How can I find out what area of physics I'm most interested in?

[dark+matters]

Hello!


What are some high-quality websites/documentaries/books that have some sexy, introductory-level ideas about physics? I'm switching my undergraduate major from the arts/humanities to the sciences. My only background is in high school physics I and II, and following pop science figures like Brian Greene, Michio Kaku and Bill Nye. I've also been hanging out in the children's section of libraries, reading chemistry and physics books.

I've already taken almost all my GERs and the California State University system won't let me switch majors again after this (this will be switch number four in the public university system, after getting a "degree" in counseling from a seminary where I earned my atheism, point by point) so I don't have a whole lot of time to be experimenting. *tear* I figure that as I take more classes in physics, I will probably find things I click with more than others, but... I don't want to risk... not finding something I click with during classes, and then going along in my natural self-study, wishing I'd gotten a more thorough foundation in x-and-such an area, only to find that I only could have gotten that foundation in a university setting. I hope to go straight into grad school after my BA, so I need to start planning now rather than later. (Especially since I've also been toying with the idea of law or business for my graduate degree.)

I'm getting curious about quantum mechanics, theoretical physics in general, nuclear force, dark matter, particle physics, and string theory. Do you think computational, applied, or a different master's program would be best suited to investigating these topics? Thanks in advance for your input.

 

[ProxyAmenRa]

See what stream of engineering makes the most money and swap into that major.

 

[Architect]

I wouldn't recommend becoming a physicist unless you really, really want to be a physicist. Meaning you've wanted it your whole life. It's a tough field to make it in (speaking as an ex-physicist).

Take PAR's comment and switch to some engineering field you like.

 

[ProxyAmenRa]

Gifted engineers make the megabucks!

 

[dark+matters]

@Architect- What were some of the factors that led to your decision to switch careers?

@ProxyAmenRa- Yeeeah, I noticed that engineers with a bachelor's degree can make even more than physicists at the PhD level, and that one needs to go all the way to PhD in order to make a decent wage. *scratches head* But those that do hold PhDs in physics in the US have about 2% unemployment as of 2012, and generally report feeling "happy" even if they did have to find employment in engineering versus physics (which seems to happen a lot, statistically-speaking). Salaries for physicists seem to be in the 80,000+/year range. However, I don't really need six figures. I just need to get out of the ghetto and into a field that I can survive alongside even when I'm 60+ years old and the world around me has changed dramatically.

Is engineering a creatively/spiritually fulfilling pursuit? My relatives in engineering don't make it sound very interesting to me. (They do computer and mechanical engineering.) One decided she disliked mechnical and went back to school for a second master's in computer engineering. Interestingly, although my relatives in engineering report being very happy with their choices for education, they reported hating physics! I'm not sure why.

I'm thinking that a physics BA will both fill a spiritual void that abandoning my family of origin's religion left (I wasn't even allowed to learn about evolution except as a "false teaching,") and will expand my future options for grad school. With a BA in physics, I can buy myself some time to think about what I really want to do into old age. From that particular BA, (in California, which is pretty restrictive) I can switch to finances, any other science, engineering, law, business, etc., or even go back into my interest in film.

Please correct any points at which I'm mistaken about any of this rambling about these careers, but engineering just doesn't seem to have that spiritual side that researching patterns in nature and communicating the results would.

I chose physics as a new major after moving to Los Angeles and being completely unable to find a job(s) that paid a living wage for about 2 years. So I looked here: http://www.bls.gov/bls/occupation.htm, and made a list of careers in the salary range I need in order to feel comfortable and contribute to the organizations I believe in. The length of time I'd have to be in school doesn't bother me one way or another. I crossed off those jobs that I would just never do (anything medical, or other fields in which I'd definitely have lifestyle/personal value conflicts), and my options looked pretty blah except for physics.

But I've only gained an interest in physics again for about 9 months now. That certainly isn't very long. Unfortunately, I'm interested in learning almost anything though- anything. I'm not interested in doing much though. LOL Engineering sounds like a lot of doing. I don't know if engineering would be a better fit or not though. I've been trying to look up some interesting videos about engineering as an occupation as well and haven't found many good ones. Any recommendations for media about how exciting engineering can be, too?

 

[Absurdity]

I'm thinking that a physics BA will both fill a spiritual void that abandoning my family of origin's religion left (I wasn't even allowed to learn about evolution except as a "false teaching,") and will expand my future options for grad school. With a BA in physics, I can buy myself some time to think about what I really want to do into old age. From that particular BA, (in California, which is pretty restrictive) I can switch to finances, any other science, engineering, law, business, etc., or even go back into my interest in film.

Not sure how you'd plan to switch to finance with a physics BA, or any of those other ones for that matter. If you're talking about being a quant on Wall Street you'd need a PhD, but from what I hear their heyday has passed. Even assuming it hasn't, the things that will get you hired are math and programming skills.

Met a guy with a masters in physics recently. He's working as an engineer, but it isn't a typical path, and he only got the job because he studied a very applied area of physics and supplemented with EE courses.

Some universities have applied physics or engineering physics majors. That might be a nice compromise.

I'm not interested in doing much though.

Have you tried?

 

[ProxyAmenRa]

I studied a civil/chemical hybrid engineering bachelors degree. I found the content of the bachelors quite interesting. I didn't like studying at university. To achieve my goal of attaining first class honors required studying 60 to 80 hours a week during semesters. Civil engineering R&D job prospects still aren't great. In turn, I decided to do a PhD. My PhD was mainly data science which involved a great deal of computer programming. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Far more than civil engineering.

Most of my academically minded friends studied physics. They all enjoyed it a great deal. Learned many interesting things and in the end probably ended up with the same set of skills as myself. I can definitely attest that they had a smaller work load.

Exciting engineering:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J92MxvIANEQ

 

[Architect]

@Architect- What were some of the factors that led to your decision to switch careers?

• It sounded more romantic than it was. Most of science is bean counting, my PhD was to be in adding a few sig figs to the probability a charm quark would decay to something
• Academics are all equal, which results in a big food fight for stature
• Academics are all equally smart, which results in every body being an equally arrogant asshole
• After the cold war funding was pulled for physics, I was working on the SSC which was canceled
• To get anywhere you have to work really, really hard and sacrifice your personal life for The Cause
• You have to be in school for most of your life, and you get paid less than an engineer with a few years of schooling
• I was in love with computers more than physics

The choice was clear.

Physics is filled with INTJ's and ISTJ's. I knew one INTP, a theoretical General Relativity professor I worked with as an undergraduate.

 

[dark+matters]

• It sounded more romantic than it was. Most of science is bean counting, my PhD was to be in adding a few sig figs to the probability a charm quark would decay to something
• Academics are all equal, which results in a big food fight for stature
• Academics are all equally smart, which results in every body being an equally arrogant asshole
• After the cold war funding was pulled for physics, I was working on the SSC which was canceled
• To get anywhere you have to work really, really hard and sacrifice your personal life for The Cause
• You have to be in school for most of your life, and you get paid less than an engineer with a few years of schooling
• I was in love with computers more than physics

The choice was clear.

Physics is filled with INTJ's and ISTJ's. I knew one INTP, a theoretical General Relativity professor I worked with as an undergraduate.

Hmmm! Very, very interesting. Thank you very much for sharing some of your experiences with this sort of thing.

I'll see how next semester's classes go and see how I feel about the direction things are taking. I have one last semester in which I can change before I'm permanently stuck in theater for my undergrad. If you think physics is hard, try staying young and enchanting and working for free forever. I can safely say that if I continue to go down the road I'm on, I will probably contribute far less to posterity than a portion of an equation. But I kid. (I've never been particularly young or enchanting.)

Ironically, I was studying on the bus the other day, and a new-in-town sound engineering tech sat next to me. He looooooved what he did for a living and was happy to chat it up about his work and how much he enjoyed his physics classes. It was very interesting! I'm planning on taking another strengths-finder, careerish test at my college soon. I've never had engineering come up as a strength or an interest though.

 

[EyeSeeCold]

Not that I've had the discipline to try this myself but I was thinking that you could speak with your local college's physics professors, find out their office hours and see if they could answer the questions you have about the differences between fields, actual physics applications, available careers etc.

Here are some physics textbooks you can check out if you're interested:
http://bookboon.com/en/elementary-physics-i-ebook
http://bookboon.com/en/elementary-physics-ii-ebook
http://bookboon.com/en/algebra-based-college-physics-part-i-ebook
http://bookboon.com/en/algebra-based-college-physics-part-ii-ebook

I also think what EditorOne said about careers is highly relevant here:

I've noticed that some people have tendencies to project personal experiences onto career expectations, usually with dismaying results. It's most apparent right now with all the younger posters who eyeball some form of computer science as a compatible career. They are deriving satisfaction from code and computer stuff one-on-one, nobody around, just them and the machine and software, mind challenges, all susceptible to resolution with pure thought. But that is absolutely not what a career in computer sciences is going to be like. It's going to be like working in ann business. A lot of the job is going to involve relationships, tedious processes with odious details, meetings, melodrama, egos, braying extraverts with narrow minds fueled by Red Bull and ambition, etc.

http://intpforum.com/showthread.php?p=462591