The Cross and the pen

Confession: I used to be an addict to the TV series the big bang theory. Note : I do NOT recommend this sitcom or anything similar to it. They can puncture our values and belief system drastically. The two main characters in this series are a theoretical physicist & an applied physicist. I asked myself, what does a theoretical physicist do, and how is it different from the work of an applied physicist?   In simple terms, a theoretical physicist works completely in a lab, a highly controlled environment, and relies heavily on data, empirical formulae while trying to push the boundaries of science. In short, everything is done inside a petri dish.   An applied physicist, on the other hand, lives closer to the real world. His job is to bring, what is experimented in the lab feasible in the real world, again using experiments. It’s the engineers(workmen trained in applied science) who make it as a useful product for the layman. I realized that this can be an analogy to the l...