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That depends a bit on the field. If you were doing particle physics (in particular using earth-borne accelerators), the second half of the 20th century would pr
by sigmoid10 2y ago
That depends a bit on the field. If you were doing particle physics (in particular using earth-borne accelerators), the second half of the 20th century would probably be best. But if you're into astroparticle or cosmology, the best time is literally right now. The 21st century has been one giant thing after another thanks to Sudbury, WMAP and Planck, the EHT, LIGO, the Pulsar Timing Array and tons of other experiments. When it comes to understanding the universe as a whole, there is no better time to work in physics than today. Similar goes for quantum and condensed matter, albeit with a focus on real world applications rather than understanding the universe.
- bjornsing 2y agoI’m into usefulness. And I’m not convinced by your argument. I still doubt very much that I will see any new models as useful as those that transformed the world in the 20th century. I’d love to be wrong though.
- sigmoid10 2y agoUsefulness usually means real world use. It took the theory of general relativity 70 years before we saw a real world application make use of it. The theory that led to modern hard drives (GMR) went from new fundamental physics in the late 80s to full commercial use within a decade. Things like the blue LED (1990s) or frequency combs (early 2000s) were even faster and can be found truly everywhere now (unlike GR). There are far more useful models out there than the high level overview stuff you might get from an intro to fundamental physics class. And even if you're into explaining the universe rather than improving day to day life, as I said, there's tons of stuff going on right now if you're in the right field.