Once, after a lecture, I was at the back of a 5-person queue to chat with him. He asked aloud “does anyone have a question about physics?” and everyone in front of me disappeared.
I asked him how people in a near-lightspeed spaceship age slower than people on Earth if, from their perspective, Earth is the one that’s travelling near-lightspeed.
He lit up as he told me how this is called The Twins Paradox and the answer is to do with acceleration. It was so obvious that he absolutely loves physics and loves sharing it with others.
canteen_boy on December 22nd, 2025 at 22:25 UTC »
BigPurpleBlob on December 22nd, 2025 at 22:36 UTC »
One of my favourite quotes of his is something like:
"When you look up at the night sky, it's obvious that the stars and planets are turning around planet Earth. Obvious but wrong."
(from "Wonders of the Solar System")
thowland1 on December 22nd, 2025 at 23:44 UTC »
A top guy.
Once, after a lecture, I was at the back of a 5-person queue to chat with him. He asked aloud “does anyone have a question about physics?” and everyone in front of me disappeared.
I asked him how people in a near-lightspeed spaceship age slower than people on Earth if, from their perspective, Earth is the one that’s travelling near-lightspeed.
He lit up as he told me how this is called The Twins Paradox and the answer is to do with acceleration. It was so obvious that he absolutely loves physics and loves sharing it with others.