The fascinating concepts of quantum physics can promote curiosity and interest in physics that may alter career choices.
It was one of the most intense times of my PhD studies. On a nice Saturday, I went for a walk for a small break and noticed a garage sale in my neighborhood. I spotted Stephen Hawking’s book, The Grand Design, from a distance and I was pulled towards it. While I was getting the book I asked the lady, who was interested in physics in her family -wondering if it was her husband, I might have known him from the Physics Department. Turned out that it was her son who was interested in physics, and she told me that he won a scholarship in Boston to study physics and was going to Boston at the end of the year. Since there are not many, I asked her how her son decided to study physics. She said the previous year someone from the University of Victoria came to his class to talk about QM. That same day he told about QM to his parents and started to develop a particular interest in physics. The first book he got was this very book, The Grand Design by Stephen Hawking. It was a moment of coming full circle for me. I said, “It was me, who visited his class and taught quantum mechanics.” I explained my position and my QM outreach classes. We both laughed. What a motivation that made my day, what a coincidence, what a small world, what an inspiration!
コメント