{"id":172,"date":"2014-11-05T11:04:50","date_gmt":"2014-11-05T19:04:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bellevuecollege.edu\/physics\/careers-in-physics\/career-choice\/"},"modified":"2018-02-11T14:57:43","modified_gmt":"2018-02-11T22:57:43","slug":"career-choice","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.bellevuecollege.edu\/physics\/careers\/career-choice\/","title":{"rendered":"Physics as a Career Choice"},"content":{"rendered":"

“The scientist does not study nature because it is useful: he studies it because he delights in it, and he delights in it because it is beautiful. If nature were not beautiful, it would not be worth knowing, and if nature were not worth knowing, life would not be worth living.”\u00a0 ~Jules Henri Poincar\u00e9<\/a><\/p>\n

For many scientists simple delight is the chief motivation, but as with any human endeavor, there are as many reasons for pursuing physics as there are physicists working. This page will help you learn about some of these motivations and begin to develop your own reasons for a career in physics. You might begin by meeting the people who do physics, or by exploring descriptions of physics, museums, histories of science, and physics on the web. Or you may prefer to see what the main branches of physics research are around the country as a way to organize your ideas about the field. As you become more informed you will be interested in the professional organizations that physicists form, the National Laboratories where many of the cooperative research projects get done, and other related organizations. You will also want to start thinking about graduate school and begin developing your taste for applications of physics in industry.<\/p>\n

The People:<\/h3>\n

Many physicists were also Mathematicians<\/a>.
\nNobel laureates, <\/a>meet those who have been awarded physics highest honor.
\nThe contribution of women <\/a>has been significant though underpublicized.<\/p>\n

Exploring physics:<\/h3>\n

Perhaps the best hands-on museum in the nation is the Exploratorium in San Francisco<\/a>.
\nThere is an excellent Physics Museum at Oxford <\/a>
\nDevelop perspective by following links to the History of Physics<\/a>.
\nOr start your own web search from The Internet Pilot TO Physics (TIPTOP)<\/a><\/p>\n

Branches of physics:<\/h3>\n

Most graduate programs offer degrees in the following areas.
\nEach bulleted item links to a representative page at an American university. Similar pages exist at other universities in each topic area, the pages here are chosen for the scope of information provided on that research field. They present one perspective and should not be taken as the definitive description of that research area. For other perspectives you can visit a comprehensive list of graduate programs <\/a>in the US. At each university you can search for a page on research interests for that department.<\/p>\n

In practice most of these branches of physics employ both theorists and experimentalists. Occasionally an individual wears both hats.<\/p>\n

Condensed Matter Physics<\/a>
\nThis is the study of matter when there are large numbers of particles in close proximity. Ordinary solids are the most common example. This research lead to the first transistor and to today’s high capacity storage media. But the field also includes many esoteric forms of matter, from Neutronium (the substance of neutron stars) to matter confined to one or two dimensions. Recent work has produced samples numbering in the tens of thousands of atoms that all behave according to a single wave function (the atoms have lost their individual identities). These collections are called Bose-Einstein Condensates (BEC) and form a new category of matter.
\nAtomic and Molecular Physics<\/a>
\nIndividual atoms or small groups of atoms are the focus in this field. Some researches use single trapped atoms to make extremely precise measurements to confirm theories about Quantum Mechanics or Relativity. Others are exploring the interaction between atoms (or molecules) or the interaction between light and atoms. Lasers and laser physics are an important part of this research area.
\nNuclear Physics<\/a>
\nAs the name implies, this field examines the nucleus of the atom. While the composition of the nucleus is understood for all atoms and their isotopes, the arrangements and interactions of the nuclear constituents is still a rich field of study. Nuclear physics includes the fission and fusion reactions that provide nuclear power, as well as the nuclear synthesis process that fuels the sun and other stars.
\nHigh Energy Particle Physics<\/a>
\nThis is where the theories about the fundamental structure of nature are devised. They are then tested at high energy accelerator laboratories and in the study of cosmic rays. Theories about the smallest particles and the largest structures in our universe have become linked by the Big Bang Theory. Many High Energy Physicists also do work in Cosmology<\/a>.
\nMathematical Physics<\/a>
\nHistorically physics and mathematics grew up together, each field pushing the other into new realms. The mathematical physicist works on the border between math and physics to help us find a rigorous description of nature. Some of the most subtle and profound ideas in physics were created here.
\nPhysics Education Research<\/a>
\nThis is a relatively new field in physics departments. The practitioners are physicists who observe students learning physics and examine the difficulties encountered. Their work is changing the face of the college physics course nationwide.
\nInterdisciplinary research<\/a>
\nA growing number of departments support degree candidates who want to straddle two disciplines in their research.\u00a0Here again your best search strategy is to visit the graduate programs, select a particular physics department, and search that site for research topics.<\/p>\n

Physics Organizations, Research labs, or closely related links:<\/h3>\n

Organizations:
\nThese sites have multiple pages with considerable content and many related links:
\nAAAS <\/a>American Association for the Advancement of Science
\nAAS <\/a>American Astronomical Society
\nAIP <\/a>American Institute of Physics
\nAPS <\/a>American Physical Society
\nAAPT <\/a>American Association of Physics Teachers
\nNAS <\/a>National Academy of Sciences
\nNSF <\/a>National Science Foundation<\/p>\n

National Laboratories:
\nThese sites focus on facilities and research problems. They also contain related links and cool pictures:
\nBrookhaven National Laboratory<\/a>
\nContinuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility<\/a>
\nDepartment of Energy<\/a>
\nFermi National Laboratory<\/a>
\nLawrence Berkeley Laboratory<\/a>
\nLawrence Livermore National Laboratory<\/a>
\nLos Alamos National Laboratory<\/a>
\nNational Institute of Standards and Technology<\/a>
\nNASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory<\/a>
\nOak Ridge National Laboratory<\/a>
\nSandia National Laboratory<\/a>
\nStanford Linear Accelerator Center<\/a><\/p>\n

Related fields or professional societies:
\nLinks and content. Some focused, some broad:
\nAMS <\/a>The American Mathematical Society
\nOptical Society of America<\/a>
\nAcoustical Society of America<\/a>
\nAmerican Crystallographic Association<\/a>
\nAmerican Astronomical Society<\/a>
\nAmerican Association of Physicists in Medicine<\/a>
\nAmerican Geophysical Union<\/a>
\nSTSI The Hubbell Space Telescope Science Institute<\/a>
\nNASA National Aeronautics and Space Administration<\/a>
\nThe LIGO Project<\/a>
\nAmerican Institute of Physics Affiliated Societies<\/a>
\nPSRC <\/a>Physical Sciences Resource Center<\/p>\n

Graduate School:<\/h3>\n

List of Graduate Programs<\/a> in the United States
\nCareer planning<\/a>, or a report on graduate programs<\/a> from NAS.
\nSearch on departments in other countries<\/a>
\nSPS <\/a>and AIP<\/a><\/p>\n

Physics at Work:<\/h3>\n

This list is not comprehensive. Links are added as we become aware of them.
\nGeneral Atomics Fusion Group Educational Home Page
\n<\/a>Malin Space Science Systems<\/a><\/p>\n

Some professions that require a strong physics background:<\/h3>\n
\n
Aeronautics Engineers
\nAstronautics Engineers
\nAstronomers
\nAtmospheric Scientist
\nAtomic Physicists
\nBio-Engineers
\nBio-Physicists
\nCeramic Engineers
\nChemical Engineers
\nChemists
\nCivil Engineers
\nComputer Scientists
\nCondensed Matter Physicists
\nCosmologists
\nElectrical Engineers
\nEnvironmental Engineers
\nForensic scientist
\nGeochemists
\nGeologists
\nGeophysicists
\nHigh Energy Physicists<\/div>\n
Hydrologists
\nIndustrial Physicist
\nMaterials Scientist
\nMathematical Physicists
\nMathematicians
\nMechanical Engineers
\nMedical Ph.D.
\nMeteorologists
\nMineralogists
\nNuclear Physicists
\nOceanographers
\nPhysician (doctor)
\nPower Engineers
\nReactor operator
\nResearch Scientist
\nScience Writer
\nSolar physicist
\nSolid State Physicists
\nSpace physicist
\nTeaching Physicists
\nTheoretical Physicists<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\"The scientist does not study nature because it is useful: he studies it because he delights in it, and he delights in it because it is beautiful. If nature were not beautiful, it would not be worth knowing, and if nature were not worth knowing, life would not be worth living.\"\u00a0 ~Jules Henri Poincar\u00e9 For ...more about Physics as a Career Choice<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":86,"featured_media":0,"parent":37,"menu_order":1,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"class_list":["post-172","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bellevuecollege.edu\/physics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/172","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bellevuecollege.edu\/physics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bellevuecollege.edu\/physics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bellevuecollege.edu\/physics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/86"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bellevuecollege.edu\/physics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=172"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.bellevuecollege.edu\/physics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/172\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1093,"href":"https:\/\/www.bellevuecollege.edu\/physics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/172\/revisions\/1093"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bellevuecollege.edu\/physics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/37"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bellevuecollege.edu\/physics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=172"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}