Welcome to Brown Physics, where our faculty explore the question "Why Physics?" and invite you to reach out to have your questions answered, including the broader question: "Why physics?" and specifically, "Why physics at Brown?" Come to Brown for the world of physics research and the intellectual capital of our exceptional faculty; stay for the physics opportunity of a lifetime.
Physics
Why Physics?
From developing new experimental tools and publishing in high-quality journals such as Nature to being integral team members of NASA missions, our students share their unique-to-Brown experiences and perspectives on why they chose physics at Brown.
Why Physics?
WHY PHYSICS?
Physics is a subject which I believe will never get old. No matter how much you think you know, history tells us that there will always be things in the world which we do not fully understand. Today, this may be dismissed as unimportant because the effect may be very small but tomorrow one may realize that yesterday's negligible effect is actually very important with far reaching implications and that our present understanding of the world is incomplete or inconsistent. I like physics because I like taking risks and living on the edge of failure: a bit like rock climbing where the penalty for failure is up to and including death but, in physics, the penalty for failure is just feeling stupid which you will quickly get used to. Solving a previously unsolved problem gives me a big rush which makes all previous failures worthwhile.
Professor, 2016 Nobel Laureate
The laws of physics are like harmonic relationships, rhythm and melody of the cosmic symphony.
Professor
Physics is amazing. It’s remarkable to me that a few relatively simple rules can describe how the Universe works and that the same physical laws describe our everyday experience and the most incredible structures in space. It’s this realization that we can actually make sense of what is happening in the distant Universe that keeps me hopeful.
Professor
Learning physics and working as a physicist allows me to explore and understand the fundamental laws governing the universe which are not subject to the limits of human beings. Training in physics, no matter whether you choose being a physicist or not, could also help you think independently, judge wisely, and solve problems.
Associate Professor
Art celebrates the obvious beauty of the Universe. Physics reveals its hidden beauty.
Professor
I decided early in life that I wanted to do physics—it gives you the tools to understand how nature works. The moment that changed everything for me was looking at the sky at night on a Greek island, realizing that with physics, I could “travel" back to where it all began: the Big Bang. This is what particle physicists do; we do it 40 million times per second with particle colliders. If that's not fascinating, what is?
Assistant Professor
Physics is about finding the universal organizing principles of the seemingly chaotic natural world and explaining them to everyone else. It will train you to be penetrating in your insight, to be rigorous in your thinking, and to be eloquent in your storytelling.
Assistant Professor
Why study physics? Our civilization thrives on utilizing materials. I am fascinated by fundamental questions underlying the rich phenomena of all kinds of soft and hard materials. How molecules self assemble ultimately to form life? How electrons in aluminum become superconducting when cooled to low temperatures but electrons in copper cannot? My current research is on phase transitions in systems with topological defects. There are many unanswered questions in condensed matter physics awaiting the next generation of physicists.
Professor
Why Physics? Because physics is a powerful way of thinking that makes possible a sustainable future in which climate change and other global challenges are solved.
Professor
I have been studying, teaching and researching Physics for more than 50 years. I continue to find Physics an extraordinary subject that enthralls me now as much as it did when I first began studying the subject long ago. The physical world is both simple and subtle. The simplicity manifests itself in the relatively few physical laws needed to understand all phenomena. At the same time, these theories are remarkably subtle with deep connections across apparently diverse phenomena (think of Maxwell's Equations which unify electricity and magnetism, describe the properties of light and embody special relativity). Not only is the physical world extraordinary, so is the human mind that can discover the fundamental laws and the deep connections between them.
Professor
Physics is more than just a body of knowledge, it's a way of thinking. It teaches you how to break a problem into pieces, decide which factors are the most important and which can be ignored, and build intuition for how you expect larger systems to behave. In an age where AI can return a definitive-sounding response to any question with the push of a button, it feels more important than ever to have the tools to critically assess whether that answer makes sense -- and physics can give you those tools.
Associate Professor
From developing new experimental tools and publishing in high-quality journals such as Nature to being integral team members of NASA missions, our students share their unique-to-Brown experiences and perspectives on why they chose physics at Brown.