Physics? Why physics? Many people tend to have a negative attitude toward physics saying it is a difficult subject. My attitude to this subject is just the exact opposite -- I guess one must yield to the wise-man's words that one's attitude determines their altitude. I find physics to be so fascinating so much that many at times, I fail to understand why people could have such a negative attitude to this beautiful subject. Sometimes when I look at physics professors, I am tempted to believe the general opinion that physics is a tough subject because the professors who teach it, many at times are completely block-headed vis-a-vis aloof and out of touch with reality -- and most at times, obdurate in the face of new ideas. Because of this, students will naturally find no connection between physics and reality yet everything around us is deeply rooted in physics. Physics is the driving engine to all of technologies and technology is the driving force behind the most industrialized nations and economies of the World.
I can safely say my interest in physics began when I was a little child of eighty. My nickname then was garbage-man (in my local laugage they would call me Madoda-bin) because I would tour all the garbage bins in my area searching them -- for what, I do not know. My tour was redolent of an inspection of The Guard of Honor because I religiously did this everyday until this one beautiful day when all this came to a standstill. I remember I would search these bins, find something, and from these findings I would try to make something beautiful. My parents were people of modest means, my dad a cop [police officer] and my mother a diligent and loving housewife. They hardly bought me toys, just this once at one Christmas when we visited Father Christmas did they [our parents] procure us some toys. Whoever, I did not find these toys to be of interest to me because they lacked what it took to make me happy -- electric components etc. Maybe, because I was this toy-starved little-one, I took it to the garbage bins.
One day my search would come to an end in a telling fashion that made my search look like I was searching for some hidden treasures about the nature of the cosmos and the world. I found in the dustbins amongst a pile of books, three books that would irreversible change my life forever. The first was about the first man that landed on the moon -- Neil Armstrong, with the famous words "It is one step for a man, but a giant leap for mankind". This book had a yellow cover and the pages were a little coarse. The other was a book on African history, on how the Europeans came to Africa and colonised it. This book had a brown cover and the pages were smooth -- the kind of pages that encourages one to read. The other was the Holy Book -- the Bible. It did not have a cover at all and the text was printed in a very small font.
I read the book about Neil Armstrong and I remember that day looking into the sky and then gazing at the moon and saying to my-self, "Has a man landed on the moon?". My imagination was stretched beyond its ordinary limits and it is then that my dream to understand the stars and all there is, was born. I was a quiet child that loved to play on my own and all the time I would try and piece electrical gadgets from the dustbin-finds, in the hope of discovering new devices. The best I did was to make an electric motor and a light bulb and my dad was very supportive of this while my mum was not -- for this very small act alone, my dad holds a special place in heart and my mum holds an unequaled one for having given life to me and having raised the man in me. I remember going to my dad and asking him if I could go to the moon to which he replied "You will have to be a scientist first" and that if I was to achieve this "and you will have go to America.". It was such a thrill. I said to myself, I want to be the first African man to land on the moon but that dream was stolen by Mike Shuttleworth. But, I think its still alive since Shuttle worth went only into space and not to the moon.
When I look back to access my position, I feel I have gone beyond the moon. I have been to the furthest reaches of the Universe just by seating and thinking about the Universe. I learnt of Einstein's lost dream to find a theory that would explain all the forces of nature and ultimately this theory will explain all that is known. I learnt of this in 1995 at high school. I vowed t myself that I would reach for this dream and in 1997 I began my search and to this day the search continues unabated and un-aborted.
The second book, that is the history book, I read it and was taken back in time. When I look back to these times and now that I understand many things about the World and how it operates, I feel this book gave me my well-intended political ambitions to raise up and be part of Africa's political process and as-well, that of the World.
The third book, The Holly Bible, I read from cover to cover. I mean my parents were and are Christians but I had [then] never bothered to read the Bible that they kept in our house -- we attended church religiously and regularly. I read this book and from it I learnt a great deal, to love others the way Jesus Christ loved. This book in great many ways I feel calls me to take up the priesthood or preach the Good news to the people of the World. I don't know if I will do that but one thing is certain, all my life works and deeds will be furnished by love. You will certainly feel a hand of love behind everything I do -- I mean some passion behind all I do and this passion was kindled by the life story and message of Jesus Christ of Nazareth.
These three books gave me the three passions I hold today, the longing for knowledge of the Heavens and the Earth, the longing for love and the pity for the suffering and the longing for a peaceful World where all persons respect and love all other persons. A World where it is understood that true freedom of self and of us all, is when we come to the understanding that it is our sovereign duty to protect, defend and safeguard the divine rights of others -- to celebrate our common humanity embodied in the ecstatic language of love while acknowledging our diversity. The beauty I find and see in nature through physics keeps all my other passions in life alive. I have been able to guard jealously the child-like curiosity and playfulness in me, and this maybe is the reason I find physics such a fascinating subject. I am almost certain that physics is not something for adults and most professors are adults and if they could be like little-children, physics would be fascinating to all.
I can safely say my interest in physics began when I was a little child of eighty. My nickname then was garbage-man (in my local laugage they would call me Madoda-bin) because I would tour all the garbage bins in my area searching them -- for what, I do not know. My tour was redolent of an inspection of The Guard of Honor because I religiously did this everyday until this one beautiful day when all this came to a standstill. I remember I would search these bins, find something, and from these findings I would try to make something beautiful. My parents were people of modest means, my dad a cop [police officer] and my mother a diligent and loving housewife. They hardly bought me toys, just this once at one Christmas when we visited Father Christmas did they [our parents] procure us some toys. Whoever, I did not find these toys to be of interest to me because they lacked what it took to make me happy -- electric components etc. Maybe, because I was this toy-starved little-one, I took it to the garbage bins.
One day my search would come to an end in a telling fashion that made my search look like I was searching for some hidden treasures about the nature of the cosmos and the world. I found in the dustbins amongst a pile of books, three books that would irreversible change my life forever. The first was about the first man that landed on the moon -- Neil Armstrong, with the famous words "It is one step for a man, but a giant leap for mankind". This book had a yellow cover and the pages were a little coarse. The other was a book on African history, on how the Europeans came to Africa and colonised it. This book had a brown cover and the pages were smooth -- the kind of pages that encourages one to read. The other was the Holy Book -- the Bible. It did not have a cover at all and the text was printed in a very small font.
I read the book about Neil Armstrong and I remember that day looking into the sky and then gazing at the moon and saying to my-self, "Has a man landed on the moon?". My imagination was stretched beyond its ordinary limits and it is then that my dream to understand the stars and all there is, was born. I was a quiet child that loved to play on my own and all the time I would try and piece electrical gadgets from the dustbin-finds, in the hope of discovering new devices. The best I did was to make an electric motor and a light bulb and my dad was very supportive of this while my mum was not -- for this very small act alone, my dad holds a special place in heart and my mum holds an unequaled one for having given life to me and having raised the man in me. I remember going to my dad and asking him if I could go to the moon to which he replied "You will have to be a scientist first" and that if I was to achieve this "and you will have go to America.". It was such a thrill. I said to myself, I want to be the first African man to land on the moon but that dream was stolen by Mike Shuttleworth. But, I think its still alive since Shuttle worth went only into space and not to the moon.
When I look back to access my position, I feel I have gone beyond the moon. I have been to the furthest reaches of the Universe just by seating and thinking about the Universe. I learnt of Einstein's lost dream to find a theory that would explain all the forces of nature and ultimately this theory will explain all that is known. I learnt of this in 1995 at high school. I vowed t myself that I would reach for this dream and in 1997 I began my search and to this day the search continues unabated and un-aborted.
The second book, that is the history book, I read it and was taken back in time. When I look back to these times and now that I understand many things about the World and how it operates, I feel this book gave me my well-intended political ambitions to raise up and be part of Africa's political process and as-well, that of the World.
The third book, The Holly Bible, I read from cover to cover. I mean my parents were and are Christians but I had [then] never bothered to read the Bible that they kept in our house -- we attended church religiously and regularly. I read this book and from it I learnt a great deal, to love others the way Jesus Christ loved. This book in great many ways I feel calls me to take up the priesthood or preach the Good news to the people of the World. I don't know if I will do that but one thing is certain, all my life works and deeds will be furnished by love. You will certainly feel a hand of love behind everything I do -- I mean some passion behind all I do and this passion was kindled by the life story and message of Jesus Christ of Nazareth.
These three books gave me the three passions I hold today, the longing for knowledge of the Heavens and the Earth, the longing for love and the pity for the suffering and the longing for a peaceful World where all persons respect and love all other persons. A World where it is understood that true freedom of self and of us all, is when we come to the understanding that it is our sovereign duty to protect, defend and safeguard the divine rights of others -- to celebrate our common humanity embodied in the ecstatic language of love while acknowledging our diversity. The beauty I find and see in nature through physics keeps all my other passions in life alive. I have been able to guard jealously the child-like curiosity and playfulness in me, and this maybe is the reason I find physics such a fascinating subject. I am almost certain that physics is not something for adults and most professors are adults and if they could be like little-children, physics would be fascinating to all.
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Would you say SA is doing much in empowering young people with physics skills
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