Why Study Physics?¶
The eternal mystery of the world is its comprehensibility… The fact that it is comprehensible is a miracle.
Albert Einstein
Physics is fundamental. The goal of physics is to comprehend the entire natural world we see around us. Its scope is truly enormous. The phenomena that physicists investigate range from the tiniest subatomic structures in the elements to the vastest stretches of galaxy nextworks throughout the cosmos, as well as everything in between. All phenomena in chemistry and biology obey physical law so can be viewed as smaller specializations within the broader study of physics. Computers and technology obey physical law and thus rely upon our detailed understanding of both macroscopic and microscopic phenomena discovered by physicists. Engineering disciplines apply our developed physical models to predict and control the behavior of physical systems, so manifestly involve past and ongoing investigations in physics.
Knowing physics changes the way you look at the world around you. There are beautiful patterns and subtleties hidden in plain sight all around us until you know where and how to look. The study of physics will allow you to see how all the pieces fit together to produce a symphony of motion all around. When understanding deepens, the previously mundane or mysterious can become sublime. What is truly mysterious is just how much we can understand when we try.
Physics is a rigorous and broadly applicable modeling discipline. To check our understanding of physical phenomena, we must identify their qualitative patterns of behavior, creatively build formal models that describe those patterns, and quantitatively predict how those patterns will appear in new situations using those models. To do this well requires a set of modeling techniques that are powerful enough to tackle the vast scope of the physical situations we wish to understand. Over time the study of physics thus also builds facility with advanced mathematics, constraint-based reasoning, complexity reduction, efficient computation, quantitative prediction, data visualization, and many other highly marketable skills.
All scientific disciplines are becoming increasingly rigorous in their modeling methods. The easiest problems have already been solved. New generations must ratchet up the sophistication and rigor of the tools being used in order to creatively attack both new challenges and unsolved problems. Because tools from physics are already well-developed, they are increasingly being applied in other fields, which often distinguish themselves with fancy new names like “biophysics,” “physical chemistry,” “quantum computation,” or “neurophysics” to highlight their intrinsic multidisciplinarity. It is increasingly the case that students who opt to receive only traditional training will find themselves underprepared for the challenges that will lie ahead in their targeted fields.
Skills learned in physics can be applied to a wide range of jobs after college. Even though many jobs don’t seem related to traditional physics topics at face value, effective employees often creatively use skills learned in physics, like logical reasoning, dimension reduction, mathematical modeling, data analysis, trend forecasting, and data visualization. For example, a surprising number of the highest-paid employees in economic disciplines, like those on Wall Street or in hedge funds, started as physicists. Physicists are often found in successful startups, software engineering and information technology companies, and engineering positions. Contrary to popular understanding, teaching and research jobs are actually pursued by a minority of physicists, with most graduates pursuing a wide variety of careers in the private sector.
Employers understand the value of training in physics and mathematics. Employers often seek out employees who have such rigorous training precisely because they are demonstrably more effective at solving problems in the workplace. Employers know that it is easy for employees to learn many things on the job later, but it is much more difficult for new employees to learn how to think rigorously and solve problems creatively. Being qualified is often not about the specific things you already know, but rather about whether you can apply what you know and learn what you need to tackle new challenges with creative insight.
A physics degree can open as many doors as imagination dictates.
The following links provide helpful advice and supporting data about the value of studying physics in practice: