A physicist watches the Olympics

Don Lincoln, a physicist, writes that as he watches the Tokyo Olympics, it's clear that the athletes may not know equations, like his students do, but they certainly have mastered and understood physical principles at a deep level.

I'm a physicist by training and trade, and as I watch these young super men and women accomplishing feats that are utterly inconceivable that I could personally ever do, it's clear that the athletes have a more visceral understanding of physics than many of my best students. The athletes may not know equations, like my students do, but they certainly have mastered and understood physical principles at a deep level.