Written by Burt Hollandsworth
The first busy weeks of the fall semester make some students question why they ever decided to go to college. Is your head spinning after reading the syllabi for the 18 hours of courses you so optimistically scheduled for your “future self” a few months ago? There are all kinds of reasons for going to college. Mom and Dad might have said that not going to college was not an option. Perhaps you’re here to pursue that dream of the middle class house with husband or wife, two or three kids and comfortable income. Maybe your goals are more humanitarian. You might be here to learn how to help others, mend bodies and spirits or save the planet.
There are plenty of valid reasons for being here. But with that said, I like to tell my physical science classes that one of the most practical reasons for pursing a liberal arts education is to prepare for that really insightful question from a little kid. Those of you with much younger brothers and sisters know exactly what I’m talking about. My son, William, is a little over three years old, and he has already discovered that Mom and Dad seem to have some kind of answer for everything. So far, the questions are more like, “Dad, do you know where my shoes are?” Pretty soon, we are going to have to tackle the origin of that blue sky.
No, it’s not light reflecting off the ocean that gives rise to “the azure blue.” The phenomenon of “Rayleigh Scattering” is to blame. Light can be absorbed by or transmitted through a substance. Colors that are not absorbed are reflected back to our eyes, giving an object its characteristic color. Colors selectively transmitted by a clear object will also lead to a characteristic color (colored glass for instance). When a substance scatters light, it means that it is not absorbed or transmitted. The angle of the light moving into the substance is simply changed into a different angle on the way out. The small, induced electrical charges in molecules of nitrogen and oxygen in our atmosphere are able to scatter sunlight, which you may remember contains all colors of light (ROYGBIV). Rayleigh discovered that the intensity of the light scattered by these molecules is proportional to one over the wavelength to the fourth power.
Since blue-violet light is the lowest wavelength visible, it is scattered by the atmosphere down to our eyes with the most intensity. In fact, since humans see blue light better than violet, the sky tends to look more blue to us than violet.
Now, I would never explain the blue color of the sky to my 3-year-old using complicated mathematical relationships. But having my own grasp on the more sophisticated answer might help me frame a simple, age-appropriate and truthful explanation in a way that he can understand. I don’t have to make something up, or resort to the old, “God wanted it that way.”
At some point in your life, you will encounter people with questions. Questions like, “What’s the best price to charge for this service?”, “How can we do a better job conserving energy?”, “Can you write a letter to the editor expressing our viewpoint?” or “Would you give a presentation to the board tomorrow?” I hope that your liberal arts education at Harding will prepare you to rise to the occasion and give the right answers to these questions.
On the other hand, what are we to do with the inevitable questions like, “Should I take Genesis literally?”, “What should I tell my friend who is contemplating leaving his wife?”, or most importantly, “How can I come to know Christ like you do?” The answers to these questions are not in your psychology, sociology or statistics textbook. In fact, the answers to these kinds of questions might not even come from your Bible classes.
Bible class is a great place to start the exploration, but your continued involvement and immersion in a community of Christians who love you is the best way to prepare to provide your answer. I want you to know that the faculty here at Harding wants to help you find your answer to these kinds of questions. The personal relationships that we want you to develop with faculty, administrators, staff and your fellow students will go a long way toward focusing your response to the tougher questions of life.
Use your college years wisely. Give your coursework the attention that it deserves, even in those pesky classes outside of your major. What you learn now may give you something to say when the time is right.
Burt Hollandsworth is a guest contributer for the Bison. He may be contacted atbhollan1@harding.edu
