Theoretical Physics....?

Lord Tyrion

Lord Tyrion

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We watched The Theory of Everything last night, joyless film, don't bother if you haven't seen it. Anyway, it struck me whilst watching it that theoretical physics, this is what Stephen Hawkings studied, is largely pointless. They create a theory then test whether it can be proved or not. There is no end result which benefits mankind as far as I can see in any practical sense.

Hopefully there are some physics people on here. Explain to me what I am missing, have I got it wrong? Do theoretical physicists actually produce work that advances mankind or is it purely, as the title suggests, theoretical and knowledge led.
 
LT I'm with you on the film front absolutely joyless and wish I hadn't bothered with it. As for theoretical physics I guess you could say without them probing and asking these questions would anything ground breaking be possible, Nuclear Power, Space travel the particle acceleration work going on at CERN. Whilst the engineers are the ones building the infrastructure to make this possible its only off the back if the theory boffins that they know what to be implementing.

But then I'm clueless about these things and can only go by what more knowledgeable folk tell me. I hear Sheldon Cooper is a good source of information on this ?
 
Wolf said:
LT I'm with you on the film front absolutely joyless and wish I hadn't bothered with it. As for theoretical physics I guess you could say without them probing and asking these questions would anything ground breaking be possible, Nuclear Power, Space travel the particle acceleration work going on at CERN. Whilst the engineers are the ones building the infrastructure to make this possible its only off the back if the theory boffins that they know what to be implementing.

But then I'm clueless about these things and can only go by what more knowledgeable folk tell me. I hear Sheldon Cooper is a good source of information on this ?
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Yeah, I also watched Big Bang Theory so am familiar with Sheldon's work :D. I appreciate that discoveries can come out of such theoretical work but it does seem a bit self indulgent. I'm hoping to be educated by some forum boffins :unsure:
 
Theoretical physics is about the thinking of the natural world and how and why things are what they are - commonly using mathematical models/simulations (Einstein et al). Interconnected to the basics that then 'can' lead to 'Experimental' physics which attempts to find ways of testing the validity of the thinking; a subset of which is Quantum physics (Planck et al) which is at the atomic/sub-atomic level.

Without the 'original/theoretical' thinking much of our knowledge behind the natural world: atomic energy, detailed weather forecasting systems, medication/virus treatments, genetics etc may not have been initiated.
 
Will any of this science lead to a golf shaft that can drive the ball infinite distances?
 
Understanding the thought processes in theoretical physics that lead to some, what appear, outlandish theories are pretty much beyond my intelligence. However, if you reverse engineer some discoveries back through to their roots in theoretical physics its clear that there is a place for the science.

I'll be honest, I think some of Hawking's pronouncements are a touch weird to say the least but far better men and women than me place good faith in them... go figure.

As for the film, "a curate's egg."
 
DaveR said:
So the ball will go further on a hole that plays West to East than one which plays East to West? ?
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yup I learned that on the sonic boom thread when a plane don’t go bang when it’s travelling faster than the speed of sound coz it’s windy up there ?
 
Lord Tyrion said:
Do theoretical physicists actually produce work that advances mankind or is it purely, as the title suggests, theoretical and knowledge led.
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I'm not a physicist but I have a passing interest in it. Short answer yes. Long answer is long but let's start by simplifying that there is Experimental Physics and there is Theoretical Physics. They both strive to achieve and understand the same universe, they look for the same answers, they simply use different tools in doing so.

Albert Einstein is the probably the most obvious or easily justified answer to your conundrum. In way too short a story, he wasn't initially well known, particularly brilliant or respected amongst his peers early in but he published his now famous theories of special relativity and mass energy equivalence (E=mc^2) in 1905, fast-forward to now and we have GPS, Lasers, Solar Cells, as well as an infamous mis-attribution of him being the 'inventor' of nuclear fission as a result.

So there's one simple answer amongst many, theoretical physics isn't just blackboards and chalk as Hollywood suggests.
 
Shock horror, film about man with motor neurone disease isn't a thrill a minute joyride...as for the physics, it's beyond most of us, so we probably aren't supposed to understand it or value it. But most practical advances start at a theoretical phase.
 
I really hope Brian Cox plays golf, and uses his forum. I'd love to read his response to this question :)

Does it actually produce work that advances mankind? In short, yes, emphatically yes. Trying to understand the logic behind natural phenomena (i.e. the theory) is what leads us to not only expand our understanding on how things work, but opens our mind as to what could be possible. That in turn will lead to logic driven experimental physics, where these new understandings can be tested and hopefully confirmed.

Our advancements in technology have not occurred purely by blindly doing random experiments which produce random surprising outcomes. It is usually that theoretically something is discovered, and then experiments conducted to test this. Yes, sometimes we may find out something as a complete fluke, but then this will be tested repetitively to see if we can get the same result, then in reverse, the theory will be looked at, and when understood at that level it can open up more doors that lead to further discoveries.

What theoretical physics is NOT, is some mathematical nonsense done by very brainy people who cannot be bothered getting a real job, with the only outcome in being able to impress each other by sharing their equations that will never be used outside of a university building. If it was, it has really destroyed by love of the film Good Will Hunting
 
Swango1980 said:
What theoretical physics is NOT, is some mathematical nonsense done by very brainy people who cannot be bothered getting a real job, with the only outcome in being able to impress each other by sharing their equations that will never be used outside of a university building. If it was, it has really destroyed by love of the film Good Will Hunting
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Are you sure :ROFLMAO:?

There have been some really good replies to my original question. I know we get used to threads on this forum being angry, poking a finger at someone / something, always an angle, but this was a genuine, if slightly flippant, question. It has brought out some good, simple answers. I didn't understand any of the answers in the film, no real surprise there, but the posts here have made it far more understandable (y).
 
Lord Tyrion said:
Are you sure :ROFLMAO:?

There have been some really good replies to my original question. I know we get used to threads on this forum being angry, poking a finger at someone / something, always an angle, but this was a genuine, if slightly flippant, question. It has brought out some good, simple answers. I didn't understand any of the answers in the film, no real surprise there, but the posts here have made it far more understandable (y).
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I watched the film, but it doesn't really stand out in my memory. I'm guessing it was as much a story about love and hardships due to his illness, as it was about his actual genius and discoveries. But, as I said, can't really remember, films like Independence Day and Terminator 2 live longer in my memory. To be fair, loads of groovy science in those films.
 
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