Inspiration

Anthony J. Leggett - Banquet Speech


"What advice would you give to a student hoping to embark on a career in theoretical physics? ...for what it is worth, here it is:

First, if there's something in the conventional wisdom that you don't understand, worry away at it for as long as it takes and don't be deterred by the assurances of your fellow physicists that these questions are well understood.

Secondly, if you find a problem interesting, don't worry too much about whether it has been solved in the existing literature. You will have a lot more fun with it if you don't know, and you will learn a lot, even if what you come up with turns out not to be publishable.

Thirdly, remember that no piece of honestly conducted research is ever wasted, even if it seems so at the time. Put it away in a drawer, and ten, twenty or thirty years down the road, it will come back and help you in ways you never anticipated, and finally, take your teaching every bit as seriously as your research."

~Anthony J. Leggett, Nobel Laureate


People always say that you should never believe everything you hear; you should question anything you come across. Just because someone says it is right does not mean that it won't be wrong 5, 10, 15 years from now. This is hopeful, in it's way, because it means that there will always be something to discover, and something to pursue. And anything you publish will be proven or disproven time and time again in peoples minds, until it is finally decided that while at the time of publishing it made sense, there is now a new way of thinking and a better way of explaining. Thus there will always be a new way of looking at the same problem.

...But my favourite part is the bit about having fun. We have a lot of fun, theoretically anyways.