I started out my year saying I would try to write something useful (or at least sort of interesting) every week. This is a poor attempt to show that I do actually have a brain and I can do things other than rant and make silly pithy comments on things that don’t matter at all.

I’ve talked about the difference between theophylline and caffeine. I’ve talked about some of the modern wonders of the world. So, what should I talk about this week? I like talking about science but there are a few genres of science that I know nothing about. Like biology. I know jack shit about biology. I’ve never taken a biology class in my life. The closest I ever took was “earth science”. Biology wasn’t required for me, instead I took geology. In high school, I took chemistry and physics instead of biology.

So, lots of people know I’m a scientist. Apparently, because I’m a scientist I know about all science. People ask me crap about human physiology like I know what the hell they’re talking about. I don’t. I don’t know how a fucking cell works, I don’t care. I don’t know what those crazy low electrolyte diseases are and what they do to you. I don’t know where a pig’s spleen is located in its body. Sorry. I’m not a biologist of any sort.

I am a physicist. I know about physics. This includes motion, relative motion, molecules, optics, electro-magnetism, thermo-dynamics, mechanics, quantum mechanics math of all sorts and QFT. Now, these fields of research and study relate to a good deal of other fields. With Optics and Electro-Magnetism I can do electrical engineering. With mechanics and Thermo-dynamics I can do mechanical engineering. With all the molecular and quantum physics I can do chemistry. None of those fields of study allow me to know diddly shit about biology. I’m sorry.

However, people see physics on a resume and they assume I’m either too smart or unqualified for the jobs they have for me. So… people either think I know something about all fields of science or none. It’s a no win situation.

Physics is a lot about theory and exploration into the unknown. Physics is more about the why something works than what it does. It’s the how something happens instead of the should. I’d like to say physics is a creative field of science, but most people probably wouldn’t see it that way. They’d only see the long algorithms and calculations and think it’s dull. And maybe it is, but, physics is a gateway science.

So, I’m going to try and write a science article a week. I will keep it simple because there is no reason for science to be hard. You don’t have to use big words unless you trying to make someone feel dumb or make yourself look smart. If you’re actually a useful scientist, you can explain things so anyone can understand it.

Tomorrow, I am going to write about Energy and Einstein’s relativity, but I thought I would lead up to it.

Finish this equation.

E = ?

Posted by Utopia at January 12, 2006 03:03 PM

Comments

Posted by: a-[e] at January 12, 2006 04:32 PM

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Posted by: Utopia at January 13, 2006 06:08 AM

Posted by: monogodo at January 16, 2006 06:04 PM

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