and to communicate it. So the music acoustics website, for example, is a way of showing what we did with the resources.”
Professor Wolfe has won numerous awards and recognition for his teaching, scholarship and innovative websites. In 2004 he was awarded the Australian Awards for University Teaching for Physical Sciences and Related Studies. In 2003 he was recognised with an award by the Acoustical Society of America for a website article on clarinet acoustics.
The citations for the winning UNSW websites say the following:
Music Acoustics: http://www.phys.unsw.edu.au/music
Listen up! Aimed at scientists and musicians alike, this site offers a panoply of resources on the sound of music. From answers to rudimentary questions like "What is a decibel?" to the physics of the didgeridoo; from audio files of concert musicians playing clarinet concertos to detailed explanations of cochlear implants, 'Music Acoustics' is a compelling and harmonious compendium of research at the crossroads of physics and music.
Einstein Light: http://www.phys.unsw.edu.au/einsteinlight
Einstein spent decades trying to understand relativity. Thanks to the efficient folks at the University of New South Wales, you can do it in just five minutes. The site is divided into five sections: Galileo, Maxwell, Einstein, Time Dilation and E=mc2, each featuring a one-minute (or less!) multimedia movie on a major player or principle of the space-time game. Hosted by fast-talking physicist Joe Wolfe, the movies offer quick overviews and quirky animation, plus links to more in-depth articles on the topic at hand.
Links
Science and Technology Web Awards
Professor Wolfe’s educational websites
Media Contacts: Professor Joe Wolfe: +612 9385 4954; Dan Gaffney: UNSW science media +61 411 156 015
Professor Wolfe’s educational websites
Media Contacts: Professor Joe Wolfe: +612 9385 4954; Dan Gaffney: UNSW science media +61 411 156 015
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