I think popular science is ruining science

In summary: Or at least, the way people read them as if they were what physics majors read in classes.I think that's a good point. People often treat popular science books like they're the only source of information about physics.
  • #106
Mattius_ said:
Didn't get a chance to read all seven pages, but...
Please do have sympathy for those of us who cannot understand the mathematics needed to be a physicist. The only way I satisfy my curiosity is by reading about conceptual physics. I don't read mags or watch movies or read fiction on science, but I do read conceptually based physics books. Basically all of the non-math books that famous scientists publish.
[snip]
There's a real quandry lurking here ... how do you keep with weak math abilities informed (and, if possible, engaged) in modern physics?

Sure there's still some new stuff in classical physics, and one can appreciate (special) relativity at some level without the math, but general relativity is tough, and no one 'gets' quantum weirdness without the math (well, if Feymann said he didn't/couldn't, ... ).

So are there ways to provide some insights, without actually doing the math (and also doing more than just say 'well, if you do the math, you'll see that it all comes out right = matches what we observe')?
 
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