Time to Stop Telling Biophysics Students that Light Is Primarily a Wave

Biophysical Journal
Philip C Nelson

Abstract

Standard pedagogy introduces optics as though it were a consequence of Maxwell's equations and only grudgingly admits, usually in a rushed aside, that light has a particulate character that can somehow be reconciled with the wave picture. Recent revolutionary advances in optical imaging, however, make this approach more and more unhelpful: How are we to describe two-photon imaging, FRET, localization microscopy, and a host of related techniques to students who think of light primarily as a wave? I was surprised to find that everything I wanted my biophysics students to know about light, including image formation, x-ray diffraction, and even Bessel beams, could be expressed as well (or better) from the quantum viewpoint pioneered by Richard Feynman. Even my undergraduate students grasp this viewpoint as well as (or better than) the traditional one, and by mid-semester they are already well positioned to integrate the latest advances into their understanding. Moreover, I have found that this approach clarifies my own understanding of new techniques.

References

Apr 13, 1987·Physical Review Letters·J DurninJ H Eberly
Feb 10, 2009·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Gleb ShtengelHarald F Hess
Jun 30, 2014·Methods in Cell Biology·Gleb ShtengelPakorn Kanchanawong
Jun 9, 2015·Nature Cell Biology·Lindsay B CaseClare M Waterman
Mar 8, 2016·Nature Methods·Wesley R LegantEric Betzig

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