Posted by Sunny Kalara | 0 Comments
Simplicity – May you have a simple 2009!
The simplest solutions are often the cleverest and they are also usually wrong! So the search for simplicity is guided by what Einstein taught us : “Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.”
Simplicity doesn’t mean lack of complexity – simplicity just means you stop appearing complicated to others; like fractals – which are very complex, yet simple in many ways. The fractals became simpler, not because the complexity goes away, but because one understands the underlying simplicity and the simple self repeating patterns.
For a physicist, understanding the complex is the final achievement; the understanding breeds simplicity and hence the euphamistically, simplicity becomes the final goal.
The most noble, powerful and meaningful wish that one can bestow upon a physicist is that they discover simplicity in their endeavours.
So my new year wish for all visitors is that:
“May you have a simple 2009!”
Happy New Year!
Talk Like a Physicist
Posted by Sunny Kalara | 3 Comments
Not Christmas Holidays but Newton Festival : Happy Newton, everybody!
On December 25th
a savior was born.
He revealed eternal truth
bringing joy to millions.
He astonished the world
with his command over nature.
He changed history for ever!
Even if you are an atheist or a Bright, you don’t want to destroy the holiday season! So Richard Dawkins suggested that the birthday of Sir Isaac Newton, the founder of modern physics and mathematics, and arguably the greatest scientist of all time, could be used as an alternate excuse for a winter holiday!
Depending on the calendar you follow and how purist you want to be, Newton was born either on 25th December or 4th January.
Perfect! Who needs poinsettia, when you can have red apples? I’d rather teach kids about F=ma than tell them about a fat guy flying from the north pole in a sleigh being pulled by reindeers! I’d rather have a (dwarf) tree, dropping apples on my head, than have a Christmas tree shedding needles and being a fire hazard! Instead of fake snow, every house will have a real rainbow created using a prism! Instead of playing with candy canes, kids will be peering through telescope! I like the sound of that!
So, as suggested Richard Dawkins and by Olivia Judson of NYTimes, I support renaming Christmas holidays as Newton’s birthday festival.
In honor of Newton’s Birthday festival, I therefore propose the following song, to be sung to the tune of “The Twelve Days of Christmas.” For brevity, I include only the final verse. All together now!
On the tenth day of Newton,
My true love gave to me,
Ten drops of genius,
Nine silver co-oins,
Eight circling planets,
Seven shades of li-ight,
Six counterfeiters,
Cal-Cu-Lus!
Four telescopes,
Three Laws of Motion,
Two awful feuds,
And the discovery of gravity!
Happy Newton, everybody!
Just as an aside note; when I was thinking of a date to select for Talk Like a Physicist Day, I did consider using Newton’s birthdate as a potential TLP date, but rejected it precisely because it fell on the Christmas day. So I am glad to get a second chance.
Nature and nature’s laws lay hid in night;
God said “Let Newton be” and all was light.
Newton Christmas Cards are designed by John Powers and can be purchased here. The happy Newton Birthday cards are from Irregular Goods.
Talk Like a Physicist
Posted by Sunny Kalara | 2 Comments
Infinity Symbol tattoos – Tuesday Physics Tattoos
Infinity and cosmos
Infinite Music from quigoncody
Talk Like a Physicist
Posted by Sunny Kalara | 2 Comments
Tuesday Physics Tattoo – Smith Chart
From Chris S’s website at UCSB
The SMITH chart is a graphical calculator that allows the relatively complicated mathematical calculations, which use complex algebra and numbers, to be replaced with geometrical constructs, and it allows us to see at a glance what the effects of altering the transmission line geometry will be.
Here is what a real Smith Chart looks like.
Source Chris’s UCSB website
Talk Like a Physicist