Physics: Easy to Hard

At the bottom of this page is a link to harder material. This is a pretty cool way to learn stuff:

The layman's view of physics is usually far from reality. In fact, the layman's view of reality is often far from reality: Physics is the study of the fundamental properties of the Universe; but the average person understands little physics, at least not in the way a physicist does. Thus, most people have little understanding of the world they live in, except for things limited to humankind, which tends to have a small influence on the Universe as a whole. Of course, if people understood themselves better, the world would be a nicer place to live, but that's another story.

This story is about the impressions many people have about physics, and how they differ from the real thing. (See also Are you a quack?) In particular, it is also about high energy physics, the most fundamental part of physics, and the misconceptions of it held even by many students of physics.

Physics is a science. Most misconceptions about physics are about science in general, but these are most obvious in the case of physics, because of all the sciences it is the most foreign to most people, because it seems to relate the least to everyday events. In fact, the opposite is true, since physics applies to everything, while the other sciences are more specialized. (See science and theoretical high energy physics.)

Common misconceptions


Related Entries

Leave a comment

Recent Entries

  • The Placebo Effect

    So, how's that homeopathy working for you? The Strange Powers of the Placebo Effect - YouTube...

  • Coffee and a Devil's Star

    Reading another Jo Nesbo book (is that 'Joe' or 'Yo'?) and grabbing a cup at Williams on Northfield. I'm all out of order on this...

  • 5 Reasons No One Is Guestposting At Your (My) Blog

    Image via WikipediaWell, obviously, I've not been looking for guest posters. But apparently, it's a thing you can do to get more content and more...

  • Gearing Up for the 2011 Zombie Invasion

    Image by aeviin via FlickrPut on your brains, the zombies are coming. Zombies make their appearances here and there all through the year, but you...

  • My Mai Tai

    A Trader Vic mai tai, straight from the book. Remember, the only fruit juice in a mai tai should be lime. Yes, well, there should...

Close