There is arguably a lot of smart people in Nigeria.

With that amount of smartness around, one would think that Nigeria would have a lot of physicists around. Cranking the good old equations of the universe and figuring out stuff.


but no. All you have are engineers. Engineers everywhere! Physicists are few and far in between, I think, there are not enough physicists in Nigeria. And I think that if you can, you should become a Physicist. Jamb just finished and the change of course forms are out. if you're a jambite, this can be the time to change your mind about your current course. if you are already a graduate, you can go back and change history. here are my reasons why you should be a physicist.

It is suited to the Nigerian ecosystem

engineers are trained to use the existing solutions to scientific problems, to solve problems that occur in production of machines other commercial things. I can argue that engineers are trained for commercial purposes. i.e, they are taught stuff with respect to the assumption that they are going to work in a company, with other engineers. essentially.

Physicists kind of work in the opposite way. They are taught stuff with respect to the assumption that they will be working alone . . . in a dark lab . . .
And that is exactly the kind of Atmosphere Nigeria has. Scientists have a notoriously bad Habit of running away from each other. Physicists are trained to perform top notch when they are Isolated, with other scientists, or through distant communication. Their use of equations help a lot, as with these, you can convey Ideas to the rest of the scientific community by cute things called "Research Papers."

As a Physicist, you will be able to do your work in any kind of situation. You will be able to share your results with anything you want. you can express the solution to the universe in an email. or a forum post. or on a black board. thanks to equations. You wouldn't need to have "meetings" and "conferences" before you innovate.

You can work without physical tools

Physicists are notorious for coming up with genius Ideas in the most ridiculous of places. Galileo discovered the nature of pendulums in a church, Newton realized his laws of gravity in a farm, Einstein was probably at a desk somewhere being a clerk, Heck, Archimedes discovered his principle of flotation in a bathtub!
the only tools you need as a Physicist is
1. An input
2. your brain
3. An output

Don't believe me? Then You'll believe Leonhard Euler then? who got blind as he got older and still did badass physics, or maybe you'll believe Burkhard Heim. A man who went on to do serious physics work after losing his [b]arms, eyes, and ears!. A more modern Example is Steven hawking. All you need for physics is a deep curiosity about your universe. All you need for engineering is a good idiot's guide to cramming techniques.(I don't hate engineers, honest! )

You can work anywhere.

From the University to the hospital . . . to game companies, to space agencies, to government agencies, to manufacturing companies. to banks(but then, you have to ask yourself what you are doing in a bank.) to even entertainment and art!! and best of all, you can be an entrepreneur. look up Elon musk to see coolness redefined for physicists. and Henry Reich for how art and physics are like bread and butter.

Physics is so versatile because of it's very nature. it is the understanding of the laws of nature. as a physicist, you are like a safari guide through the entire world! you are one of the most educated persons on the planet. you have a deep knowledge of how your universe works.
All these jobs are in the world. they require some guide. they require you. physicists are no longer relegated. they are now everywhere. from Neil degrasse Tyson on radio, Henry Reich and Derek Muller on YouTube, Edwin witten in academia, Michio kaku writing books, and several other physicists out there, as a physicists, you aren't limited to which kinds of Jobs you can do. It's entirely up to you to decide how you are going to use the knowledge you have been granted.

You become open-minded

It's very difficult to come across a physicist that is dogmatic and close minded. that is because physics discourages this. you can't survive as a physicist by holding on to dogma and intuition. within the few first classes you have as a physics undergraduate, your views on the universe will probably be shattered. you will be forced to see the world in a new way. and just as you are doing that, you will be taught an even more annoyingly accurate theory that will shake up your mind. as a physicist, you are always learning, a perpetual student. eventually, you will become addicted to learning that you will naturally become a good listener. Listen up, parents, if your child is the kind of person that won't shut up and keeps interrupting people, ship them off to a physics major. within a few years, they will have had their ego thoroughly beaten down that they will listen to whatever you want to say.

There was a time when you could get stoned or carried off to a mental asylum by your fellow scientists for suggesting revolutions. someone even told max Planck, one of the geniuses behind your phone or laptop, that "Physics is a dead course, All that has been discovered is what can be discovered." he was dead wrong. and as a physicist of today, it kind of sticks into your head that having preconceived notions about things is bad. approach everything with a fresh and open mind. and this makes you a better person.

You stand on the shoulder of Giants

If you ask the random person to name a scientist they knew, the would probably say . . . Einstein. well, guess what? he's a physicist, who else? newton? same thing. Archimedes? same thing. Tesla? physics for LIFE, who again, Darwin? . . . okay fine. 4:1. who else? Galileo? physicist. Hookes, Neumann, Maxwell, Ptolemy, Aristotle, Kepler, Tycho, Gauss, Bernoulli, Pascal, the greatest and most popular scientists we know today are physicists. the only other career that can boast of such power is mathematics. and that's because those popular mathematicians were physicists anyway.

A career in physics gives you bragging rights among your fellow scientists that you studied the same thing they did. The respect is certain. In fact, Haters from other fields call us STEM shitLORDS. even when they are insulting, they acknowledge how we are lords over them. .
More Importantly though, a Physics major brings you closer to the greatest minds in history. It allows you to learn from the works of people who devoted their lives to unraveling the world, and you do it in detail.

Prizes, money, Fame!

The J.Robert Oppenheimer Prize is worth 1000 dollars, the Isaac Newton prize and the Maxwell prize are both worth 1000 euros, The Dirac Prize is worth 5000 dollars, the Einstein Prize is worth 10 000 dollars, The Nobel Prize is Wroth a whooping 1.4 million dollars. but it's not really the money that matters to most physicists. it's more of the prestige and satisfaction. The question is, which will you win? There are thousand out there, some which have never been won by a black before. they are waiting for your grubby hands, guys. waiting.

or you could just have a unit named after you. There are plenty of unnamed units. maybe they will put your name in one. or maybe they'll name you after a quark. in other fields, it's somewhat difficult to name things after people, but in physics, opposite is the case bro, find something, and they'll put your name on it. Hawking radiation and Higgs boson say I'm right.



In short, physics gives you a lot of opportunities, much of which I haven't mentioned here, it's a relatively smooth course(except when it's not smooth), it gives you an aura of brilliance, It takes you to places, it helps you to think independently and inventively and it allows interaction with other scientists, whether they're dead, not yet born, or a million miles away.

Now, Butthurt engineers, you may attack.

cc the probably burthurt engineers, Mathschic, unknown, robinhez, Dekatron, and the rest of your people.

...proudly physicist...so must concur with number2.. as a physicist the universe is your laboratory

Number4 also physics makes you the open minded,easy going guy who can express himself in unlimited ways and still be right

Nice right-up o.p pray people will read this and redefine how they view physics

Good one Teempakguy. Lalasticlala, Mynd44, come and see what is needed in Nigeria.

Oh, come on, lalasticlala.

I'm dying for counter-arguments

My second choice of course was Physics, but Engineering prevailed!


@Teem

What if I say something like, "u can be an engineer and still function as a physicist, but u can't be a physicist and claim the engineer's role?"

We learn both the Maths and Physics of the Universe, and then we are taught how to apply such principles to bring out the best in living!

And Physics = Money is a disastrous equation.... Especially in Nigeria! If u wanna be rich and famous, don't study physics in school!

But if u wanna grow old without a wife and probably bath once a week, with unkempt gray hair in all areas were hair was designed to grow... Then Welcome to physics!

Seun, Pls assist the science section here. Help us move this to front-page

RobinHez:
My second choice of course was Physics, but Engineering prevailed!


@Teem

What if I say something like, "u can be an engineer and still function as a physicist, but u can't be a physicist and claim the engineer's role?"

Not if you do engineering physics, Applied physics, Nuclear Physics, computational physics, and so on like that.
As an engineer, no matter what breed or level of "engineering" you do, you will never be a TRUE physicist.

Na me talk am.

RobinHez:
And Physics = Money is a disastrous equation.... Especially in Nigeria! If u wanna be rich and famous, don't study physics in school!
But if u wanna grow old without a wife and probably bath once a week, with unkempt gray hair in all areas were hair was designed to grow... Then Welcome to physics!

Guys, don't listen to this buthurt engineer, please. . 80% of those physicists were married.

Wonderful piece, teempakguy . The truth is Nigerians don't care about the knowledge, but money. They go after those engineering courses because they sell better than physical sciences in Nigeria.
It's even worse for Medicine.
You see almost every science student going for medicine just because doctors are considered to be "hot cakes," not because they want the knowledge. Hence the majority end up failures at the end.

What they don't know is that if you're really smart, money won't be a problem.

RobinHez:
And Physics = Money is a disastrous equation.... Especially in Nigeria! If u wanna be rich and famous, don't study physics in school!

No, in Nigerian schools.

But if u wanna grow old without a wife and probably bath once a week, with unkempt gray hair in all areas were hair was designed to grow... Then Welcome to physics!

.

They are selfish!






After understanding what next? Nothing! Instead the engineers carry on from there to make an impact.

Lol

Teempakguy:
Not if you do engineering physics, Applied physics, Nuclear Physics, computational physics, and so on like that.
As an engineer, no matter what breed or level of "engineering" you do, you will never be a TRUE physicist.

Na me talk am.


Guys, don't listen to this buthurt engineer, please. . 80% of those physicists were married.

Yes, eg. Teempakguy toasts his Lab assistant by telling her he would beat Johnydon22 to the pulitzer award. Then she falls in scientific love and they get married. All they ever discuss during dinner is how to conquer the equation they couldn't conquer during the day.... I could go on.

RobinHez:

Yes, eg. Teempakguy toasts his Lab assistant by telling her he would beat Johnydon22 to the pulitzer award. Then she falls in scientific love and they get married. All they ever discuss during dinner is how to conquer the equation they couldn't conquer during the day.... I could go on.

It actually goes more along the lines of . . .

"Teempakguy and his team are working on a game. Teempakguy is the world physics constructor, There is a hot female programmer in the group and she asks HIM out.

Go and google, women have been pursuing us throughout history. BUTT, hey, It's a free world. bro.

Teempakguy:
It actually goes more along the lines of . . .

"Teempakguy and his team are working on a game. Teempakguy is the world physics constructor, There is a hot female programmer in the group and she asks HIM out.

Go and google, women have been pursuing us throughout history. BUTT, hey, It's a free world. bro.

Women going after physicists? surely Pigs have begun to fly.



Anyways... U guys are important to us, so there's none greater than the other.

RobinHez:

Women going after physicists? surely Pigs have begun to fly.



Anyways... U guys are important to us, so there's none greater than the other.

LOL.

yes, we do need each other. the STEM fields are pretty interconnected and I think the below quote explains it fittingly.

Mathematicians are people who think about how things work out to give answers.

Physicists are Mathematicians who care about the answers themselves.

Engineers are Physicists who use the answers to build and design our society.

Social studies majors are . . . Just Don't.

Geofavor:
Wonderful piece, teempakguy . The truth is Nigerians don't care about the knowledge, but money. They go after those engineering courses because they sell better than physical sciences in Nigeria.
It's even worse for Medicine.
You see almost every science student going for medicine just because doctors are considered to be "hot cakes," not because they want the knowledge. Hence the majority end up failures at the end.
What they don't know is that if you're really smart, money won't be a problem.

this +1

I just laugh when I see people arguing that one profession or career is better than another, it's purely comical and vain.

How can any intelligent being say seeking knowledge is better than applying it and vice versa

It's like saying scientifically, energy is independent of matter and vice versa.
I guess the questions to people who support or are against the post are:

1. Why do we seek knowledge?

2. Why do we apply knowledge?

Great thinkers, problem-solvers and inventors transcend this egoistic and limiting divide; they understand the GAME!

Lol... Yh.. I agree to some extent..
Would have loved to study Geophysics or applied physics..
... buh in this present Nigerian economy.. hehehe, I had to choose wisely
Studying those courses in Nigeria is a big gamble of what the future holds....
Will stick with my chemical engineering and maybe go for applied physics as a MSc degree.

RobinHez:
And Physics = Money is a disastrous equation.... Especially in Nigeria! If u wanna be rich and famous, don't study physics in school!

But if u wanna grow old without a wife and probably bath once a week, with unkempt gray hair in all areas were hair was designed to grow... Then Welcome to physics!

What a Comment! ! Brutality at its peak.

Teempakguy:
Not if you do engineering physics, Applied physics, Nuclear Physics, computational physics, and so on like that.
As an engineer, no matter what breed or level of "engineering" you do, you will never be a TRUE physicist.

Na me talk am.


Guys, don't listen to this buthurt engineer, please. . 80% of those physicists were married.

This is EXACTLY WHAT I WAS TELLING Johnydon22 in the whats app group. . . . . . You can NEVER STUDY SCIENCE LIKE A FULL TIME SCIENTIST, since you studied Engineering. . . .



Nice one, teem. . . I'd actually breed my kids in Mathematics, Physics and Electronics from kids. . . They'd have to solve double integrals to be able to get password to the TV!! Their answers to 4 significant figures is the password!! Lol.




Physics like :- GIVES ME HAPPINESS (though I don't fully study it -- more of Engineering Physics and Math)



Teem, checkout :- Professor Walter Lewis' last MIT lecture -- For the love of physics!! These professors make physics sweet, sexy, interesting, simple, stimulating!!



Nice one.


Lalasticlala, password :- Snake, Olajumoke

seunot:
I just laugh when I see people arguing that one profession or career is better than another, it's purely comical and vain.

How can any intelligent being say seeking knowledge is better than applying it and vice versa

It's like saying scientifically, energy is independent of matter and vice versa.
I guess the questions to people who support or are against the post are:

1. Why do we seek knowledge?

2. Why do we apply knowledge?

Great thinkers, problem-solvers and inventors transcend this egoistic and limiting divide; they understand the GAME!

This is a "No true Scotsman" fallacy. first, you don't know if any great thinkers transcend an egoistic or limiting divide. second, even if they did, and Just some of them didn't, it is still not an excuse to label them as outsiders. there's nothing special about great thinkers. they are just like everyone else, and like everyone else, they want people to do what they do.

No physicist will Advice you to go and do another course when he realizes you have the intellectual potential to move physics forward. the more we are, the better.

Teempakguy:
This is a "No true Scotsman" fallacy. first, you don't know if any great thinkers transcend an egoistic or limiting divide. second, even if they did, and Just some of them didn't, it is still not an excuse to label them as outsiders. there's nothing special about great thinkers. they are just like everyone else, and like everyone else, they want people to do what they do.

No physicist will Advice you to go and do another course when he realizes you have the intellectual potential to move physics forward. the more we are, the better.

They understand the game bcus they know that the greatest and only problem facing humanity is the problem of SELF. It's a double-edged sword; it helped cemented our place as the supreme specie on earth while at the same time it's curbing our advancement.

While great thinkers and inventors are also under the shackles of self, they transcend the limiting divide by SEEKING and APPLYING knowledge for the benefit of ALL and not just themselves, their family or only their profession or careers.

All I'm trying to say is there no such thing as a best or grand profession. Every action and result in every human endeavour forms a loop in a massive chain reaction wch result in NOW, a similar process results in TOMORROW!

seunot:


They understand the game bcus they know that the greatest and only problem facing humanity is the problem of SELF. It's a double-edged sword; it helped cemented our place as the supreme specie on earth while at the same time it's curbing our advancement.

While great thinkers and inventors are also under the shackles of self, they transcend the limiting divide by SEEKING and APPLYING knowledge for the benefit of ALL and not just themselves, their family or only their profession or careers.

All I'm trying to say is there no such thing as a best or grand profession. Every action and result in every human endeavour forms a loop in a massive chain reaction wch result in NOW, a similar process results in TOMORROW!

Yes, we Both agree, there is nothing as a best profession. but there is something as a grand profession. maybe not the exact best, but physics is arguably one of the better ones out there.

And besides, This is meant to be a Sermon. some people may in fact, not know which profession they want to go to. some may be thinking of a different profession. this article is for those on the fence. it's . . . sort of advertisement. surely, that can't be a bad thing. No?

Teempakguy:
Yes, we Both agree, there is nothing as a best profession. but there is something as a grand profession. maybe not the exact best, but physics is arguably one of the better ones out there.

And besides, This is meant to be a Sermon. some people may in fact, not know which profession they want to go to. some may be thinking of a different profession. this article is for those on the fence. it's . . . sort of advertisement. surely, that can't be a bad thing. No?

I concur, besides we need more nigerians in science.

Teempakguy when i was in secondary school, i loathed physics out of all the science subjects i offered.

I never failed it though but i never got an "A" in physics. We were taught everyday, assignments were given and we strived to remember everything we were taught without really knowing exactly what it is.

Our Education system do not aim at testing the intelligence of the average Nigerian student rather they tested our memory.

That's why we focused more on remembering what we were taught than understanding exactly in the simplest form the fundamental basics behind it...

But that was a mistake because once you understand something down to it's basics you do not need to remember it in order to know it rather you'll know it without having to recall.

Example: since we know basic addition rules you do not need to recall 30+20 is 50 you know it because you understand it's basics.

Nigerian system should strive more to enhance the intelligence of the students and not their memory of what they don't even understand

You see us then praying for Retentive memory to remember everything we were taught when exam approaches.

Oh how wrong we have been, i wish i could turn back the hands of time

Now i am obsessed with Physics.. Particle physics, Astrophysics and theoretical physics are my main focus Astrophysics more so.

I began to understand that PHYSICS is the subject of everything, the unity of all sciences and the heart beat of Natural sciences.

That there is Physics in my everyday life, the world is filled with it everything around me.

I began to fall in love with that which i hated, i began to see physics for what it really is and the world, the universe and everything became even more fascinating to me.

From the 1 dimensional strings to the giants of nature hoarding enormous mystery and wealth of things to find out and know.

I began to Marvel at how precise the mathematics of physics and it's simple but yet powerful equations could relate to most and everything around me, physics became ever simpler, ever more lovable and i became infatuated.

Now i cannot imagine me without Physics and joining elite class of young Nigerian physicists and strive towards promotion of science in Africa as a whole.

Maybe organize seminars and debates amongst ourselves also... Surely there is every reason to become a PHYSICIST

Become a Physicists, Life awaits!!!

johnydon22:
Teempakguy when i was in secondary school, i loathed physics out of all the science subjects i offered.

I never failed it though but i never got an "A" in physics. We were taught everyday, assignments were given and we strived to remember everything we were taught without really knowing exactly what it is.

Our Education system do not aim at testing the intelligence of the average Nigerian student rather they tested our memory.

That's why we focused more on remembering what we were taught than understanding exactly in the simplest form the fundamental basics behind it...

But that was a mistake because once you understand something down to it's basics you do not need to remember it in order to know it rather you'll know it without having to recall.

Example: since we know basic addition rules you do not need to recall 30+20 is 50 you know it because you understand it's basics.

Nigerian system should strive more to enhance the intelligence of the students and not their memory of what they don't even understand

You see us then praying for Retentive memory to remember everything we were taught when exam approaches.

Oh how wrong we have been, i wish i could turn back the hands of time

Now i am obsessed with Physics.. Particle physics, Astrophysics and theoretical physics are my main focus Astrophysics more so.

I began to understand that PHYSICS is the subject of everything, the unity of all sciences and the heart beat of Natural sciences.

That there is Physics in my everyday life, the world is filled with it everything around me.

I began to fall in love with that which i hated, i began to see physics for what it really is and the world, the universe and everything became even more fascinating to me.

From the 1 dimensional strings to the giants of nature hoarding enormous mystery and wealth of things to find out and know.

I began to Marvel at how precise the mathematics of physics and it's simple but yet powerful equations could relate to most and everything around me, physics became ever simpler, ever more lovable and i became infatuated.

Now i cannot imagine me without Physics and joining elite class of young Nigerian physicists and strive towards promotion of science in Africa as a whole.

Maybe organize seminars and debates amongst ourselves also... Surely there is every reason to become a PHYSICIST

Become a Physicists, Life awaits!!!

Give this man a BEER!

and a big blackboard.

@Johnydon, I big whiteboard.
I think there needs to be a reorientation of kids from secondary school about physics and science in general. Also, is there an association of physicists in Nigeria?

Prof.A.U.Ubachukwu gave an inaugural lecture titled, "Physics in Life", in that lecture, he used the laws of physics to explain many things we do in life.

My journey as a physicist started while I was in secondary school, I was thought by a great physicist and mathematician, it was an interesting subject to study. After WAEC, I made an "A" in physics had decided to pursue it in life, it was a great decision that I'm still happy I made. In the university, we were also thought by people who knew what they do in physics, the likes of Prof.A.O.E.Animalu, Prof and prof Mrs P.N.Okeke, Prof.C.E.Okeke, Prof.Ubachukwu, Osuji, and all the professors of physics. We were taught to understand the subject and we understood it.

Everything is physics but physics is not everything, from the equations, to the labs, field study and the lessons, it was worth it.

I have two cousins, one in primary two, the other in five, I taught them primary six maths and basic science, they both understand it. I hope to teach them calculus next week, my aim is to instil in them the spirit of physics and initiate them into the world of discovery and sciences. I am very certain that ones my children stop breast feeding, the next thing is learning science.

I lack words to explain how physics transformed my life, I once, constructed an inverter and taught polytechnic engineering students of two polytechnic. The joy of solving quantum mechanics, statistical physics, theoretical physics etc endures forever. I made 97% of my university physics courses "A", 2.7% "B", 0.3% "C". it's been a nice time studying physics and the study goes on forever.


Nice write up Tempakguy, your boldness, confidence and intelligence is worth emulating. The government is not the only people causing this exponential decay in the study of science, Nairaland science section moderators and also Super moderators are also part of it. how can snake topics etc make front page and this educative article don't.

Seun, Lalasticlala, mynd44, Ujsizzle etc, please, Tempakguy has killed another Big snake

Oxytocin:
Lol... Yh.. I agree to some extent..
Would have loved to study Geophysics or applied physics..
... buh in this present Nigerian economy.. hehehe, I had to choose wisely
Studying those courses in Nigeria is a big gamble of what the future holds....
Will stick with my chemical engineering and maybe go for applied physics as a MSc degree.

geophysics sells in Nigeria if you know your onions well. I'm going for Geology.

RobinHez:
My second choice of course was Physics, but Engineering prevailed!
@Teem
What if I say something like, "u can be an engineer and still function as a physicist, but u can't be a physicist and claim the engineer's role?"

i guess you are a fresher:ok no p,let me enlighten you,the engineering discipline is simply applied "classical phycics" which gives solutions to problems approximately,engineers are not interested in the exactness and perfect solutions of quantum physics:mech eng and elect eng are the only fields of eng that uses basic quantum studies: solid state physics(useful for elect in electronics,and for mech in metallurgy),but it is taught in a more classical sense. Applied Classical physics is what engineering is based on...if you wish to apply the fascinating laws of quantum physics,then the only path is to be a physicist. Ever wondered why everything that makes up electronics today(which applies quantum theory) was made by physicist.Think