Sean Carroll

I'm a contractor by trade, but a year ago I decided I wanted to teach myself particle physics after work. In short, I quickly realized I needed to go back and relearn at least some basic classical mechanics before moving on to relativity and quantum mechanics. So I'm slowly working through a high school textbook again.

I'm a contractor by trade, but a year ago I decided I wanted to teach myself particle physics after work. In short, I quickly realized I needed to go back and relearn at least some basic classical mechanics before moving on to relativity and quantum mechanics. So I'm slowly working through a high school textbook again.

But after reading dozens of popular books, the thing that impresses me the most about physics is physicists mastering the old and new stuff to work on the cutting edge. So my question is, would graduate level problem sets on, say, geometric optics or thermodynamics be simple to you now or would involve a quick refresher?

But after reading dozens of popular books, the thing that impresses me the most about physics is physicists mastering the old and new stuff to work on the cutting edge. So my question is, would graduate level problem sets on, say, geometric optics or thermodynamics be simple to you now or would involve a quick refresher?

I guess I'm curious how much of the technical education one retains and in what form. I hope that's clear. It is clear.

I guess I'm curious how much of the technical education one retains and in what form. I hope that's clear. It is clear.

So putting aside all the details that might come up in your mind in the preamble to the question, the question is, you know, once you're a professional physicist, can you go back to the stuff you did as undergrad or graduate at the problem set level, and is it all now easy, or do you have to, like, work just as hard? Well, there's two things involved.

So putting aside all the details that might come up in your mind in the preamble to the question, the question is, you know, once you're a professional physicist, can you go back to the stuff you did as undergrad or graduate at the problem set level, and is it all now easy, or do you have to, like, work just as hard? Well, there's two things involved.

One thing is sometimes these problem sets in, you know— thermodynamics or E and M or quantum mechanics or whatever, just involve a lot of work, right? You know, sometimes there were a lot of all-nighters back then when I was in grad school, but it just, the amount of calculations you have to do is just large no matter who you are, no matter how much knowledge you have, right?

One thing is sometimes these problem sets in, you know— thermodynamics or E and M or quantum mechanics or whatever, just involve a lot of work, right? You know, sometimes there were a lot of all-nighters back then when I was in grad school, but it just, the amount of calculations you have to do is just large no matter who you are, no matter how much knowledge you have, right?

You got to do that integral, you got to solve that differential equation, you got to diagonalize that matrix, whatever it is, okay? So some of it is irreducible, the amount of work you have to do. So that's one thing. The other thing is, of course, hopefully you do get better at seeing how to solve these problems. Sometimes I will see online, I'll see a final exam or a problem set in a course.

You got to do that integral, you got to solve that differential equation, you got to diagonalize that matrix, whatever it is, okay? So some of it is irreducible, the amount of work you have to do. So that's one thing. The other thing is, of course, hopefully you do get better at seeing how to solve these problems. Sometimes I will see online, I'll see a final exam or a problem set in a course.

that is being taught somewhere else, and I haven't taken it for many years, and I read it and I go, oh my God, I would never be able to solve that. But then I sit and think about it and go, actually, yeah, no, I could do it. I just haven't thought about it for a long time. And I think that it's a combination.

that is being taught somewhere else, and I haven't taken it for many years, and I read it and I go, oh my God, I would never be able to solve that. But then I sit and think about it and go, actually, yeah, no, I could do it. I just haven't thought about it for a long time. And I think that it's a combination.

You do forget some of the details that you might have recently learned if you're taking the class, But I think that, in fact, the purpose of the education, this is a slight exaggeration, but a lot of the purpose of the education is to sort of know where to look. Like, oh, OK, this particular problem requires taking a Fourier transform, right?

You do forget some of the details that you might have recently learned if you're taking the class, But I think that, in fact, the purpose of the education, this is a slight exaggeration, but a lot of the purpose of the education is to sort of know where to look. Like, oh, OK, this particular problem requires taking a Fourier transform, right?

Or this particular problem is a perturbation theory problem. Like the angle of attack and, you know, what books you have to turn to to figure out what equations you need and that kind of thing. Rather than the actual solution to the problem or even the actual step-by-step way to solve the problem, it's more like what kind of problem is this? What kind of tools are you going to need to do this?

Or this particular problem is a perturbation theory problem. Like the angle of attack and, you know, what books you have to turn to to figure out what equations you need and that kind of thing. Rather than the actual solution to the problem or even the actual step-by-step way to solve the problem, it's more like what kind of problem is this? What kind of tools are you going to need to do this?

That kind of stuff is taught to you and it's not necessarily what you think is being taught to you, but it's what sticks with you decades later. So... I would say that specifically it would not be simple for me to answer a question like graduate level statistical mechanics or something like that necessarily. But it would be much simpler now than it was back when I was doing it the first time.

That kind of stuff is taught to you and it's not necessarily what you think is being taught to you, but it's what sticks with you decades later. So... I would say that specifically it would not be simple for me to answer a question like graduate level statistical mechanics or something like that necessarily. But it would be much simpler now than it was back when I was doing it the first time.