HWS News
7 May 2025 Breslin '27 Wins Annual Physics Competition
Project by Henry Breslin ’27 examines Planck temperature Derivation and earns top honors in the 24th annual Albert Holland Physics Lecture Competition.
Henry Breslin ’27 recently won the 24th annual Albert Holland Physics Lecture Competition for his presentation on the derivation of the Planck temperature, the maximum sensible temperature allowed in quantum mechanics.
A physics major from Newport, R.I., Breslin began his presentation by examining a particle with specific wavefunctions confined within a box. He determined the minimum possible length for this confinement, then used that length to calculate the particle’s energy and temperature.
“The derivation makes use of different, seemingly unrelated concepts and elegantly connects them together to find the Planck Temperature,” says Breslin. The Planck Temperature is equivalent to 1.42x10^32 degrees Kelvin.
Nine students competed in the event, judged by Professor of Physics Donald Spector, Associate Professor of English and Creative Writing Laurence Erussard and Associate Professor of Psychological Science Daniel Graham. Professor of Physics Ted Allen served as the master of ceremonies.
During the competition, each student presented a 15-minute lecture in which some significant principle or application of physics is derived and explained; the lectures are judged on the rhetorical skill and effectiveness with which they are delivered. The winner receives a check for their performance.
The other participants were:
- Auben Ball ’27, an architectural studies and economics double major from Dickerson, Md., who presented on “Range Projectile Motion;”
- Maryfei Berrigan ’27, a physics major from Hollis, N.J., who presented on “Wave or Particle? The Physics of the Double Slit Experiment;”
- Grayson Getz ’27, a physics major from Wayland, Mass., who presented on “Deriving the Ideal Gas Law;”
- Antonia Goerke ’27, a biochemistry major from Rottenburg, Germany, who presented on “My Rainbow is Never Your Rainbow;”
- Ryan Daniel Jackson ’28, a physics major from Delanson, N.Y., who presented on “Using Fermat’s Principle of Least Time to Prove Snell’s Law;”
- Duncan Kipkoech ’28, an undeclared major from Thika, Kenya, who presented on “Why Things Bounce;”
- Lucille McWilliams ’26, a physics and mathematics double major from Pawling, N.Y., who presented on “Universal Law of Gravitation;”
- Berke Otus ’28, a physics major from Los Angeles, Calif., who presented on “The Flexibility of Time.”
The competition and prize were conceived and endowed by the late Professor Emeritus of Physics Allan M. Russell P’81, P’86 when he retired from the Physics Department after three decades of teaching. The purpose of the competition is to encourage and further the art of physics discourse and to memorialize former President Holland.
Albert Edward (Bert) Holland, B.A., M.A., LL.D. (1912-1984) served as HWS President from 1966 to 1968. He was known for his vision, honesty and integrity, and his remarkable skills in public presentation. He received a letter of commendation from the U.S. Government for employing those skills in helping to save those imprisoned with him in a Japanese prison camp in the Philippines during World War II. As president, he was responsible for the establishment of Geneva Scholarship Associates, which provides scholarship aid to students from the Geneva area.
Top: Henry Breslin '27 poses for a picture with Professor of Physics Donald Spector after winning the 24th annual Albert Holland Physics Lecture Competition.
