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==COSMOLOGY==> ‘Uhhh … how sure are we that everything is made of these?’
Somewhat related, back in highschool I was really enjoying chemistry class. Super fun stuff, definitely a career path. Then when we were doing the math practices, I got a question wrong that I knew I combined correctly.
I asked the teacher and she said “oh yeah that one just doesn’t follow the rules” instantly killed my enjoyment of chemistry.
What is this author for XKCD’s background? He seems to know a lot about a lot of complex subjects. I’m always impressed.
Degree in physics. Worked for NASA as a programmer and roboticist. Full time “cartoonist” since 2006.
Sounds like he’s related to this guy
I never seriously studied physics. A few years back I decided that it was time to push myself a little and start reading up. I started with some articles on string theory and suddenly remembered why I didn’t want to study physics.
Looks like I saved twice as much time as I thought I had.
You could try reading Feynman’s lectures, he was a very passionate teacher, and he used intuition a lot, so you don’t need to grind on equations to follow. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Feynman_Lectures_on_Physics
Thanks.
You can read them for free