I love physics. I’ve spent my past few weekends reviewing all those chapters on relativity in introductory physics textbooks that I had to rush through as a student, just to prep for the exam. I’ve mixed into that whitewashed view of special relativity Einstein’s original papers (translated) on the subject, working through his definitions of simultaneity, the key to relativity. I’ve found yet again the pleasure of thinking about what it means to make a measurement.
I know that physics isn’t easy. You have to speak mathematics, a language that I am able to order dinner with, or use to ask how to go to the bathroom. I can’t cuss in math though, a skill which my theory colleagues have all mastered. You have to be patient, or a prodigy, to really become a physicist and contribute to the field. It was challenging to me in high school, more challenging in college, comfortable in graduate school, and now it is a struggle to find the right questions and design the right experiment to test them. Physics confronts all who would learn it with the equal opportunities of delight and suffering.
I know the US is starting to lag in science, but I was amazed to learn that the “UK is becoming fearful of losing its pool of talented physicists”:http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/education/4450208.stm. This appears to be due to a drop (~40%) in available physics teachers and staff. I find this remarkable, since the UK has made major investments in accelerator physics. The UK is also the home of Newton, Faraday, Maxwell, and Hawking. These are some of the most brilliant and inspiring physicists in history – that alone ought to be enough to keep the UK on the forefront. Clearly, history is one thing and recruiting is another.
