Quals - a time for self discovery
The quals are OVER! I think I passed, but I will only know for sure in a month. But for now, I am just glad to be done.
Nobody likes to be studying for quals, and neither do I. I cannot sleep well, eat well, and I had to severely ration my fun time. Not to mention spending Christmas alone in a ghost town. But there was a positive side to the quals too - I rediscovered my love for Physics.
Do I love Physics? Yes I do - or should I say, I did. As a kid, I was fascinated with planets, atoms, rockets, etc... And I liked it enough to choose it as my major at Caltech. Then it fell apart.
Physics is (was!) difficult. I spent many hours in lectures staring blankly at the professor, struggling over problem sets, tearing my hair out in exams. Eventually, after 4 years, I have to wonder - is Physics really for me?
Fortunately, I decided to give it another shot - with applied Physics at Cornell. We still have to learn the basic Physics topics for the quals - Electrodynamics, Classical Mechanics, Quantum Mechanics, Statistical Thermodynamics, Applied Math. And so I did. I spent a month faithfully reviewing all that I know about these topics.
For the first time in my life, I read Griffiths' "Introduction to Quantum Mechanics" from cover to cover.
For the first time in my life, I read Griffiths' "Introduction to Electrodynamics" from cover to cover.
Why did I not do that before? After all, I had used those books as an undergrad. It seemed that I was always in a hurry to get the problem set done, or I was too tired to read it carefully, etc...
And for the first time in my life, quantum mechanics and electrodynamics made sense to me (at least at the undergrad level =)).
I can hear Griffiths talking to me through those books. Griffiths is now my god of Physics.
Marion and Thornton's "Classical Dynamics" is also an excellent book. I now understand how mechanics developed. Kusse's "Mathematical Physics" is so much better than all the rest, there is no comparison.
I think I have regained my confidence. I can now look someone in the eye and say "I am a Physicist" (albeit an amateur one, but still a Physicist no doubt).
所有昨日爱恨情仇
像是一场下过的雨
Nobody likes to be studying for quals, and neither do I. I cannot sleep well, eat well, and I had to severely ration my fun time. Not to mention spending Christmas alone in a ghost town. But there was a positive side to the quals too - I rediscovered my love for Physics.
Do I love Physics? Yes I do - or should I say, I did. As a kid, I was fascinated with planets, atoms, rockets, etc... And I liked it enough to choose it as my major at Caltech. Then it fell apart.
Physics is (was!) difficult. I spent many hours in lectures staring blankly at the professor, struggling over problem sets, tearing my hair out in exams. Eventually, after 4 years, I have to wonder - is Physics really for me?
Fortunately, I decided to give it another shot - with applied Physics at Cornell. We still have to learn the basic Physics topics for the quals - Electrodynamics, Classical Mechanics, Quantum Mechanics, Statistical Thermodynamics, Applied Math. And so I did. I spent a month faithfully reviewing all that I know about these topics.
For the first time in my life, I read Griffiths' "Introduction to Quantum Mechanics" from cover to cover.
For the first time in my life, I read Griffiths' "Introduction to Electrodynamics" from cover to cover.
Why did I not do that before? After all, I had used those books as an undergrad. It seemed that I was always in a hurry to get the problem set done, or I was too tired to read it carefully, etc...
And for the first time in my life, quantum mechanics and electrodynamics made sense to me (at least at the undergrad level =)).
I can hear Griffiths talking to me through those books. Griffiths is now my god of Physics.
Marion and Thornton's "Classical Dynamics" is also an excellent book. I now understand how mechanics developed. Kusse's "Mathematical Physics" is so much better than all the rest, there is no comparison.
I think I have regained my confidence. I can now look someone in the eye and say "I am a Physicist" (albeit an amateur one, but still a Physicist no doubt).
所有昨日爱恨情仇
像是一场下过的雨
posted by Yifan at 1:46 PM
1 comments
