“But the greatest error of all is mistaking the ultimate end of knowledge. For some men covet knowledge out of a natural curiosity and inquisitive temper; some to entertain the mind with variety...
Read article: Are physicists useful?
There has been a growing awareness in the scientific community – and to some degree among the reading public – that the Sun is a marvellously variable and mysterious object about which we ...
When the author Michael Frayn spent two years writing Copenhagen, he had no idea how successful the play would become. He doubted that audiences would sit through a historical drama about a war-time m...
Read article: Secret letters cast light on Copenhagen
Six years on, all that has changed. Now it is possible to watch the chair of the Nobel physics committee announce the winners live over the Web, and sites like PhysicsWeb – the Web site of Physi...
Read article: PhysicsWeb gets new look
It seems unlikely that we will ever lose our fascination for the man whom David Berlinski calls “the largest figure in the history of Western science” and the author of “the greatest...
Read article: Isaac Newton: the gifted genius
Such a degree would accept students with lower mathematical ability and “build mathematical knowledge and competence during the course of study” (see UK tackles student shortage and pages ...
Read article: A degree for change
In an attempt to generate some hard statistics about what physicists think about philosophy, Robert P Crease invites you to take part in a special poll
Read article: What’s your philosophy?
There is no doubt that Italy is a world force in physics. When the nations of the world are ranked by the number of physics papers that they publish, Italy is sixth. It also makes the top ten when nat...
Read article: Returning to the Fermi level
With the new academic year about to begin, undergraduate students will soon be thinking about whether to apply for a PhD. Doing a doctorate can, of course, be a very rewarding experience. It allows st...
Read article: PhDs are worth more for women
The Northern Lights is a well researched biographical tale of the Norwegian physicist and genius Kristian Birkeland, whose life was spent exclusively in pursuit of the scientific goal of understanding...
Read article: The quest for the Northern Lights
