







And as far as this generation, sometimes I wonder if there just isn't going to be a huge wave of groundbreaking revelations like there was in the time of Einstein, Bohr, Fermi, Dirac and Rutherford. I mean, whomever is able to discover the unified theory that Einstein died trying to find out about is going to be the next scientist to phenomenally alter human progress, but beyond that it doesn't seem like there's gonna be future generations who made the discoveries quite like those of the 50s or 60s. Sort of like Rock and Roll I think; there will always be great bands and phenomenal musicians in any genre you choose if you go underground, out of the mainstream and look hard enough, but we can't seriously expect future bands to come along and have the impact made by the Beatles, Led Zeppelin, all the Motown artists in the 60s and 70s, Aerosmith, Black Sabbath or Nirvana.
maxwell200 wrote:And how about this for a shocker: he didn't get his doctorate from a top 10 physics school.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Archibald_Wheeler
Okay, so he did get his doctorate from somewhere very, very good, certainly not some unknown State School with no established rep in physics. However, the fact that he accomplished what he did despite where he went, maybe, sort of puts a dent in this whole "I need to be in a top 10 or I'm gonna be a failure" mantra. Maybe I'm just giving myself false hope; after all, I admit to having been rejected, albeit narrowly, as I was told by a recruiter, by a top 10 school. However, some assurance may be useful in light of obsession with rankings and prestige.
And as far as this generation, sometimes I wonder if there just isn't going to be a huge wave of groundbreaking revelations like there was in the time of Einstein, Bohr, Fermi, Dirac and Rutherford. I mean, whomever is able to discover the unified theory that Einstein died trying to find out about is going to be the next scientist to phenomenally alter human progress, but beyond that it doesn't seem like there's gonna be future generations who made the discoveries quite like those of the 50s or 60s. Sort of like Rock and Roll I think; there will always be great bands and phenomenal musicians in any genre you choose if you go underground, out of the mainstream and look hard enough, but we can't seriously expect future bands to come along and have the impact made by the Beatles, Led Zeppelin, all the Motown artists in the 60s and 70s, Aerosmith, Black Sabbath or Nirvana.
RG wrote:Helio, I was taught by the forum members here that BS stands for Bull *** ! Is that what you are refering to with your BS!
maxwell200 wrote:And as far as this generation, sometimes I wonder if there just isn't going to be a huge wave of groundbreaking revelations like there was in the time of Einstein, Bohr, Fermi, Dirac and Rutherford. I mean, whomever is able to discover the unified theory that Einstein died trying to find out about is going to be the next scientist to phenomenally alter human progress, but beyond that it doesn't seem like there's gonna be future generations who made the discoveries quite like those of the 50s or 60s.
doom wrote:Dude, that was in 1933. I don't think you can compare across eras very well.
Also, you need to chill a little bit about this rankings thing. If you don't think it really means all that much, then that's good. Quit worrying about it, you're going to a good school, and your experience will be what you make it, as you have said.
I don't think there's as much top-10 bias on this forum as you make it out to be. (One or two people excluded.) I think it was grae who said (a loooong time ago) that she wanted to go to a top 10 school, and if she could do it, she would, because that's what she wanted. And really, it would be hard to go wrong when choosing from the top tier of schools.
But assuming you've done your research, there's plenty of schools that will be great places to study physics, as long as you know what you're getting into and have made sure that the school in question matches your interests, etc.
Bottom line, it's April 15th, we've made our decisions, time to make the most of them.
And since I feel kinda bad for jacking the thread about Wheeler, maybe I can tie this back in:
This whole absurd process of getting in and picking a school to study physics is over. We didn't get into physics to go to prestigious schools, worry about standardized tests, and debate about school rankings. We got into physics because we found some aspect of it fascinating. I know my mind has been tuned to the application process for too long, and I'm ready to just enjoy physics because that's what I love.
RG wrote:Helio, I was taught by the forum members here that BS stands for Bull *** ! Is that what you are refering to with your BS!
maxwell200 wrote:
And as far as this generation, sometimes I wonder if there just isn't going to be a huge wave of groundbreaking revelations like there was in the time of Einstein, Bohr, Fermi, Dirac and Rutherford. I mean, whomever is able to discover the unified theory that Einstein died trying to find out about is going to be the next scientist to phenomenally alter human progress, but beyond that it doesn't seem like there's gonna be future generations who made the discoveries quite like those of the 50s or 60s. Sort of like Rock and Roll I think; there will always be great bands and phenomenal musicians in any genre you choose if you go underground, out of the mainstream and look hard enough, but we can't seriously expect future bands to come along and have the impact made by the Beatles, Led Zeppelin, all the Motown artists in the 60s and 70s, Aerosmith, Black Sabbath or Nirvana.
gatr1126 wrote:This happens just before every scientific revolution. The unified theory of everything may appear to cover everything that we can measure at this point in time. Throw one kink in the theory and it's 1905 all over again.
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