That kid who flunked chemistry
His older brother seemed to be good at everything and was recognized as a scholar. Not only that but he was a great swimmer, and got along well with everyone.
The younger brother was nice, and quiet. But he definitely didn't get all A's. After high school the younger brother went to community college. But he couldn't care enough about a lot of the classes to attend. Administrative problems began piling up.
A world class physicist out at Columbia intervened and got him transferred to Columbia despite his poor transcript. He still refused to attend classes that didn't interest him. He still flunked chemistry.
I just read the story of Julian Schwinger and I love it. He wrote his first paper in theoretical physics when he was 16. At the community college he continued giving all the time he could to physics. After transfering to Columbia he continued his pattern and completed his PhD dissertation before finishing his undergraduate degree. He went on to be the first person to really pin down quantum electrodynamics for which he won the Nobel Prize. He was one of the few people Feynman had to hold in awe. But I think my favorite thing about him is that he flunked chemistry.
There was a boy who knew what he cared about and excelled in it and didn't let other things get in his way. (Note: it only worked so well because he was so dang good! But on the other hand, would he have been so good if he had allowed himself to be distracted?)
The younger brother was nice, and quiet. But he definitely didn't get all A's. After high school the younger brother went to community college. But he couldn't care enough about a lot of the classes to attend. Administrative problems began piling up.
A world class physicist out at Columbia intervened and got him transferred to Columbia despite his poor transcript. He still refused to attend classes that didn't interest him. He still flunked chemistry.
I just read the story of Julian Schwinger and I love it. He wrote his first paper in theoretical physics when he was 16. At the community college he continued giving all the time he could to physics. After transfering to Columbia he continued his pattern and completed his PhD dissertation before finishing his undergraduate degree. He went on to be the first person to really pin down quantum electrodynamics for which he won the Nobel Prize. He was one of the few people Feynman had to hold in awe. But I think my favorite thing about him is that he flunked chemistry.
There was a boy who knew what he cared about and excelled in it and didn't let other things get in his way. (Note: it only worked so well because he was so dang good! But on the other hand, would he have been so good if he had allowed himself to be distracted?)
posted by Douglas H. at 9:37 AM
4 Comments:
It took me a few sentences to figure out you weren't talking about me . . . :)
Hah!
Actually, you were a bit like Schwinger. He decided that the main thing he cared about was physics. When you were his age I remember you telling me your new philosophy of life: "All I care about is having fun." That kind of clarity is pretty rare.
I think you did have a lot of fun.
I remember at the time I thought your philosophy was crazy. Since then I've come around a bit to it.
LOL. I just read Bart's comment, he was thinking along the same lines as me. I read your story and remembered high school and college chemistry and it took me a minute to make sure you weren't talking about me--- with a few changes from real life to hide it. But luckily things diverted too wildly from my life, and I realized you were talking about someone else.
Love,
Heather
This is from the girl who first inspired me to clean up my GPA by busting into middle school with a 4.0?
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