Paul Tjossem

Paul J. H. Tjossem is a professor of physics at Grinnell College. He earned his B.A. in physics from Swarthmore College and his Ph.D. in Applied Physics from Cornell University. After a postdoctoral position at the National Bureau of Standards (now NIST), he joined the Grinnell College faculty in 1989. His research interests include laser molecular spectroscopy, capillary electrophoresis, and the study of instabilities and frequency locking in deceptively simple mechanical and electrical systems, which has led him to revisit classic physics demonstrations such as Thomson’s Jumping Ring and Houdini’s Candle Seesaw.