Thinking,
Flying and Riding
Gerry
Nolan - PHD Student studying Formal Logic for Metaphilosophy
University of Sydney
On
12 April, I made what I hope will turn out to be a
major breakthrough in
my research on problems in formal logic for Metaphilosophy,
one of my three
coursework subjects for my postgraduate studies.
Then, not having been to the movies for nearly a year and
being an old biker, I took myself to "The World's Fastest
Indian", which, as well as being entertaining, is highly
inspirational!
On my studies in general; while being disappointed that my
standard of
mathematics was not high enough to sustain the amount of Physics
I wanted
to do for my initial course in Advanced Science or even in
Science at UNSW,
I am happy with my decision to change to Arts and do honours
in Philosophy.
During my course, I was able to do Philosophy of Modern Physics,
which was
mainly quantum physics, and my postgraduate study and thesis
will be on
Metaphysics. I've been told, by some markers, that my
philosophy is a bit
too close to physics.
From the age of seven, I have been interested in flying and
this interest
started to take a more definite shape in high school. However,
I had to
leave school at age 14 after year 10 (South Australian Intermediate),
because there were no facilities to go further in the country
town where I
attended school.
As something that might have helped me in flying, science
was a major interest and, much to my mother's concern, I
had my own
laboratory in a shed at home. Of course I made and
flew model aeroplanes
and cadged every ride in light aeroplanes that I possibly
could. I even
worked school holidays as a freight and baggage handler on
the DC-3 and, if
I worked fast enough, I would have time to sit in
the captain's seat.
Pretty well everything I did was in someway related to flying
and
eventually I made it into the RAAF to train as a pilot on
Vampire jets.
After my aviation career, my interest in science, particularly
in cosmology
and fundamental physics, continues.
|
|
