How to be a physicist.

19:04

"Being a physicist is fairly easy. The challenge is staying a physicist without surrendering yourself to the infinite abyss of physical and mathematical theory."
-Daksh Gupta

Being a physicist is, as a matter of fact fairly easy. The way a physicist thinks is very different form the common man. Physics thinkers are probably the most liberal thinkers in the world. They have trained their brains to ignore the hardwiring and observe everything. And I mean everything. Here'e the definite guide to becoming  physicist.

1. Dump those textbooks

 Education systems, in my opinion have reduced this liberating science into a junkyard of formulas. And that's the first thing to get rid of.
"Reading off a textbook is to figuring it out in the shower, what reading about forests is to camping."
-Daksh Gupta

2. Read/Watch this list (or the books/videos/TV shows in it)

 Now that you have factory reset your physics brain. Let's load up some software on it.

3. Think logic and reason.












Mathematics is integral to physics. Sorry math haters. But, hey, it's not borin' old fractions and rational numbers. This, is the real deal. I have had countless 'whoa' moments  when I witnessed first hand the powerful relationship between physics and math. 

'We were like peas and carrots."
-Math and physics. And also Tom Hanks in 1994 film 'Forrest Gump'

You have to think logically. And more importantly, question everything. Never ever take anything for granted. That's like hydrogen cyanide to Physics. The greats, Hawking, Maxwell, Tyson, Rutherford, Newton, Einstein, Nye the science guy, Spangler all have one thing in common. The common 10 year old would see a flashlight firing light and say, "Woohoo! Lightsaber fight!"
But a physicist would ask someone, mum, dad, teacher, Nye the science the guy, or someone why light never bent around. And then he would publish a paper and be known as Sir Isaac Newton. Although there were no flashlights in the 17th century. Bummer.

4. Be brave, unique, and determined
Newton, when he discovered the spectrum, had no flashlights. Or lights for that matter. So he could only perform on a clear day, and not at night. Hard for a man living in rainy UK, having a day job at the prestigious University of Cambridge. He could have carried on with his job as the Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at the best university in the world of it's time, and do nothing else. But he was an explorer. A renaissance physicist. He was brave, and determined. And unique too. 
All the pioneers of the italian renaissance were brave. Some risked prosecution from orthodox, supreme powers of religion. They turned the tables. 

5. Finally, hard work.
"Being a physicist is easy, being a good physicist is like coming back from the event horizon."
-Daksh Gupta

There's no alternative to working hard to get what you want. That's what my father always says. 

On being asked why he continued to try after failing to create a light bulb 10,000 times; "I didn't fail 10,000 times, I learnt 10,000 ways of how not to build a light bulb."

Caution!
Physics is a scary place to work in. Beware, or you may lose your sense of reality.



Thanks for reading, I am Daksh Gupta and as always, never stop asking questions.

Tags:

You Might Also Like

0 comments