Expert: Daniel Mazur - 2/11/2010

Question
Hi I know I have been annoying you with continuous questions but bear with me,anyway I've been wondering whether it is best for me to pursue physics or engineering.

Oh I didn't mention before but I am a high school student 12th grade. So I till now I do like pure physics even though I didn't like electromagnetism that much but that's only because of our ambiguous school book. But that's not my problem , my problem is that I fear that I don't get a good career with good balance between salary and amount of work in physics unless I become a university professor which is why I am considering engineering ,I don't like teaching.

So I am thinking of studying nuclear engineering so that I can learn advanced physics subjects such as quantum mechanics and a hopefully enough mathematics especially calculus. But I am looking for your advice if you know a good job that I can get by studying physics which I like more than engineering. Especially that the SAT and IBT requirements for engineering are more than for just physics

Answer
Hi Hamad,

let me assure you that none of your questions has been annoying so far. It is sometimes discouraging, when I am asked just to solve a typical homework question for someone. Frequently it means that the person doesn't like the subject, they only want to pass a grade an forget about it again. From your questions I felt that you actually like physics, just momentarily lost above a problem. That is a completely different story and in such cases it is my pleasure to help.

We all have our own feel for what is a "good balance between salary and amount of work". For me it works out fine to be a post-doctorate research and teaching assistant. If you become a scientist-researcher at some kind of governmental labs (most countries have some), you do not even have to teach. Before considering "good jobs" in physics, you need to specify, what kind of physics you would like to do. There are many more jobs for experimental physicists than theoretical, for example. An experimentalist can be hired by the industry, while a theoretician cannot - except some really rare cases. Theoreticians have a harder career and life in exchange for the possibility of getting really famous, if they discover something big. It is a highly individualistic branch, while experimentalists work in teams, so they must share all glory. Your enthusiasm for calculus suggests that you might fall for the theory, that's why I am pointing these things out to you. In experimental physics we learn a lot of calculus, but use the knowledge rarely - only a few techniques, choice depending on our focus.

As far as engineering goes, you can get a pretty thorough quantum mechanics training even in electrical and electronic engineering. It is my perception that ALL engineers are getting a bit of quantum mechanics, because it concerns such a basic fact about Nature. But yes, on average an engineer would be paid much better than I, because they are not paid from grants (that's the scientists' way, where there is no direct return of value to the donor, only indirect ways) but from the price paid by customers for products that they help develop. But I suspect that the engineers also need to work in some sense harder than many scientists to keep their jobs.

That is in a few words, what you can expect from the fields. Each can give you a decent living (salary), if you like what you do. You must decide, what you'd like to do best, because money alone won't make you like your job, I think. If you find an answer to that, then you should be able to pass any test you meet on your way, after school you'll successfully feed a family and be happy... In none of the fields you'll be doomed to misery, you can always, in time, achieve what you are worth.

Good luck!
Daniel