Hands up who has heard about Merritt Moore? Hm… not too impressive. And who was told when they were little that they had to choose between the many passions or interests they had, and pursue just one? More hands – not surprising.
If anyone has ever told you that you can’t do science and art, or be a financial journalist and a chef, or like cars and dolls, you have to tell them about Merritt Moore π Why?
A few facts about the physicist on pointes
Quick facts about who Merritt is. She was born in Los Angeles, and has studied at Harvard University and Oxford University. Merritt has a Bachelor Degree in Physics from Harvard, and PhD in Atomic and Laser Physics from Oxford. Impressed already? Wait, that’s not all.
Merritt is also a renowned ballet dancer. She has performed with English National Ballet, Boston Ballet, and Norwegian National Ballet, to name a few. What is even more impressive to me is that she started dancing ballet at the age of 13, which is relatively late for a ballet dancer.
And yet, she has danced in some of the most demanding ballet performance of all. Merritt has been in ‘Swan Lake’, ‘La BayadΓ¨re’, and ‘The Nutcracker’.
To top it all up, she is now completing her residency at Harvard University. She is working with the ArtLab there, and combines science and art in her research in quantum computing.
I do hope you are blown away π
But that’s not all there is to Merritt Moore!
Why is Merritt Moore incredible?
The fact that she is a quantum physicist and a ballet dancer should probably be enough to see why Merritt is an incredible woman. However, I have more to tell you.
Just to make it all more nuts, I had planned to tell you who Dr Merritt More is before a certain thing happened.
In a quite surreal split of events, I had the unreal pleasure to meet Merritt. Yup, I am still pinching myself.
So now I can tell you my side of why Merritt is – in fact – beyond incredible.
She is the founder of SciArt Party
And SciArt Party is a unique place for everyone whose passions are at seemingly opposite ends – science and art. Since Merritt herself is an embodiment of the fact that you do not have to choose between the two, she has created a space for those who are also passionate about everything science and all forms of art.
Make sure you follow SciArt on Instagram!
She dances with robots. And in Paul van Dyk’s video
How did I find about Merritt? In an unusual way – through my passion for trance music. One evening, while browsing YouTube, as you do, and came across a tune by Paul van Dyk that somehow I hadn’t heard of – “Duality”.
Apart from the fact that this is a very good tune, there is Merritt – a ballet dancer and quantum physicist, spinning around an empty building floor. I was mesmerised.
Googling ‘Merritt Moore’ took me to her website – Physics on Pointe. There, I saw that she was holding a Zoom meeting with her partner-in-crime Montse (the brains behind Rebel Girls). To make it all even more unreal, the special guest was Chris Hadfield, NASA Astronaut. Wow doesn’t even cover it!
Needless to say, I took part in this Zoom party. Met – virtually – Merritt, Montse, Chris!!!, and a lot of incredible and inspiring people from all over the world. Mind. Blown.
As I mentioned, Merritt combines science and art in her current project at Harvard, and if you don’t believe me, have a look at Instagram – Physics on Pointe.
She is pure inspiration and joy
I don’t know if you’ve ever met a person whose mere smile makes you want to get up and move mountains. That’s Merritt. Her passion for both science and art is unparalleled, but what is even more important is her dedication to inspire others.
Her enthusiasm for what she does is contagious. When we were in the Zoom meeting, you could just tell how people lit up and were keen to join her in whatever next (crazy or not) adventure she started.
It doesn’t matter whether she talks about the robots, or ballet. Just listening to her makes you convinced that if she can do it, so can you. The joy and passion simply radiate from her.
How many people do you know like that? π
To me personally, the fact that she is pursuing passions that are so opposite shows that there is hope for the future generations.
I wasn’t given much choice what to do with my life as a Polish girl in a country that was just recovering from the various past hardships. So it is even more uplifting to see that times have been changing.
And I must say it makes for a change to write about an incredible woman who I have met myself π True not all of the women I’ve highlighted are still around us (like Bogaletch Gebre). I liked the fact that I could add my personal touch to this story of yet another incredible woman.