What I do:
I’m an undergrad student of physics who does theoretical physics. My interest in physics comes from my natural desire to understand things that seem weird. There are many things you come across everyday that make you question how it happened and the more you do physics, the more it opens your recepetion of these. I remember when I was little, when I was learning about planets, I wondered how they knew they had to travel in a circle around the sun. For a religious kid, the question ends there — it's god's work. However, the planets have always felt non-living to me. Years later, I learnt that its the centripetal force of gravity behind it. I choose to be a fundamentalist because it probes the heart of how the universe should work. I continue to enjoy learning about engineering marvels but I deeply connect to attempts of explaining the status of the world as it is. The three laws of Newton are the most elegant to me so far as all of motion gets neatly summarised in three laws. That is what we seek. These objects don't think yet our world is so diverse so is there something we can pinpoint as the essence of it all? Gravity is a great place to look for it because we know nothing about it. Newton told us two objects exert gravitational forces on each other and how much. Einstein told us we feel gravity because space can act like it bends. What does it mean for space to bend? We don't know. What is space? We don't know. For that matter, what is matter that resides in our space? We don't know. We're close to the answers yet so far. These are BIG questions. We are trying to know the make up of the universe down to smaller than 10⁻³⁵ m. No instrument might even ever be able to measure details to confirm our hypotheses. Yet, we're guessing if there's one idea that will summarize how everything in this universe works. Through these motivations, I hold my interest in expanding to formal research in quantum gravity and spacetime. (better yet, unified theories)
How can you do Physics?
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Level 1: Beginner
Physics is all about coming up with the right explanations to how the world works. Sometimes it is also about solving the mystery behind certain physics-defying things. (It does that weird thing because of physics)
You’re going to want to be very observant of the world then from now on, so you are able to spot physics in action.
Perform a tech detox if required, form the habit of asking a lot of questions, finding answers by asking others or surfing the internet or reading.
Another important prerequisite to learning physics, especially formal physics, is having a good command over the English language. (since it is the current lingua franca) Physics is much easier if you know English well as most physics words and definitions are just English and they mean exactly what the name suggests. They often become in that sense self explanatory to native English speakers but seem harder to non-native level speakers.
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Level 2: High school (with Calculus)
Learn math. Go through vectors and calculus (lot of single variable and a slight introduction to multivariable should suffice)
High school level physics done perfectly is a pretty good description of most things around you. You will learn how to think physically and be able to explain most* things around you that you can see directly with your eye. I present you two resources where you can approach high school physics from (you can ofc use any other you find)
- Fundamentals of Physics by Ramamurti Shankar I & II (I personally studied from this in High School. This has my heart)
- Physics Vol. I and II by Halliday, Resnick and Krane (Lovely book too. It has everything a high-schooler needs. I have recommended this many times)
*only most. not all. if you’re astute enough you will inevitably tread into the waters of college physics at some point
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Level 3: On the road to becoming a physicist
Starting here, you’d need to read a lot and spend long hours referring to countless sources and not just one. I’ll link you to Gerard Hooft’s page that guides exactly that.
How to become a GOOD Theoretical Physicist
Have you heard of the Ig-Nobel?
The Ig Nobel Prizes are like the funny cousins of traditional Nobel Prizes, celebrating weird research that makes people laugh first and then actually think. They seem silly at first glance but they reveal surprising insights about seemingly normal things. What makes the Ig Nobels so important is that they celebrate curiosity and the joy of exploring the unexpected — qualities at the heart of what science is really about. This playful approach is exactly what drives science forward: a willingness to explore things that usually slip under your radar. The Ig Nobels remind us that the best science happens when we keep our eyes open.
Keep checking the Ig-Nobel to remind yourselves what science is really about!
https://improbable.com/ig/about-the-ig-nobel-prizes/