My current subject in classical mechanics is momentum. In a previous posting I marveled at the vectors in my world. Now with momentum, I can see that I also live in a momentum world (if not a momentous world.). Just about everything that moves has momentum, though I'm not sure about things that have no mass but still move. Photons have no mass but still have momentum. According to my reference sources, this is covered under Einsteinian relativity, something which is still a couple of years away for my study.

Non-physical things like ideas or information can be said to have momentum, but this is purely metaphorical. A sports team on a winning streak is also said to have momentum, but this is psychological as well as metaphorical. If you think you have momentum, maybe you do. I have definitely noticed changes in momentum in my own physics and mathematical studies, both negative and positive.

What makes me lose momentum in my study? It is much easier for me to lose it than to gain it. Wondering about what I will do with all the things I've learned, or why I am learning them, is a quick way to slow down. Thinking about how slowly I am learning things, and how vast the amount of knowledge and information there is to learn in even basic physics makes me depressed and even slower. Looking at the weblogs or reading articles about current scientists cuts my momentum down, because their hard-driving, intense lives are so unlike mine and their energy level is so much higher than mine. (Mountain climber! Jazz saxophonist! Marathon runner! And twenty-hour days at the particle accelerator too!) And I can stop in my tracks when I think about the overwhelming weight of gender in physics, which the Harvard fracas has only made more noticeable.

So what makes me gain momentum? Reading the right kind of books, about how discoveries were made, helps me. Reading about what even the best of the scientists still don't know also helps, because it gives me hope that there are still new things to be discovered or figured out. Solving a problem on my own, without hints or help, no matter how clunkily simple it is, gives my momentum a nice boost. But the strongest momentum builder, at least for me, is contact with my Friendly Scientists, those rare few who are willing to give me some of their precious time to talk about physics and help me clarify what I am learning. Since I am not in a classroom, I don't often get to have this kind of contact, and I might not even if I were in a formal school situation. (Don't bother the teacher!!) But my handful of Friendly Scientists are willing to put up with my questions and take me seriously even though I am an old gal doing this and not some fresh young thing full of potential. So to those of you, who know who you are, thanks for the momentum.

Posted at 3:13 am | link