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Anyone looking to study Astrophysics or Cosmology at university?

I'm really passionate about space, although where would a degree in cosmology take you?
Reply 1
Avatar for AZ_97
AZ_97
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Original post by ilikeflying
I'm really passionate about space, although where would a degree in cosmology take you?



...to Infinity and Beyond !


Sorry, I couldn't help it. In fact, I think it's one of the most interesting subjects around.
Reply 2
Avatar for qno2
qno2
16
Whilst I agree that cosmology is pretty damn interesting, you should realise that most of it is just theory at the moment because very little of it has solid experimental evidence to back it up. Doing an undergraduate degree with some kind of specialisation in cosmology would be an astrophysics degree really with one or two modules about why they think the big bang happened and then the effects of it using statistical mechanics and thermodynamics that you would learn earlier in the degree. What you can do with it will be virtually identical to a normal physics degree.
Original post by ilikeflying
I'm really passionate about space, although where would a degree in cosmology take you?


I don't think you can do degrees in Cosmology, you'd probably want to do an undergraduate degree in Physics or Astrophysics. Something to bear in mind about Cosmology is that it sits on a very thin line between Physics and Philosophy - a lot of it is totally theoretical with virtually no experimental basis. Popular science does a good job of "wowing" the public with grand talks about the vast scale of the universe but when it actually gets down to doing the science, Cosmology is pretty much pure applied maths - one could make the argument that it isn't actually a science. Areas like Cosmology and Particle Physics do a great job of getting people interested in Physics but once they're actually doing a degree, I think a lot of people realise they're not all they're cracked up to be and go into other areas of Physics.
Reply 4
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ilikeflying
OP
2
Original post by Chlorophile
I don't think you can do degrees in Cosmology, you'd probably want to do an undergraduate degree in Physics or Astrophysics. Something to bear in mind about Cosmology is that it sits on a very thin line between Physics and Philosophy - a lot of it is totally theoretical with virtually no experimental basis. Popular science does a good job of "wowing" the public with grand talks about the vast scale of the universe but when it actually gets down to doing the science, Cosmology is pretty much pure applied maths - one could make the argument that it isn't actually a science. Areas like Cosmology and Particle Physics do a great job of getting people interested in Physics but once they're actually doing a degree, I think a lot of people realise they're not all they're cracked up to be and go into other areas of Physics.


Lancaster University offer a degree in combined physics, astrophysics and cosmology. I agree with what you're saying, cosmology is primarily theoretical physics which wows the general public. Particle physics does the same thing too.
Reply 5
Avatar for ilikeflying
ilikeflying
OP
2
Original post by AZ_97
...to Infinity and Beyond !


Sorry, I couldn't help it. In fact, I think it's one of the most interesting subjects around.


Haha :biggrin: It certainly gets one thinking!
It's a great subject, but do a physics or astrophysics undergrad first then specialise later - it'll make life much easier for you if the degree doesn't work out or you change your mind during your degree!

I'll also repeat what Chlorophile said - it's a great subject but you can't go into any kind of depth at A level as you need some pretty awesome maths like tensors, as well as a pretty good grounding is General relativity (which is so, so good...:coma:). Do the degree first, then decide :P

Best of luck!
(edited 8 years ago)

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