physicists-from-england

"My research has been funded by taxpayers throughout my whole life, so I have always been a keen science communicator. I’m not going to stop the day job with the research because I haven’t solved it."

"During my undergraduate course in physics at the University of Edinburgh, we were getting a bit bogged down in it, and our lecturer said: "Let’s just take a break, because a really exciting scientific paper has come out today."

"First and foremost, you have to be in it for the long haul. There are no quick fixes. There are plenty of setbacks. There aren’t always too many incentives to promote diversity over other aspects of your job, like research output, promotions and career development, etc. Expect progress to be slow; change moves slowly but you have to keep ‘fighting the good fight.’ You have to be involved because you consider promoting diversity to be part of your ‘moral compass.’ And not because of the rewards; there aren’t many of those. You do it because it’s the right thing to do."

"This really came about because the man who hired me for my first post-doc position was a chemical engineering professor at Cornell. Reflecting on this with the hindsight of decades, this transition from chemist to chemical engineer suited me. I like the focus on solving practical problems that engineers tend to focus on."

"Science, the Art of Understanding Nature"

"The successful launching of the Sputnik was a demonstration of one of the highest scientific and technological achievements of man—a tantalizing invitation both to the militarist in search of ever more devastating means of destruction and to the astronomer searching for new means of carrying his instruments away from their earthbound environment."

"It's been forgotten that we did not need special arrangements for finding the Einsteins in the past. There was enough flexibility in the system to allow them to emerge, but that's been removed in the quest for efficiency."

"On the atomic scale, we do not understand gravity and its relationship with Nature's other forces. At the other end of the scale, current dogma maintains that the universe was created at some specific moment some 13.6 billion years ago. It then requires an almost immediate but transient expansion at speeds vastly exceeding the velocity of light in order that predictions from current theories can be made compatible with what we actually observe."

"In the 1960s, IBM's chairman, Thomas Watson Sr., began the Fellows Program, in which he appointed Fellows (he called them his "wild ducks") for five years to be "dreamers, heretics, mavericks, gadflies, and geniuses." Their remit was simply to "shake up the system." The Fellows Program has been supremely successful. Only some 165 scientists were appointed, but five of these won Nobel Prizes. General Electric and Bell Laboratories ran similar programs. In 1980, as I have mentioned, BP launched Venture Research, arguably one of the most ambitious and imaginative exploratory research initiatives in industrial history, and supported it for 10 years."

"Today's world is truly bizarre. The emperor's new clothes are constantly admired although many can see that he is stark naked. But Smith's invisible hand and other philosophies advocating freedom seem to be denied because it is impossible to see them."

"For creativity to flourish, it does not necessarily need encouragement. Indeed, since its origins are not understood it may be impossible to encourage. But intellectual pioneers need environments that accommodate dissent."

"Such abstract qualities as freedom are difficult or impossible to define. Freedom's loss may be easier to recognise, but it does not necessarily lead to chains. Increasingly nowadays, freedom is a managed commodity, but the consequences are subtle and varied."

"If you were standing on the edge of a cliff, you might go over the edge and suffer consequences that would probably be nonlinear and unpleasant. But if linear processes ruled the world, there would be no cliffs."

"The idea that there might exist small particles with no electrical charge has been put forward several times. , for example, suggested that a neutral particle might be formed by a negative electron and an equal positive charge, and that these "s" might possess many of the properties of the ether; while at one time suggested that the s emitted by radioactive substances consisted of small neutral particles, which, on breaking up, released a negative electron. The first suggestion of a neutral particle with the properties of the neutron we now know, was made by Rutherford in 1920. He thought that a proton and an electron might unite in a much more intimate way than they do in the hydrogen atom, and so form a particle of no nett charge and with a mass nearly the same as that of the hydrogen atom. His view was that with such a particle as the first step in the formation of atomic nuclei from the two elementary units in the structure of matter — the proton and the electron — it would be much easier to picture how heavy complex nuclei can be gradually built up from the simpler ones. He pointed out that this neutral particle would have peculiar and interesting properties."

"It has been shown by and others that when bombarded by s of emits a radiation of great penetrating power, which has an absorption coefficient in lead of about 0.3 (cm.)–1. Recently and found, when measuring the ionisation produced by this beryllium radiation in a vessel with a thin window, that the ionisation increased when matter containing hydrogen was placed in front of the window. The effect appeared to be due to the ejection of protons with velocities up to a maximum of nearly 3 × 109 cm. per sec. They suggested that the transference of energy to the proton was by a process similar to the , and estimated that the beryllium radiation had a quantum energy of 50 × 106 s."

"'Einstein is completely cuckoo'. That is how the cocky young Robert Oppenheimer described the world's most famous scientist in early 1935, after visiting him in Princeton. ... Einstein had been trying for a decade to develop an ambitious new theory in ways that demonstrated, in the view of Oppenheimer and others, that the sage of Princeton had lost the plot. Einstein was virtually ignoring matter on the smallest scale, using quantum theory. He was seeking an ambitious new theory, not in response to puzzling experimental discoveries, but as an intellectual exercise—using only his imagination, underpinned by mathematics. Although this approach was unpopular among his peers, he was pioneering a method similar to what some of his most distinguished successors are now using successfully at the frontiers of research."

"‘The greatest living theoretical physicist’ – many commentators in the past few decades have described Steven Weinberg in such terms. When I rather cheekily asked him what he thought of that statement, he shot back: ‘It is quite ridiculous to rank scientists like that’, adding with a twinkle in his eye, ‘but it would be impolite to dispute the conclusion’. That reply was classic Weinberg: self-aware, intimidatingly direct but always ready to lighten the moment with humour."

"Maybe I'm old-fashioned, but I think that there is plenty of room for a small number of forums where the people who are very doubtful about the way that string theory is going can talk to their critics."

"As every physicist knows, Dirac was, in the words of Niels Bohr, "the strangest man of quantum mechanics" — someone deeply private, of very, very few words, rectilinear in thinking, virtually, apparently devoid of empathy with other human beings, always an outsider."

"... One of the most vocal skeptics is the Standard-Model pioneer Martin Veltman: 'String theory is mumbo jumbo. It has nothing to do with experiment.'... But is clear from the comments that Dirac repeatedly made in his lectures on the way theoretical physics should be done that he would have disagreed with those criticisms: he would have counselled string theorists to let the theory's beauty lead them by the hand, not to worry about the lack of experimental support and not be deterred if a few observations appear to refute it. But he would have cautioned string theorists to be modest, to keep an open mind and never to assume that they are within sight of the end of fundamental physics. If past experience is anything to go by, another revolution will eventually follow. Such was the advice of this extraordinarily unemotional man offered to his colleagues: be guided, above all, by your emotions."

"A physicist friend of mine once had a terrible spate of misfortune. Her flat was burgled, her cat was run over, and her grandfather died, all in the same week. Needing a bit of TLC, she went to see her professor, who offered three words of advice: “Do some physics.” For most people who are in need of consolation, I suspect physics is among the last things they would consider. , a former ' science editor, wants to persuade them that the branch of science so many people find soulless and intimating can offer much spiritual balm. He makes his case in what he calls a “love letter to physics”. ... For me, the main joy of physics is that it puts human beings so firmly in our place. Even if all of us – and every other living thing – died tomorrow, every quantum in the universe would carry on obliviously, doing its eternal, orderly dance to fundamental laws that we shall probably never discover. If you’re not a scientist, that thought may not be very consoling. But I’m just happy to keep on doing some physics."

"The day they carried... [the surface following buoy] down to the beach... and I had never thought about what really might be underneath [the ocean]... [T]hen I understood the context for them and... became an ocean scientist by the back door. ...Then I had opportunities to go to sea and I continued the research..."

"It's not a linear path. I did my PhD... in experimental explosion physics... I was interested in the , which was much harder then than it is now. This was before CCDs and CMOS sensors were built into things like high-speed cameras... [Y]ou had to do it the old-school way. ...[I]t was interesting and challenging and I liked building that kind of experiment. Looking at small things that were too quick... to see directly. But I never wanted to do [explosion physics]..."

"I've looked at basic bubble physics, and optics... the dynamics of what bubbles do underneath waves, and particularly, sensing them in very difficult conditions like that big storm. ...Acoustical and optical devices for detecting bubbles... just under... [Y]ou're interested in the top meter, but the top meter is going up and down, or in the case by 10 meters. So it's not an easy place to get to. But that kind of challenge, studying bubbles in difficult situations... in the ocean, that's what I do now."

"[J]ust being on the bridge when that storm came along... and watching those waves roll towards the ship and... rear up in front of us. It wasn't everyone's favorite thing, but I felt privileged to be there."

"Being up on the bridge and watching these waves roll in... We were sitting bow into the wind. We were studying high wind gas exchange so... we'd gone out there for those conditions. The chief scientist was incredibly happy when that storm came around."

"[A]ll of these platelets, this really intricate structure... is made of so calcium is incorporated into this structure..."

"It wasn't my first time at sea. It was my first time in waves that big."

"My favorite element is . That's mainly because of this organism... a ... a tiny... organism that lives in the surface of the ocean..."

"So after I finished my PhD I looked around for another topic, and I found bubbles... [T]hat... took me to Scripps, to the lab of Grant Deane and he... showed me the ocean... indirectly... I was in that lab. I had these experiments on bubbles. They involved things I understood, s and tanks and... s... [T]here was this frame by the door... and after three weeks they all started fussing around it, and I realized this thing, which I now know is just a surface following buoy, was their gateway to another world."

"[W]e have all these dry numbers and significant wave height is one of them... [W]atching what it really means for a significant wave height to be 10 meters and thinking about how small that is compared to the depth of the ocean... It's like... having a swimming pool and... blowing tiny ripples across the top. ...Being in that situation was... fascinating and fun... I wouldn't want to do it every day, but it was... a special experience."

"Science is not about 'them', it's about 'us'... we can all go on this adventure in our own way."

"You don't have to be a qualified scientist to experiment with the world. Knowing some basic principles will set you on the right track... [I]t doesn't even have to be an organized process..."

"[B]eing at sea during the , when it arrived in the UK... back in 2013. I was on the in the North Atlantic and the swell... the during that storm was 10 meters during the middle of it."

"We know how that graph goes... Wind speed... along the x-axis, some measure of gas flux... along the y-axis, and we knew at the time that the graph only went so far to the right... [W]e were putting dots... on the graph that had not been there before... So there's that added thing of being there with the right equipment at the right time to... measure something that has not been measured directly before..."

"I was indignant because I hadn't even read about it. ...I was that kid who had read every physics book, every science book, I'd read every copy of ' and whatever else... I was the... kid who had really read everything, and nobody had ever mentioned the ocean."

"Critical thinking is essential... especially with advertisers and politicians all telling us... they know best."

"As far as we know, the physical laws we observe... on Earth apply everywhere... You can test them for yourself."

"We are responsible for our civilization. We vote... choose what to buy and how to live... collectively [as] part of the human journey."

"A toaster can teach you some of the most fundamental laws of physics..."

"[[w:Tonic water|[T]onic water]] glow[s] under ultraviolet... because the ... is fluorescent. ... ink is also acting as an ultraviolet detector..."

"Physics is awesome... because the same patterns are universal... in the kitchen and in the furthest reaches of the universe."

"Put the egg down on a smooth, hard surface and set it spinning. ...[W]hen you stopped the raw egg, you only stopped the shell. The liquid never stopped swirling... so... the shell started rotating again... dragged around by its insides. ...It is a principle of physics that objects continue the same... movement unless you push or pull on them. ...[[w:Angular momentum#Conservation of angular momentum|[C]onservation of angular momentum]]."

"This is why I love physics. Everything you learn will come in useful somewhere else, and it's all one big adventure..."

"In the past, information was treasured... These days we live on the shore of an ocean of knowledge... with regular s that threaten out sanity."

"The basic principles alone often won't provide specific answers, but they'll provide the context needed to ask the right questions. And if we're used to working things out... we won't feel hopeless when the answer isn't obvious..."

"This organism lives, and it dies, and quite often when it dies, the broken fragments... drift down... and... can build up... on the floor of the ocean, and over geological time these beautiful little platelets of calcium carbonate become squashed into rocks of calcium... [A]s techtonic plates move around and seas come and go, those rocks can get lifted up and so this... is what the White Cliffs of Dover are made of..."

"Science is always trying to prove itself wrong, because that's the quickest route to finding what's actually going on."

"This book is about linking the little things we see every day with the big world we live in."

"Look at... cyclists; their high visibility jackets... oddly bright... as though they're glowing... It's... the same trick the scorpions are playing..."