nibot | (no subject)

James D. Patterson, professor emeritus of Florida Institute of Technology, has written An Open Letter to the Next Generation (see also physicstoday) in which he describes some of the pitfalls of the profession of Physics. A lot of what he says (for instance, about politics, respect, efficiency, and activity) is applicable to any profession, but other points are specific to Physics and are phenomena I've seen in myself any many others, like the nagging suspicion that Theory and Particle Physics are somehow the "most noble" fields. I think the most interesting thing that he says is "Scientific papers are almost always more complete and understandable than their digested versions in books. ... Textbooks are often abbreviated second− or third−hand distortions of the facts, and they usually do not convey the flavor of scientific research."

By the way, another blog I find quite interesting is languagelog.

Threaded | Flat

physics research is kinda boring. I'm going to law school.

Occasionally one sees this idea that the importance of fundamental physics is overrated. I guess so... after all, it's just supposed to be the basis of everything else in science! Right now, we have no consensus about how the Standard Model relates to string theory, and at least three "interpretations" of quantum mechanics, with no real basis for choosing between them. That's a big advance on "earth, air, fire, water", but it's not exactly over and done with. But I suppose people who really want to work in that area are going to do so anyway, no matter what pundits say.

Check out the latest post on

leech before this one. He's asking for interesting physics examples. You should know.