Princeton physics is legendary. All you need to know about Princeton physics to get a sense of how amazing it is, is that Albert Einstein taught here.
I’ve learned to love physics in my time here so far. I’ll admit, I didn’t love physics as much in high school. No fault of Mr. Davis or the Saratoga High physics program — I just wasn’t the best student. I didn’t try to firm grasp the concepts or explore the concepts in their entirety, and that was my fault. I wasn’t engaged with the material. There was one chapter on pressure and buoyancy that I did internalize (I was immensely proud of that), but the rest of the chapters flew by and left no lasting mark.
Fast forward to Princeton. Sure, physics here is legendarily difficult (in an intro class where many students have just started learning calculus, my professor was using surface integrals to explain work with non-conservative forces), but it’s rewarding. I’ve had to spend many hours agonizing over a few, supposedly simple concepts, but once it clicked, it was gratifying and resulted in pure euphoria.
By far, the best thing about physics at Princeton is the weekly lecture. These lectures are basically free physics shows — the lecturer, Professor Galbiati makes these well-worth attending. Professor Galbiati always has the most amazing demonstrations ready for us. He rides jet-propelled vehicles, uses exploding devices, and keeps all of us engaged with the material. He once brought a rifle to class, and shot at a block of wood to demonstrate conservation of momentum. And of course, my absolute favorite part of physics is Professor Galbiati’s catch-phrase; whenever one of his demonstrations leaves us speechless, he remarks (in his rich Italian accent too!): “There is no mystery here … only physics.”