Why Study Physics?
Kevin Thomas

Recently I served on a panel designed to help undeclared majors decide what major might interest them. The event brought together representatives from most of the academic departments here at SSU. I covered the various topics suggested, citing the favorable job outlook for people with technical degrees, the advantages of small class sizes and the quality of the faculty in our department. But one of the questions really caught my attention: Why did I choose physics?

After some serious thought, I think I figured it out. I love the magic in life, and physics helps me understand that magic. It is the most fundamental science, covering everything from smaller than we can see to the entirety of the Universe, and every scale in between. It helps me make sense of the world, making understandable things that seem at first vastly too complicated to ever consider.

I have heard many people express disapproval of physics for this very reason. They say that physics tries to take the magic away by explaining away the beauty we see in nature as the trivial outcome of a few simple laws. For example, I have heard the argument that physics tries to dismiss rainbows by showing that rainbows are just the refraction of light through water crystals in the air. I would argue that an opposite approach is in order: these simple little water crystals bending the light passing through them form these magnificent displays of color in the sky that have inspired poets for generations.

But this isn’t even really the case. All of physics is just a set of simplifying models we apply to the world around us so that we can understand our environment. A rainbow is something that transcends our model of light refraction. There’s something more there. And since physics is all models, there will always be something more there, no matter how good the models get. The truth will always elude us, but it will forever inspire us. So, you see, physics doesn’t take away the magic, it guarantees that it will always be there. You ask why I study physics? It lets me take the analytical approach to life, bringing understanding where there was little or none before, while at the same time letting me look on the incredible world around me with the wide-eyed amazement of a child.