How spherical-cow philosophy makes hard physics problems easy

There's an aged physics gag involving a spherical cow. Though it isn't side-splittingly funny, it does explicate wherefore physics works truthful well, writes Sean Carroll

7 October 2022

By Sean Carroll

Spherical-cow doctrine appears passim physics

Shutterstock/MP_P

The pursuing is an extract from our Lost successful Space-Time newsletter. Each month, we manus implicit the keyboard to a physicist oregon 2 to archer you astir fascinating ideas from their country of the universe. You tin motion up for Lost successful Space-Time here.

Physics has thing of a estimation for difficulty. It’s not the archetypal assemblage people you motion up for if you’re looking for an casual grade. But determination is simply a paradox lurking down this reputation. The crushed that physics seems …