I'm Too Old To Do Anything Anymore!

Fermilab and SLAC put out the symmetry Magazine. This magazine is aimed at the general (non-HEP) scientist and general public. It covers a wide range of topics and is put together quite professionally -- unlike most particle physics publications it looks good.

In their shorts section they had an article titled Don't cite anyone over 30? -- which discusses the most productive age for a physicist. I'm past 30 now -- will be 40 in 6 months. So I must admit that I bristle a bit at the suggestion my most productive years are past. I certainly feel like I'm doing a lot. At least, I'm answering a lot of email. Doesn't that count for anything?

Which is probably the key to that plot. The older I get the more different responsibilities I take on. Not only do I have various DZERO responsibilities, but now departmental as well. And on top of all that I want to produce physics. When I was a graduate student and post-doc I spent much more of my time on research and less on things like, well,... email.

I also spend much more of my time advising others than I used to. I don't really get credit for that -- it isn't as if I've really done any work. The people I advise do all the work; so they should be getting all the credit. By extension, of course, I do get some credit, but it isn't the same as if I'd done the work myself.

I conclude it is both true and false that your best years are when you are 30 or younger. Yes, you do more direct research and probably produce the most new science. On the other hand, the older you get the more you help with infrastructure -- aiding those that are doing the research. The science community, however, does not reward this activity the same way it does direct research.

Hence the long hours: I feel like I work harder every time I get promoted! That is becasue I'm desperately trying to keep my science output up!

Comments

[Maria G.]

The title of this blog entry jumped out at me from the main screen of the quantum diaries site. I'm 30 years old, and after 8 years of work experience in the business world, I'm finally going back to school to pursue my true loves -- math and physics. I'm starting an M.S. program in Applied Math in January, and I subsequently plan on pursuing a Ph.D. in particle physics. By the time I'm done, I will probably be somewhere between 40 and 45 years old. Is that too old to possibly make valuable contributions in science and mathematics? I think the answer to that depends more on what you believe about yourself than on these types of "canned" opinions. If you don't lose yourself in the routine aspects of your career / life, and you regularly keep in mind why you studied physics to begin with (a love of the natural order of the world), why can't you maintain the passion and determination that leads to original discovery? I think it's best to ignore the doubtful voices. As a hispanic female who grew up in financially underprivileged circumstances, I paid attention to that doubt for far too long. Now there's only one voice that I'm truly concerned with, and that is my own.

[m.visaya]

once a nurb, always a nurb. (lit-534)

[Tony Danis]

The claim that all significant physics is
performed before the age of 30 is a sophistry that was (I believe) originally
applied to mathematicians and then spread
out to include physicists. There are historical records of prominent physicists
worrying along these lines almost one hundred years ago.
It is also clear to me that there is an
enormous surfeit of completely irrelevant
and pointless papers published today,
product of the publish versus perish
philosophy and the understandable attempts
of the ingenuous to demonstrate their
genius before an agog world. It's actually
comparable to a well-known phenomenon in
law enforcement where freshly-minted officers tend to arrest everyone in sight
on the most trivial offenses, where more
seasoned police have a more appropriate
view of what constitutes a significant
crime.
Anyhow, going by Nobel Prizes - which
aren't awarded in abundance and are
allocated only on the basis of demonstrated
achievement (unlike many papers) - in
particle physics, the awardees tend to be
well past thirty for the period in which
their recognized work was accomplished
(Rubbia, etc.)

[Aaron F.]

You're not too old do do anything anymore! As Dave Barry notes, "it was during the post-50 phase of his life that the brilliant physicist Albert Einstein produced the vast majority of his drool." ;)

"I'm 30 years old, and after 8 years of work experience in the business world, I'm finally going back to school to pursue my true loves -- math and physics. I'm starting an M.S. program in Applied Math in January, and I subsequently plan on pursuing a Ph.D. in particle physics."

Awesome! I've heard of people with physics degrees ending up in business, but this is the first time I've seen the reverse. Do you mind if I ask where you're going to school? In any case, have fun, and good luck!!! :)

[Lasse N E]

Hi Maria and all!

As a real physicist, you should not pay attention to any statistical headlines or preconceived opinions on anything. This is just not in line with scientific thinking. Actually you should pay much more attention to what you as a person wants to contribute with to the Lands of Physics or whatever you want to work with. If you have something to contribute with, you have something to contribute with, and thats it. Your age, sex or background doesn't count. Why should it?

To my mind, the age-problem says a lot more of the present infrastructure of the science community, as it does of any human capacity or human abilities. I believe Gordons post proves this point really well.

But people have opinions on age. Do not underestimate this. I know this from my personal life. But these things has to be solved. By education of the academic society as a whole and by political workings.

Remember that jsut fifty years ago, it was almost unmaginable for a woman to have a scientific career. Now this has opened up and is becoming a realistic possibility. I believe the same thing will and must happen for the deeply rooted prejudices of age.

Thanks for a cool blogging
Lasse Nordal Enevodlsen
Master of Science
Denmark

[Gordon Watts]

I don't think it is too old -- but it may be harder to get certian jobs because of your age.

Much of E's early work is what got him his nobel prize... ;-)

[m.visaya]

i would much rather prefer taking a long walk in the fields with cousin eric and his group or choose to remember his sister by the bridge under the cottonwood tree. tomorrow is here, cinderella. the van der waerden module is ready for implementation if need be a century after einstein.