Dances with physicists

At the beginning of “The Entangled Dance of Physics,” Steve Benka mentions the media coverage that breakthroughs in physics receive and then goes on to say that physics “is grossly undervalued.” I could not agree more.

After obtaining a degree in physics, I began a balancing act of pursuing a PhD in geology and working part-time at a geophysical consulting company. This combination seemed natural to me, since my thesis had involved signal processing for ground-penetrating radar and validating techniques borrowed from a related discipline, seismic prospecting.

Even though I originally thought these were the best options for someone with my background, I soon began to think otherwise. Every time I was introduced, my name was followed by a proud “He’s a physicist, you know.” Then the person introducing me would always go on to say that “nevertheless,” I had a background in geophysics.

In industry, being a physicist seemed to convey an image of someone with a deep understanding of grand unified theories (to which I make no claim) but with almost no practical experience. At one time, a coworker suggested to me that it would be easier for me to secure a position if I introduced myself as a geophysicist.

Within academia, I have never felt displaced for being “simply” a physicist. I have been invited to, and even received grants from, societies covering areas from granular materials to biophysics and geology.

I must disagree with Benka on one point: I believe research scientists tend to be more open-minded than people working in industry. Unfortunately, I think a few isolationists in academia are the ones who have been the source of the misperception.