OT: Being Helpful

[Solstice380]

@biosailor If you live in a college town just go to the book store and get a slightly older used PHY101 textbook.  You'll remember enough of the basics from your schooling to start there.

[Solstice380]

8 hours ago, Jud said:

Here's a scientist who could look scornfully at mere amateurs, and instead tells them how to gain more insight into what they love

 

That's why he is a professor!  (and I'm not LOL)  And that is a perfect essay to provide to young people.  Sure, we continue to learn but in different ways.  We all also mentor at times.  Some times, you do have to weigh the investment versus the expected results.

 

I do wonder, however, if he has ever really had to produce a work product other than some open ended research into the vast unknown.  That's an easy life.  And, you have a lot of time to be philosophical.

[Solstice380]

2 hours ago, biosailor said:

Thanks for for the tip! But why a slightly older text book? Do you refer to my age 😂?

 

BTW nice boat you‘re sailing!

 

LOL we may be near the same age! (turned 60 in December, here)  As newer text books have come out, many in the first year science topics have been able to take advantage of tools (computers, etc.) that weren't readily available before so they jump over some of the "ease your way in" explanations of  fundamental phenomena.  Any way you go you can't lose when you learn something!

[Solstice380]

1 hour ago, Jud said:

My supposition would be that an extra measure of rigor is needed for research into "the vast unknown."

 

And much of it is pure speculation based on erroneous earlier assumptions and whole careers are wasted chasing unicorns.  Then along comes an Einstein or Hawking and re-calibrates everybody and the herd is off on the next chase.  Thankfully along the way a small (albeit very small) percentage of ideas and theories become corroborated (e.g. Higgs Boson).   It is very hard and requires extreme rigor because it's all abstract until you can build a Hadron Collider!!!

[Solstice380]

54 minutes ago, Samuel T Cogley said:

But the crux is that cooperation trumps competition every time.

 

That's fundamental.  Humankind wouldn't have survived if it was literally "every man for himself".   If it was, the women would kill the men and cut of their "juevos" to keep the sperm.  tha's all they "need".  LOL

[Solstice380]

2 hours ago, mansr said:

A sail boat can be seen as a control system with feedback loops and filters with various transfer functions.

 

Yeah, it's called auto-pilot!   😜

[Solstice380]

1 hour ago, Ralf11 said:

Richard Feynmann's first 2 volumes are really interesting to read, but I found it hard to learn physics from them.  He taught at CalTech, so likely just assumed everybody would figure out the physics on their own.

 

He also solved a lot of Oppenheimer's equations, after they took him from the Univ. of Chicago in the middle of the night to go to Los Alamos.

[Solstice380]

1 hour ago, Ralf11 said:

Richard Feynmann's first 2 volumes are really interesting to read, but I found it hard to learn physics from them.  He taught at CalTech, so likely just assumed everybody would figure out the physics on their own.

 

He also solved a lot of Oppenheimer's equations, after they took him from the Univ. of Chicago in the middle of the night to go to Los Alamos.  I understand he was quite the jokester, and once propositioned Oppenheimer's wife at one of their weekly parties.  Her reply was: "Surely you're joking, Mr. Feynman!".

[Solstice380]

Here is an interesting read, somewhat related... somewhat diversion.

 

https://www.nsta.org/publications/news/story.aspx?id=52402