I will not deny the fact that I love to hate science. Since the world begun, i already hate science. Simply because it's too hard for me to understand its concepts, of course except those which are so easy that i'll be so stupid not to understand it. When I was in high school, I exerted half my effort in my science subjects. Of all the science subjects, Physics is what I hate most. I love Math, I'm always thrilled to solve problems and equations, but when I see equations and formulas in Physics, my world turns up side down. Maybe one factor that lead me to this feeling is the way my high school Physics teacher taught the subject. I really didn't understand anything! When I was in San Beda College, I always get high grades in all my subjects, well not all, because i hardly passed my Physics subject. And the time come, I entered the University of the Philippines. We are required to take five general education courses under MST. I always pray to the CRS to get me in any MST subject except Physics. I cannot forget the day when i was browsing the CRS, it was the last time I'd do that, since I am already graduating. Yay!
My heart's beat was so fast, my eyes widened, my hands and feet stated to perspire, my body softened, it's as if something extracted and absorbed all my energy. All other GE courses under MST was in conflict with my other required subjects. I got Math 2 but I was right after my PE class, knowing how generous CRS, I prioritized PE and cancelled Math 2. How in this world will I fly from CHK to Math Building; I hate being late that's why. I was left with no choice, I had to take Physics, YES, Physics. I had to take this to graduate, I have to! From that day, I had a new goal in life, I have to pass Physics 10!
It was Tuesday, I rode Toki and walked from Math building to Physics building. I expected an old nerdy nerd prof with huge glasses and thick books (yes, my image of a Physics prof was so 1900s, so nerd and geek).
But when a young woman who looks like my older sister entered the room and said that she was our teacher, I was so shocked. She introduced herself, a person in her mid to late 20s who have a PhD in Physics... MONSTER! I started to fell better when she mentioned that there would be no nerve cracking and brain damaging formulas and problems.
As the lectures go by, my whole life with Science changed. I am just so lucky that my professor get to explain complicated concepts in such a way that people like me can understand; she was able to teach Physics in layman's term. Finally, I can now understand concepts that were once so alien to me.
GOAL OF SCIENCE: To make sense of the physical world.
Now, I am starting to make sense of the physical world. There are some concepts that I learned in Physics 10 that changed the way I live my life.
"If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulder of giants" - Sir Isaac Newton
Science is built not just by a single person but by many people. A young scientist seem to be so intelligent and great but it's only because many scientists before him has already imparted lots of knowledge unto him that he can use. We have to acknowledge that we do not learn everything all by ourselves, even though you discover something, you cannot boast everyone that you are the only one who have thought about it, yes, you discovered it, but the concepts and knowledge you used before coming up with that discovery came from the people who also did their research and exerted their energy and time studying. The world is not always about you and it will definitely not revolve around you. There are other people that help you get where you are now.
Speaking of Copernicus, his discovery and assertion that the Sun is the center of the solar system and not the Earth changed everything. it was a genuine revolution for science, for almost one and a half millennium, all of mankind believed that the Earth was the center of the solar system. It was Copernicus who had the courage to think out of the box. Sometimes, we do not have to conform with what is normal, with the norms of life, because those who think out of the box are those who end up to be the greatest of mankind.
Even when I was a kid, I was so curious why the sky is blue. As a kid, I thought it was because the ocean is blue that's why the sky is also blue, just a matter of reflection. It's actually because blue has smaller particles than red so color blue is more scattered. This is one question that Physics 10 answered for me, seemed so simple and childish but it was a big deal for me. These kinds of questions are often ignored, making lots of people ignorant about such matter. If a kid asks me the same question, at least now I can correctly answer him and he won't add up to those who do not know that. And hey, at least me, I know that, how about you, do you actually know that?
Another concept that I learned and understood was the Bernoulli's Principle. I always ride on LRT on my way to school. There's this sign under the platform that says do not go beyond the yellow line. The guards were so strict with the implementation of this rule. There are a lot of people who are so stubborn, they intentionally go beyond the line to piss the guard off. I was wondering why, what's with the space beyond the yellow line. All this time I thought it was because there are just really stupid people who might fall on the train tracks, so to avoid accidents, they allotted the said space. Well, aside from my theories, it was really based on the Bernoulli's principle. Because the train was so fast, the velocity of air increases. This increase causes low pressure. That's why people must stay beyond the yellow line, if you are beyond the said line, there's more tendency that you will be pushed from the high pressure area (which is the area beyond the yellow line) to the low pressure area (towards the train). Just imagine yourself pushed toward a train running in a relatively fast speed, imagine the pain of your crushing bones. So the next time I see people playing within the line and fooling about it, I'll just give them a friendly advice, "Go ahead, play around, go beyond the line, wait for the laws of physics to act and feel the crunchiness of your bones and juicyness of your muscles and internal organs."
Lastly, the fact that Albert Einstein was just a clerk and was hated by his teachers for being so curious and asking too many questions. As the song says, "Only the curious have something to find" Now, hello to Albert Einstein, the "Person of the Century" (acknowledgement by TIME). Never loose the passion and interest, it will surely lead you to something great. Continue to learn, never stop, because the moment you stop learning, it's also the time you stopped living.
Science and Physics are not just for geeky people. It's for everyone! They also do not eat people, they just makes you undertand the things around you.
References for the images:
https://whyweprotest.net/asset-proxy/ffaec2a8d145575a52d1dccc175674cb7cebac4c/687474703a2f2f7374617469632e74756d626c722e636f6d2f6e76357a3865632f5169546c6b363870362f6368616c6c656e67652d61636365707465642e706e67/http://static.tumblr.com/nv5z8ec/QiTlk68p6/challenge-accepted.png
http://pics.livejournal.com/kheru2006/pic/0046182d
https://www.msu.edu/~peders32/3rd%20law.GIF
http://www.cartoonstock.com/newscartoons/cartoonists/bve/lowres/bven594l.jpg
http://29.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ls0k2wCd5n1qgyd0jo1_500.jpg
http://stilgherrian.com/images/27052007488-600w.jpg
