Physics is...

Questions answered by Ernst O. Göbel, President of the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt

1. What were your reasons for studying physics? Because I was (and still am) curious.
2. What university did you go to? Johann Wolfgang Goethe University, Frankfurt
3. Did you know a physical experiment at school which particularly impressed you? What are the physical experiments which impress you? Yes, the Franck-Hertz experiment!
4. Your physical aha-experience? Second quantization
5. Do you have a favourite experiment? Yes, specific heat of solids: with a thermometer, you “see” quantum mechanics.
6. Are you also interested in a completely different speciality? Yes, sociology and modern history
7. What profession did you aim for as a child? Carpenter
8. Have you ever had a chemical kit? No
9. By what do you recognize a physicist? No idea
10. Your recommendation for future students of physics? To do what you can’t help doing. It’s worth the trouble.
11. Do correct measurements require a healthy amount of ambition? Not more and not less than for all other responsible activities.
12. Those who measure a lot, measure a lot of rubbish... Do you think this saying contains a grain of truth? No
13. Do you understand quantum mechanics? No, but I got used to it.
14. What are light quanta? The smallest energy bundles of electromagnetic radiation (are a logical consequence of the second quantization, see above).
15. A trip to the moon – would you like it? No
16. Your favourite measuring instrument? I like them all
17. Do you master a musical instrument? Unfortunately, no
18. What measuring instrument would you least be able to dispense with? The clock
19. What measuring instrument is in your opinion useless? The person scale
20. Why does the world exist? Because a mouse is looking at it? I don’t understand!
21. A good measurement is always carried out very carefully, almost ceremoniously. Is this ceremony comparable with a sacred rite? No, nonsense
22. What is in your opinion most important in a measurement? To state the uncertainty of the measurement result as well
23. Correct measurement – a mechanical art or a science? Both
24. Would you tell us three important events of your biography? Doctoral thesis and research assistant at Stuttgart University. Research worker at the Max Planck Institute for Solid-state Research, Stuttgart, professor of physics, Philips University, Marburg
25. Do you think there are things which cannot be measured? In the affirmative, what? Feelings, thoughts
26. Did you ever see the primary kilogram in Paris? Yes
27. As you know, the Internet was invented by physicists to communicate in virtual terms. Would you have liked to be among the team of the “first Internet hour?” No
28. Which physicist do you admire? Einstein
29. Complete the sentence: “A life without measurements is... unimaginable."
30. It is said that Goethe’s last words were “more light!” What should be your last measurement? Let’s hope it will not be the speed of the car
31. Do you remember the most important measurement of your life? I don’t think that any of them has been so important
32. There was a time when certain physical experiments were suddenly regarded as politically undesired. How political can physics be in your opinion? Physics is unpolitical, but extremely important to politics
33. Is it possible to still discover something new in the field of physics? With absolute certainty
34. Is nature really as physics, biology and chemistry describe it? The question is illogical – think about it!
35. Try to find a definition for coincidence. Coincidence is the demonstration of the laws of statistics