Natural Science Forum / Physics / Particle Physics / June 2007

    Scientific Linux CERN.  ;-)

linux.cern.ch

Actually, this depends strongly on what kind of physicist he ends up
being, if that's indeed how it goes. At least 80% of students who go
in with a passion for physics come out with a passion for something
else by the time they get a baccalaureate. Those that end up doing
physics for a living generally have to pursue a graduate degree, at
least a masters but more often a doctorate, and of the 20% that
graduate with a baccalaureate in physics, less than one third of those
are accepted into graduate school in a physics program and less than
one third of *those* get a terminal degree in physics with which to
pursue a degree. You can do the math to see that, no matter what your
son thinks now, chances are 50-1 he'll be thinking of something else
later on.

But let's suppose that he's one of the 2%. Because the subfields of
physics vary so widely, the ancillary skills picked up are generally
learned on an as-needed basis. For example, a graduate student in
physics will have exposure to, and become at least reasonably
competent in, computer programming in at least two operating systems
and languages, analog and digital electronic design, high vacuum
technology, cryogenics, photodetectors and other instrumentation,
material engineering, and ... uh ... PowerPoint -- not to mention
project management.

On the other hand, this is one of the reasons why graduate students or
post-docs who leave the field of physics are usually fearless in
declaring that they can learn to do anything.

PD