To some people, physicists are even scarier than snakes on a plane. On an intercontinental flight, do you really want to be stuck next to somebody geeky who can only barely communicate in words and is likely to be scribbling equations late into the night, occasionally shouting "Eureka!"? Of course, that is merely a feared stereotype, and the chances that you might end up next to a physicist (with less-than-disastrous consequences) are higher than you might think. After all, physicists travel a lot more than people in many other professions.
Transporting delicate equipment can sometimes take low-tech solutions. Photos: Max-Planck-Institut für Physik, Munich
A piece in yesterday's New York Times with Michael Tuts, experimental particle physicist at Columbia University and frequent traveler to CERN outside Geneva, discusses how his seatmates react to him being a physicist. The responses are what physicists have become used to hearing ever since they graduated and had to tell people what they did for a living when meeting them at parties or social gatherings.
I have to say my experience has been somewhat different though, and when I strike up a conversation with somebody on a plane, they are usually fascinated by the world of physics, and have a stream of questions that ends only when the wheel carriage lowers, or the lights go out in the cabin as a signal to sleep.
Flying is a very personal subject to many physicists who have all kinds of rituals to deal with their frequent travel. We talked about just one aspect--packing for trips--in a symmetry feature back in 2006. In the current issue, we have a story about how physicists transport delicate equipment: by packing them in cooking pots and strapping them into seats!
One thing I will agree with Tuts on is my least favorite airport: London Heathrow. I was pleased to end up in Terminal 1 there last week, though, because it seems to have improved a lot in recent years and has nice comfy seats and yummy Pret a Manger sandwiches. But keep me clear of Terminals 3/4!
Are you a frequent scientific traveler? Do you have any special rituals, or favorite or least favorite airports? What's the weirdest question you've been asked on a plane? Let us know in the comments.
