7 last-minute gift ideas for the physicist in your life
Have you forgotten to get a gift for your favourite physicist or physics fan? We’ve got you covered.
by Need a last-minute holiday gift for the theoretical physicist in your life?
Perimeter Institute has compiled list of stocking-stuffers any intrepid explorer of spacetime will love this holiday season.
1. A piece of chalk
The favoured tool of most theoretical physicists: a soft, white, porous sedimentary carbonate rock, primarily used to write on a harder piece of rock (also known as a “chalkboard”).
Price: Negligible
2. More than one piece of chalk
Have more than a few cents to spend? You might consider getting a box of chalk. Come on, splurge. A true physicist needs a lot of chalk. Perimeter Institute goes through 6,000 pieces of it every year!
Price: $10
3. A personal chalk slate
Imagine the convenience of your favourite researcher being able to prove a theorem in real time with a low-tech tablet ideal for a theoretical physicist on-the-go.
Price: $20
4. Coffee
Physics runs on coffee. Be an enabler – give the gift of awakeness.
Price: $2 per coffee (approx. $60 daily)
5. Star Trek DVDs
Physicists tend to love Star Trek. It’s a fact. You can help them re-live the magic of episodes like “The City on the Edge of Forever” or “Arena.” Just don’t mistake Star Wars for Star Trek – you’ll never hear the end of it.
Price: $45
6. A box for a cat
Price: The thought-experiment is free, the box is cheap, and the lessons learned about quantum superposition are priceless. Remember, this is a THOUGHT-experiment only. Cats are for cuddling.
7. A gigantic supercollider
Ok, so it’s a tad more expensive than the rest, and more difficult to put in a stocking, but what physicist wouldn’t like a particle smasher? Maybe you can work out a payment plan or something.
Price: $13 billion and up
Happy holidays from everyone at Perimeter Institute!
