Reading vs. Reality

A couple weeks ago I decided to set time out of my schedule for something that I wanted to do. Since I was really tired and I didn’t have that much homework, I decided to just check out a book from the school library. Being the huge nerd I am, I picked up a book about physics. I’ve seriously considered major in something physics-related, so I thought, “Why not?” Anyway, the book did not disappoint. The book I checked out is about the physics behind machines you see in science fiction movies (things like time travel and force fields) and if we can attain/ have already attained that through our scientific standing. The book is called the “Physics of the Impossible” by Michio Kaku, and it was honestly very good. It was short and easy to wrap your head around since the chapters and concepts were interesting, and he didn’t include much in terms of complex calculus.

Now don’t think this is a book talk (although I do recommend this book to anyone that likes science fiction), because besides enjoying the book, it did make me self-conscious. The first few chapters briefly mention the author’s background, and I just was blown away. His childhood dream was to major in physics, and to do that he did something that I think is insane. He built a particle generator in high school that, “...generated a magnetic field of twenty thousand times the Earth’s magnetic field...” He went on to win the National Science Fair and he got accepted to Harvard where he became a theoretical physicist. So after reading forty pages in I finally took the time to look in the back of the book and see who the author was, because I hadn't really placed his name with a face yet. Michio Kaku is one of the co-founders of string theory, and I had seen him in a lot of science documentaries I’d watched as a kid. He was my idol when I was little, and I wanted to be as successful and as smart as he was.

Ok, has it ever happened to you that when you read a book, you start to feel like you and the main character are very similar? Well that’s how I felt about this book as a started to read the first few chapters. But as I read more and more about his life, he and I seemed worlds apart. Frankly, it kind of worried me. I want to be like him some day, but I haven’t won any science awards or taken even calculus yet. It really made me nervous on how little I’ve actually prepared for majoring in physics.

I know that to be a successful physicist you don’t need to have gotten a bucket-load of awards, but it doesn't hurt if you want to be prepared and stand out in a college application. But, I firmly decided not to despair. This is something that I want to do because I really enjoy it, so although I might not be as prepared as others potentially might be, I will try to become more goal oriented in what I want to pursue. This book was fantastic, and although I originally began to worry about my abilities and previous scientific experiences, this book, but mostly the author, have really inspired me to start reaching for my goal. Turns out my light reading was a good choice after all!