My brief note last night concluded with a physics joke; perhaps my subconscious was looking ahead to the next day.

After a rude interruption at 7 AM (emergency at my employer’s data center), I got back to sleep and did not get up until nearly 10, when I had to leave to get Tom for church, mia_mcdavid having to serve as an acolyte. I was a little nervous about this; the previous few times I have tried to do this without Mia have been difficult. However, everybody concerned had prepared for this, and it worked: Tom had no problem about getting into the car and going off with me. By contrast, Tom was quite difficult in church, much more so than on similar previous occasions. In retrospect, he may have picked up on Mia’s discomfort.

Afterwards Mia took Tom to our home, and I drove to Northfield. I was going to the Memorial Service for Mike Casper, one of my favorite professors long ago at Carleton College. I drove down I-35 at the speed limit (all right, rather more) and took Hwy. 19 East to Northfield. I drove by St. Olaf College on the west side of down, noting with some amusement that they now also had a wind turbine, similar to the one Carleton built in 2004 (College rivalry note, not to be taken seriously). Energy policy had been one of Mike’s major interests.

I crossed town and got to the Carleton Campus. I had to park a block away from the chapel. Not a surprise, Mike had been well known both on and off campus–he was a close friend and advisor of Paul Wellstone. I learned today that the Wellstone Bus was his idea. One of Wellstone’s campaign managers, who had to deal with the practicalities of the vehicle, mentioned this at the service, describing it as a full employment act for tow truck drivers.

Mike’s sons, and a niece, spoke at the service and did it very well. One of the sons did an incredibly difficult thing: He talked about the last years when Mike had Alzheimer’s disease. At one point he mentioned when it was apparent that Mike could no longer do simple arithmetic. This particular remark hit me like a truck: Back in 1971 Mike had taught me to understand and work with Hilbert Spaces. Even near the end, Mike still had the occasional moments when he recognized and appreciated the people around him. This seemed like our relationship with Tom; seeing the person who once was there, or, in our case, should have been there.

Afterwards I went to the reception. I got to greet Mike’s widow and sons, and tell them how important Mike had been to me. It is nice when the right thing to say is absolutely true.

One of my classmates from 1972 was also there, and we chatted briefly. We knew Mike primarily as a scientist. We were aware of his political activism, but in our time (Viet Nam) the extent of his involvement was not particularly noticeable (it seemed like everybody was doing that). I also got to greet a couple of my old professors, Mike’s colleagues.

Mike gave me my basic understanding of quantum mechanics (in so far as anybody can understand QM). As such he formed much of my basic understanding of how the universe works, and how people should react to it.

Mike Casper, R.I.P.