3 ms·
TIL that a brilliant physicist nearly failed his physics exam (sort of). What is revealing is the broad-based knowledge that was expected of any student of thos
by vjust 4y ago
TIL that a brilliant physicist nearly failed his physics exam (sort of). What is revealing is the broad-based knowledge that was expected of any student of those times. Unlike the super-specialities of today. A career in such fields (rather in any field) in those days required total dedication to academics. Also the importance of oral arguments and oral debate.
- someweirdperson 4y agoBroad? Limited to the fields of the professors, like today. The story talks about the FPI, and an extensive lecture by one of the examiners about this topic. Like today, expect professors to ask about their favorite topics. The FPI seems suitable for a 1st year physics course today, if not even at school. That example shows how one-sided his interests were, not how much of everything was expected.
- gowld 4y agoHow many people who know how an FPI works could also explain quantum mechanics?
- harveywi 4y agoThere are plenty of petty turds in academia today who do similar things, ruining the careers and significantly negatively impacting the lives of students. When they decide that they do not like a student (for _any_ reason), they have unchecked means to make that student's life miserable, make them jump through extra hoops, get them removed from the program, psychologically torment them, etc.
- psychphysic 4y agoI don't understand why this is the strongly held narrative here. Those are some pretty major misses for a PhD candidate physicist. He would have been forwarded of this since he was forced to take one of the exam panels courses!
- mbrudd 4y ago100% accurate!
- peteradio 4y agoTo become a PhD candidate at a non-top-tier Physics university, I had to derive similar trivia over a wide variety of physics topics in a sort of entry exam. I think it is quite normal. What I doubt is typical anymore is for this to be individual and oral. Also, it was quite typical to fail on your first few go rounds.
- f1shy 4y agoIt is not. Like not at all. I know PhDs who know literally nothing outside the very narrow topic of their thesis. Like PhD in signal processing unable to understand a control system equation. I see that day in day out where I work. Lucky you, that have a decent title.
- yummypaint 4y agoPhysics specifically has a long tradition of expecting a wide breadth of knowledge. For example, in every physics department i know details about, the expectation is that any professor is able to teach any class, and class assignments indeed change very regularly. I think part of the reason is that the knowledge tends to be "use it or lose it" on a multi-year timescale. If you work with physicists who have been pidgeonholed in industry for decades then this is probably to be expected.
- protastus 4y agoPhD programs, requirements and exams aren't standardized across institutions. Everyone's experience is different. PhD graduates are extremely diverse in every possible measure. Some are deep generalists. Others are hyper specialized. Some can walk on water. Others leave you wondering how they managed to graduate.
- mattkrause 4y ago> Unlike the super-specialities of today. Many programs still administer pretty general qualifying exams. Mine was about two-thirds systems neuroscience (close to my thesis topic), with some reinforcement learning (in the Sutton and Barto sense) and genetics of autism on the side. You were strongly encourage to pick at least one topic that would be "mind-expanding" rather than just thesis prep work. My spouse's department instead had a thesis/anti-thesis structure. They wrote two proposals, the real one that they intended to carry out and a second one on a totally different topic. They then defended both. Both were written + oral exams. I found the oral part helpful (fun, even) because the conversation keeps the candidate and reviewer from getting hung up on minor points, while probing how they think. Plus, I think there's a bit of tradition in making the candidate sweat by seeing how far you can ratchet up the difficulty. What I am surprised about is the "practical" component. I've never heard of a hands-on exam!
- trombonechamp 4y agoSounds like the classic 4th Floor SHM committee
- mattkrause 4y agoIndeed---Daeyeol was the RL person! I'm guessing we just missed each other in grad school?
- trombonechamp 4y agoI knew it had to be him when you said Sutton and Barto. Yeah, I think we just missed each other since your name sounds familiar.
- pyb 4y agoNo, a degree in physics today is at least as demanding as it was back then. For instance, the topics discussed in the article, quantum mechanics and practical optics, are requirements in any physics degree I know of.