I guess that he would be very amazed to see how the entire domain of microscopic physics has evolved during the last century. Things have moved so fast... And I do not have only in mind high-energy physics. I also think about nanosciences, quantum information, etc. The list of innovations and new developments is just enormous!
You are viewing a single comment's thread from:
Yes it really has gotten to a stage where it is nearly impossible to keep track of even a small percentage of scientific fields. I am studying physics at the moment and I truly hope it doesn't get even more complex for the sake of the students!
Regardless of the developments, the bulk of the studies in physics won't probably (this is my opinion) be modified. The reason is that we cannot build a pyramid by starting with its top. We need first a solid basis. This basis includes classical mechanics and optics, and then we can slowly move on with more advanced subjects (electromagnetism, thermodynamics, quantum physics, etc.). Only from there we can start digging into the highest-level topics, which usually occurs only during the (end of the) master studies or PhD education.
This being said, there are possibilities to do interesting stuff even at the bachelor level. I currently have two bachelors working on their thesis, and we study together dark matter production at particle colliders. Whereas they don't have all the necessary background to understand all the details of the quantum field theory calculations inherent to their work, they manage to learn a lot (that's the most important part) and move on with the project, as many things can be done following "recipes".