Letter: We must fund physics research and learn about universe

In one of his speeches, Trump inferred that there was no need to study physics. Could it be that Trump thinks that physics is the study of laxatives? I just don’t know, but I do know that the study of physics is of the utmost importance, and I want to explain why.

Physics is a root science. Without advances in physics there could be no advances in any other science, or in any engineering or technology field. Without advances in physics, there would be no computers, no HD television, no cellphones, no global positioning devices. Without advances in physics, archeologists could not date bones, biologists would have no electron microscopes, chemists would have no mass spectrometry, ecologists could not prove human-caused climate change, geologists could not date rocks, physicians would have no MRI machines, and so on. Even advances in mathematics parallel advances in physics.

Physics is in its infancy, and unless we fund basic physics research and come to understand a great deal more about the nature of our universe, we will never travel to the stars, we will never colonize other planets, and the light of human sentience in this universe will be extinguished.

This story was originally published June 22, 2017 at 3:39 AM with the headline "Letter: We must fund physics research and learn about universe."