I'm a Useful Physics Resource 4 U

It’s time for the late-night regurgitation and cramming that stalks every student during midterms. The class is Physics 181, “Statistical Mechanics.” The topic is semiconductors. The study resource is...Britney?

That’s right. Many an undergraduate in need of a valence review for quantum mechanics has turned to the pop princess’ online study aid: Britney Spears’ Guide to Semiconductor Physics (http://britneyspears.ac/lasers.htm). The website, which was written and designed by Carl Hepburn, a post-graduate physics major at the University of Essex, UK, has been around for two years, since Hepburn celebrated his admiration by placing the famous pop star amidst descriptions of valence and conduction bands.

The site index greets viewers with a picture of Britney lounging in her typical sultry, seductive, “come-hither” fashion. The cartoon bubble emanating from her mouth holds one of the many equations for the Density of States, one the most ubiquitous required formulas in the field. The site has a Google search engine option, cleverly altered to “Booble,” not to mention various indexes with payloads worth of textbook information on semiconductors. And of course, every page of equations has—you guessed it—random pictures of Britney at her best. Sometimes, her figure is even used to demonstrate paths of electron movement.

But is it truly helpful? Several undergraduates and tutors say yes, Britney’s site drives them crazy. “My favorite wallpaper is the one with Britney dancing in front of laboratory apparati. I had it up on my computer for a while,” says Jamey E. Graham ’03, a physics concentrator in Lowell House. “But the great irony is that the physics is pretty rigorous. One could actually use this site as a reference.”

Spears should help many fans with their homework in the future. Comments Hepburn on the phenomenon he created: “I hope that Britney does not mind being an ambassador of science and that the fan part of the site promotes her every endeavor in the future.” Heterojunction me, baby, one more time.