Traveller519 October 5, 2017 Share October 5, 2017 As I get News Notifications on this year's Nobel prizes this week, it does make the episode's premise somewhat amusing. No one brought up the Gravitational Waves discovery, which was pretty big in most aspects of media this year. 1 Link to comment
buckboard October 5, 2017 Share October 5, 2017 I thought it was horribly sad that the two physicists couldn't find anything positive to say about their work. Look, I don't understand physics, but the guys who just won the Nobel Prize discovered some waves Einstein had predicted. That sounds exciting. Leonard and Sheldon have presented papers at conferences, written scholarly papers and have met and are in touch with famous scientists like Hawking. They know that the work they have been doing has had many successes. To listen to them now talk about what a disappointment physics is, goes against all the pro-science discussion of the last 11 seasons. 6 Link to comment
CherryAmes October 5, 2017 Share October 5, 2017 To be honest I got it. When you are feeling negative about something, anything, it can be hard to find the positives. And it's not like this negativity on Leonard's part came out of the blue. I can think of several incidents over the course of the series where he talks about his work and it's pretty clear he is pretty disparaging. One time he talks about getting money to see if something he's working on can do something specific and Penny asks "and can it?" to which he responds "God no!". 4 Link to comment
LoneHaranguer October 5, 2017 Share October 5, 2017 11 hours ago, buckboard said: They know that the work they have been doing has had many successes. To listen to them now talk about what a disappointment physics is, goes against all the pro-science discussion of the last 11 seasons. I think the problem is that they're looking for a shortcut to more successes and not seeing any. When Sheldon gave up on string theory, he looked for where promising work was being done so that he could swoop in, rather than go in unexplored directions that might not come up with anything. It probably doesn't help that Barry later had some success in string theory, as it showed that Sheldon was wrong in judging where success could be found. 3 Link to comment
possibilities October 6, 2017 Share October 6, 2017 On 10/3/2017 at 6:19 AM, Browncoat said: Leonard would be a terrible high school teacher. Yes; he's way too insecure. They would eat him alive. 5 Link to comment
rmontro October 6, 2017 Share October 6, 2017 Thought this was mostly just a boring episode. I can't quite put my finger on why, but this show just feels stale to me. What's odd is I've felt that way for several years now, but when I see the "newer" shows on reruns in syndication, they seem more enjoyable. Maybe it's because I watch them more casually. They don't really get my full focus and attention like a new episode does. This theme of "nothing ever happening in physics" has been going on for a while now. I wonder if real physicists find this offensive, or if they feel the same way? Link to comment
DrSpaceman73 October 6, 2017 Share October 6, 2017 I thought this was a great episode. At least an interesting topic for once different from what they normally do. I don't think its unrealistic for them to consider the bigger picture and where their field is going, or even not going, even as they work on daily work projects with some success. Of course he could have at least brought up the military project they have been working on, or did work on, though I assume its classified and he can't say much. Link to comment
ZuluQueenOfDwarves October 6, 2017 Share October 6, 2017 I don't think the military project was a "major" breakthrough. The detection of gravitational waves was, though, and would've been known to the real-life science community by the time this episode was written. Lazy writing, but fits with everything else about the show. Link to comment
DrSpaceman73 October 7, 2017 Share October 7, 2017 I don't think the military project was a major breakthrough either But it is an example of applied physics that leads to technologic advancement. And he could bring it up as an example of the positive benefits of their work even when some of the things lead to dead ends. 2 Link to comment
rmontro October 9, 2017 Share October 9, 2017 On 10/5/2017 at 9:17 AM, CherryAmes said: To be honest I got it. When you are feeling negative about something, anything, it can be hard to find the positives. And it's not like this negativity on Leonard's part came out of the blue. I can think of several incidents over the course of the series where he talks about his work and it's pretty clear he is pretty disparaging. One time he talks about getting money to see if something he's working on can do something specific and Penny asks "and can it?" to which he responds "God no!". Wasn't that Kripke who said something along those lines? Anyway, I can understand Leonard and Sheldon being tired of their jobs. They're kind of young to feel that way, but maybe science seemed so exciting and full of promise when they were younger, only to find that it has become kind of mundane. Link to comment
Zoe October 9, 2017 Share October 9, 2017 7 hours ago, rmontro said: Wasn't that Kripke who said something along those lines? Anyway, I can understand Leonard and Sheldon being tired of their jobs. They're kind of young to feel that way, but maybe science seemed so exciting and full of promise when they were younger, only to find that it has become kind of mundane. Kripke said something else along those lines--maybe in the donors episode? 1 Link to comment
CherryAmes October 9, 2017 Share October 9, 2017 (edited) 7 hours ago, rmontro said: Wasn't that Kripke who said something along those lines? It's from 'The Recombination Hypothesis' - Season 5, Episode 13, the episode when Penny and Leonard get back together and on their first date pretend that it really is their first date and they don't know each other: Leonard: Uh, let's see. Uh, I am an experimental physicist at Cal-Tech, most of my research is with high-powered lasers, and, oh, I've just gotten a big government grant to see if they can be used to knock out incoming ballistic missiles. Penny: Wow. Can they? Leonard: Oh, God, no. The money's pretty good. And I used the equipment to make my own Bat-signal. Edited October 9, 2017 by CherryAmes 7 Link to comment
axlmadonna October 9, 2017 Share October 9, 2017 5 hours ago, Zoe said: Kripke said something else along those lines--maybe in the donors episode? Yep, in The Relationship Diremption (Season 7, Episode 20): Leonard: I got to tell you, the more I read about the primordial gravity wave discovery, the more excited I get. Raj: I know. Being an astrophysicist right now is like being a rock star. Howard: Only without the sex. Raj: Yeah, literally, none of it. Leonard: What do you think about it, Sheldon? Sheldon: Meh. Raj: Are you kidding me? This may be the biggest scientific breakthrough of our lifetime. How can you, as a theoretical physicist, not care about this? Sheldon: Maybe it’s because I’m not an elitist. What I’d like to know is, how does this gravity wave breakthrough help the man on the street? You know? Who’s looking out for Joe six-pack and all his quantum physics concerns? Leonard: Oh, my God, you’re jealous. Sheldon: Why would I be jealous? Leonard: Oh, I don’t know. Maybe because the origin of the universe just got proven, the Higgs field just got proven, and you’ve been working on string theory for the last 20 years and you’re no closer to proving it than when you started. Sheldon: Yeah, well, I’ve had a lot on my plate. We happen to live in a golden age of television. Barry: Excuse me, fellas. Sorry for eavesdropping, but there actually was some big string theory news today out of the Hadron Collider. Sheldon: Really? Did they find evidence to support extra dimensions or supersymmetry? Barry: No, but they did find evidence that you’ll believe anything. Sheldon: Why would you do that? You’re a string theorist as well. Barry: Incorrect. I am a string pragmatist. I say I’m gonna prove something that cannot be proved, I apply for grant money, and then I spend it on liquor and broads. Later. Sheldon: Do you think he’s right? Am I wasting my life on a theory that can never be proven? Howard: Maybe. But how great is Game of Thrones? 5 Link to comment
possibilities October 16, 2017 Share October 16, 2017 Physics lives! http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/10/16/557557544/astronomers-strike-gravitational-gold-in-colliding-neutron-stars 4 Link to comment
UncleChuck October 16, 2017 Share October 16, 2017 Quote I wonder if Bernadette will end up having twins. Doubt it. I'm sure TPTB will keep the new baby/babies off camera just as they have done with baby one and Mrs. Wolowitz. Much easier to cast and shoot scenes using imaginary children... 1 Link to comment
John Potts October 22, 2017 Share October 22, 2017 On 04/10/2017 at 5:15 PM, Pop Tart said: I loved all the stuff with the Vulcan Ale Romulan Ale! And the stuff about the Dominion War was accurate too (God, I'm such a nerd!). I actually thought this was a pretty good episode. Capper to me was the Dean reading out Leonard's drunken E-mail. 1 Link to comment
ari333 October 27, 2017 Share October 27, 2017 I used to watch these over and over and still laugh. NOw I can barely get thru it the first time. ANd another pregnancy UGH indeed. Raj is the best looking imo and cant get a woman? or rather can't keep one? And Helberg is the funniest, imo, yet gets thousands less per eppy than some others. BAH 1 Link to comment
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