This highlights what was a huge misconception for me about a PhD. I thought a PhD was about making an original contribution to my field. I thought Academia was a place where you took risks in pursuit of knowledge, and a PhD was your first real go at it.<p>In retrospect (I'm a PhD dropout) the PhD is really more about training in the fundamentals of scholarship. It's about building up background knowledge, and learning the mechanics of research and publishing.<p>The actual scholarly contribution matters <i>almost not at all</i>. This is why faculty will pressure you to pick a conservative project... the results are besides the point. The point is demonstrating that you can do all the steps. Because lots of great people can only do half the steps. A PhD means you can do all.<p>Once you have your PhD, then its your career on the line and you can do whatever you want. Before that point, you're really working on borrowed (from your advisor) time, and as much as it might seem like you are supposed to blaze a path, they really just want you to show that you can walk in a straight line.
A reassuring story for those of us who feel we are strong in many areas but fear we have deep, dangerous holes in certain fundamentals.<p>This vignette explains part of something I hadn't understood about the emergence of Heisenberg's work (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Werner_Heisenberg#Matrix_mechanics_and_the_Nobel_Prize" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Werner_Heisenberg#Matrix_mecha...</a> ): he seemed to work out the core theory of QM without really developing a sensible, general approach. Compare this to Newton, who did develop calculus to explain mechanics (even if we these days use Leibniz's contemporaneous work). In Heisenberg's case, Born was the one who realized that we should use matrices.<p>It's still weird that Born didn't get the nobel for this work and had to wait 20 more years to get one.
"But that fall Heisenberg's worried father wrote to the famed Gottingen experimentalist James Franck, asking Franck to teach his boy some experimental physics. Franck did his best, but could not overcome Heisenberg's complete lack of interest and gave up the effort. If Heisenberg was going to survive at all in physics it would be purely as a theorist."<p>I had not heard this part; and might shed some additional light onto why the German atomic project was significantly behind. When the lead of your project is a famous physicist, but who isn't strongly grounded in experiment, but who nevertheless feels like he can't simply be a manager and must have input, you're likely going to have problems.<p>Maybe not though; be an interesting line of investigation though. Anyone know if this was a documented issue? I know that Heisenburg had seriously overestimated the amount of necessary fissile material needed for a bomb.<p><a href="http://blog.nuclearsecrecy.com/2013/09/13/what-did-the-nazis-know-about-the-manhattan-project/" rel="nofollow">http://blog.nuclearsecrecy.com/2013/09/13/what-did-the-nazis...</a>
Jerry Lettvin used to tell a story, to support his contention that students were no longer being taught how to <i>think</i>. He said there was a grad student at whose orals Jerry was one of the professors. Before the student arrived, Jerry noticed a beverage bottle sitting in a window, with the sun shining on it. He went to the window and rotated the bottle 180°, and sat down. The student came in, and Jerry asked him to examine the bottle. "Which side is warmer?" Jerry asked. The student replied that the side facing away from the window was warmer. Jerry said, "Explain this."<p>To my recollection, Jerry didn't relate the student's response, but from the way he told the story I gather it was unsatisfactory.
I love this story! This isn't a quip: read the article, then finish reading my comment.<p>"Was Heisenberg a good physicist" - well, he was and he wasn't.
<i>"Accustomed to being always at the top of his class, Heisenberg found it hard to accept the lowest of three passing grades for his doctorate."</i><p>The only sad thing I can see is that, according to the story, receiving such a low grade at his final oral exam in experimental physics undermined his confidence in his own skills in experimental physics.<p>I would hate to sound blunt, but receiving a low grade for being unable to answer basic questions should not be a surprise to such a theoretical genius. He got his doctorate anyway.
It is somehow reassuring that even a mind as brilliant as Heisenberg's had its limits.<p>Mandatory lame joke - "I love driving my Heisenbergmobile, but every time I look at the speedometer I get lost."
I don't know what's supposed to be sad about this story. It's interesting, reassuring even about the high level of scrutiny physicists are in if geniuses like Heisenberg even have such troubles. But sad?
It shouldn't be surprising for anyone who takes an exam unprepared that you may walk out with only an average grade. I mean, it's not like he didn't know he was going to get questions on experimental physics, nor the impact they would have on the final grade...
I was lucky to hear Heisenberg speak at MIT shortly before his passing. But I forgot what he talked about, something historical I recall. His son was a MIT professor.
Dirac gave a talk that year too. But it was his silly numerology topic on large numbers.
Some important scientists are smart about everything- polymaths- and other smart only in their field of interest. Dyson and schrodinger were more polymaths, while Heisenberg and Einstein more specialisrs.
Well, if he did more interest/better skills in practical experimental/engineering type applications, that might have had some, well, unfortunate political consequences later on in life...
Sort of a more high stakes version of the Grothendieck "prime"... makes you wonder how many more folks haven't made it through the gauntlet.
Luckily now we have this useful FAQ on dealing with doctoral exams:<p><a href="http://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/faq-the-snake-fight-portion-of-your-thesis-defense" rel="nofollow">http://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/faq-the-snake-fight-porti...</a>