The Second Best Time

It’d be nice if we started earlier. We can still start today.

It has often been said that science is a young man's game. 

Newton's “apple incident” that inspired his theory of gravitation occurred when he was 24. Einstein’s annus mirabilis happened when he was 26. That year, he published groundbreaking papers on the special theory of relativity, the photoelectric effect, Brownian motion, and the E = mc² equation. 

One's eighties is not the ideal time to try to get a doctorate in physics. That didn't stop a Rhode Island man from achieving his dream.

Manfred Steiner recently earned a Ph.D. at Brown University at the age of 89. 

Steiner always dreamed of being a physicist, but his family encouraged him to become a doctor instead. After retiring from medicine, he didn't want to spend his time playing golf. Instead, he finally studied physics. 

It wasn't the ideal time. He did it anyway.

We all have activities that we wish we would have started decades ago. We could lament this fact or take advantage of the time we have now.