Physics (part 5) - Be Curious, Don't Give Up

Curiosity Cat/everystockphoto.com

Curiosity killed the cat
But satisfaction brought her back

Curiosity and Perseverance

In the world of science, these attributes can lead to breakthroughs. Rewrite text books. Create paradigm shifts in our thinking.

Let's spotlight two prominent physicists of the late 20th century, who exemplified those qualities.

* Dr. Stephen Hawking

* Dr. Richard Feynman

Stephen Hawking is considered one of the greatest physicist of recent times. And he passed away this year (2018) on March 14th, the same day as Einstein's birthday. [reference: Stephen Hawking ]

Yet perseverance helped him overcome the physical challenges of ALS.  With perseverance and curiosity, he pursued a distinguishing career in cosmology and theoretical physics, as shown below:

( reference: https://youtu.be/DTlLxzYWdMk )

Likewise, Nobel laureate Richard Feynman was driven by curiosity. Which drove him to learn new things. Get out of his comfort zone. Search for answers. Solve nature's puzzles. Connect the dots.

While a graduate student days at Princeton, Feynman developed a method that served him well. He started with an empty notebook titled -

NOTEBOOK OF THINGS I DON’T KNOW ABOUT. 

He filled the pages as he reorganized his thoughts in the concrete form of pen and paper. Trying to find the essential kernel of each branch of physics. This discipline may have paved the way to his Nobel Prize.

* Check out:  The Feynman Notebook Method  and the video below:

( reference: https://youtu.be/UjEngEpiJKo )

Learning new things can be hard.  It takes work. Most resist it. Yet, through curiosity and perseverance, as Stephen Hawking said -

 It can be done. 

Regardless of vocation, avocation, hobby, interests, passions...

Stay curious
and
Don't give up

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Previous posts in this series:

Physics (part 1) - Picking Feynman's Brain (2013)
  
Physics (part 2) - Flat Earth? It depends ...  (2015)

Physics (part 3) - 100 years of Einstein (2015) 

Physics (part 4) - Einstein and Pi  (2016)

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Photo: Curiosity Cat/everystockphoto.com