Yummy Dirac

A gorilla posed an excellent question in the department meeting at Geneva Park: why are gorillas (experts in biology) required to take physics courses? As exemplified by the above interaction between two professional scientists, a good working knowledge of physics is essential for every biologist, especially when stating outright the cuteness of theoretical physics research. Had Dr. Amy Farrah Fowler not audited courses in electrodynamics and quantum mechanics as a graduate student, would she have known that Babinski eats Dirac for breakfast and defecates Clark Maxwell, rather than the other way around?

Likewise, despite having an IQ of 187, could Dr. Sheldon Cooper have been more convincing at communicating the omniversality of string theory to his neurobiologist colleague had he been able to condense the main ideas of string theory down to a single Western blot? He would have surely picked up that skill had he attended downtown seminars more regularly over the course of his MSc and two PhDs.

As MBP students, we have a unique opportunity to take classes in both biology and physics, allowing us to appreciate the research in both areas and helping us in detecting hogwash when others question the validity of our research.

Trivia: Mayim Bialik, the actress who plays Dr. Amy Farrah Fowler, actually has a PhD in neuroscience in real life!