The goal of this blog is to create a long list of facts that are important, not trivia, and that are known to be true yet are either disputed by large segments of the public or highly surprising or misunderstood by many.
Astronomer
Daily writing prompt
What alternative career paths have you considered or are interested in?
So I am trying out the Daily writing prompt for the first time, answering the question “What alternative career paths have you considered or are interested in?”.
I’ve always been interested in astronomy and astrophysics, and I studied engineering physics, later electrical engineering. I did not think astronomer or astrophysicist was an easily attainable career and perhaps not very well paid either, but I think it would have been a fun job to have.
My name is Thomas Wikman. I am a software/robotics engineer with a background in physics. I am currently retired. I took early retirement. I am a dog lover, and especially a Leonberger lover, a home brewer, craft beer enthusiast, I’m learning French, and I am an avid reader. I live in Dallas, Texas, but I am originally from Sweden. I am married to Claudia, and we have three children. I have two blogs. The first feature the crazy adventures of our Leonberger Le Bronco von der Löwenhöhle as well as information on Leonbergers. The second blog, superfactful, feature information and facts I think are very interesting. With this blog I would like to create a list of facts that are accepted as true among the experts of the field and yet disputed amongst the public or highly surprising. These facts are special and in lieu of a better word I call them super-facts.View all posts by thomasstigwikman
15 thoughts on “Astronomer”
I’ve always found astronomy fascinating, too. Unfortunately, I was not blessed with great talents in math or science.
I think a lot of people find astronomy fascinating and that’s the problem. Even though math and science is my thing there are too many people who wants to be astronomers compared to the number of positions, so something less glamorous like electrical engineer or software engineer is a wiser choice. But I certainly considered it.
Yes I remember you explaining to me where they were and then I forgot and I asked another person, but now I will remember where they are. I will skip the goofy questions.
I wanted to be a teacher when I was young. As an adult, I realize I do not have the patience for it. There were so many fields that intrigued me. At one point I was going into radio or be a recording engineer, but that dream died with my exposure to the misogyny and substance abuse in the music industry. Now, I wish I had studied nursing or the medical fields as it would have offered much more opportunity. My degree is in computer programming, although most of the languages I learned are obsolete now.
“the misogyny and substance abuse in the music industry” That is sad but I could have guessed that. I think you would have made a great nurse. Even though the programming languages you learned are obsolete you learned programming skills you can take with you to C++, C#, etc. However, I’ve learned from former collegues that since I took retirement (early retirement) the software engineering business has become a bit nasty and very competitive so I am not sure I can recommend though.
Newstrade
I’ve always found astronomy fascinating, too. Unfortunately, I was not blessed with great talents in math or science.
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I think a lot of people find astronomy fascinating and that’s the problem. Even though math and science is my thing there are too many people who wants to be astronomers compared to the number of positions, so something less glamorous like electrical engineer or software engineer is a wiser choice. But I certainly considered it.
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I think you would have been good at it.
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Thank you Jenny
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Great to see you trying out the daily prompt. They have some thought-provoking questions and some are just plain goofy.
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Yes I remember you explaining to me where they were and then I forgot and I asked another person, but now I will remember where they are. I will skip the goofy questions.
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Glad you were able to find it again . I do like some of those thought provoking questions.
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I did peak at those jobs also. It wasn’t just the calculus that drove me away–I got A’s in that. It’s what came after! Yikes.
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Yes I can imagine. It is obvious that you know about science. What was it that scared you away. That women weren’t treated correctly maybe?
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Nothing to do with treatment of women. There are a lot of brilliant minds in those fields. I’m awed by them.
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Yes you are right. I chose engineering partially because I was concerned about too tough competition from other physicists and astronomers.
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I took an astronomy class in college and loved it.
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Dawn that is very cool. I should have done that. I would like to do it now.
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I wanted to be a teacher when I was young. As an adult, I realize I do not have the patience for it. There were so many fields that intrigued me. At one point I was going into radio or be a recording engineer, but that dream died with my exposure to the misogyny and substance abuse in the music industry. Now, I wish I had studied nursing or the medical fields as it would have offered much more opportunity. My degree is in computer programming, although most of the languages I learned are obsolete now.
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“the misogyny and substance abuse in the music industry” That is sad but I could have guessed that. I think you would have made a great nurse. Even though the programming languages you learned are obsolete you learned programming skills you can take with you to C++, C#, etc. However, I’ve learned from former collegues that since I took retirement (early retirement) the software engineering business has become a bit nasty and very competitive so I am not sure I can recommend though.
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