Physical copy / Electronic book available on amazon.
Right now you're probably wondering what that strange, vibrant, multi-coloured image is.. It's a photo of a diffraction pattern through a clear cup lid, with a rotation transformation applied!
I'm Caleb Sample, a Canadian with a passion for science, mathematics, music, literature, animals, the universe... it goes on and on. I completed my physics PhD at the University of British Columbia in March 2024, and am now a medical physics resident at BC Cancer - Abbotsford.
The focus of my PhD research was on improving dose constraints for the salivary glands during radiotherapy so that treatment outcomes can be improved for future patients. I became involved in this investigation after meeting my research supervisor, Hal Clark, a clinical medical physicist at BC Cancer - Surrey, who had previously investigated the glands himself whilst doing his PhD.
This is an important problem, as more and more people are getting head-and-neck cancer, and it is common for these patients to finish radiotherapy with a severe loss in salivary function. Perhaps this sounds minor, but it severely diminishes one's quality-of-life. So if you are currently not having problems producing saliva, take a moment to be grateful for this aspect of your health! Seriously, don't scoff!
My PhD project involved a wide variety of techniques and studies, including:
In 2019 I graduated from the University of Northern British Columbia with a Bachelor of Science majoring in Physics (honours) with a minor in Mathematics. Right afterwards, I came down to Vancouver to study at the University of British Columbia in the Physics MSc program. In 2020, I direct-transferred into the PhD program. I plan to fulfill all requirements for graduation by June 2024. Afterwards, my goal is to be accepted into a medical physics residency program, where I can train to become a clinical medical physicist (on the radiotherapy side of things, although I'm also very interested in MRI and PET).
In my opinion, studying physics requires no justification; who couldn't be interested in how the world works? From the very large, down to the very small; humans have developed amazing systems for predicting the behaviour of nature. In some ways, our current models have demonstrated uncanny success, but at the same time, one gets the sense that the surface hasn't even been scraped. While I do love physics theory and mathematics, I knew by the end of my undergraduate career that I wanted to work in an applied field. Medical physics was a natural choice to do this, as it has a clear, direct, and sometimes fast impact on society. I am deeply committed to applying myself to this field in order to play a small role in improving care for cancer patients.
I am however, very interested in theoretical physics, from the small scale of quantum field and string theories, up to the large scale of the cosmos. In particular, I "find theories of everything" that attempt to explain quantum gravity to be a particularly interesting area. However, it must be admitted that my knowledge of these fronts is quite superficial. Outside of mathematics and physics, I have many interests. One of the hardest realizations in life is that it is simply impossible to do and learn everything you'd like. The pursuit of knowledge is a never ending, and exciting endeavour that gives life meaning (at least according to the stoics). I am particularly passionate about music. I love playing my guitars, and I'm working on learning to play the piano. I also enjoy singing and I am a member of the Langley Community Chorus. I enjoy writing and producing music, and I have produced at-home several songs which are on Spotify, Apple Music, etc - just look up Caleb Sample if you're interested.
I have recently self-published my first full-length novel, Just a Rat, which is available on amazon. This story is about laboratory rats who are trying to figure out what is happening to them. The description on the back reads:
Percy is a young laboratory rat, struggling to understand what is going on in his life. When he and his siblings are suddenly taken away from their parents at a young age and introduced to a new cage full of other young rats, strange things begin to happen. But surely, the 'food guy,' who's always fed him, played with him, and cleaned his cage can't be involved in any of this, can he? Will Percy be able to find the answers he so desperately searches for?
I love to read and my list of "next-reads" is ever-growing! I've become more and more interested in reading classic fiction in recent years and I'm currently devouring the books of Charles Dickens. His writing and characters are so colourful and fascinating; it's amazing to see such a high and consistent level of quality. I find it very inspirational.
I love philosophy. Until recent years, physicists were philosophers and philosophers were physicists. Complexity has grown and grown to the point where you must dedicate all your time to reach the forefront of any field in physics, and if you do, odds are you won't even fully understand it. So as fun as it is trying to follow physics innovations, you can only really scrape the surface. I therefore find it fun to go back to ancient philosophers and read their analyses on life. I do believe there is a lot of profound wisdom that has been lost over time. I also greatly enjoy reading history.
My curriculum vitae is available on this site.
Email: csample711@gmail.com
Phone: (1)-250-640-7948