Prize Recipient

Peter Boyce

Background:

To understand the universe at its most fundamental level is, to me, the noblest pursuit. Ever since I was a child I wondered about the sky and stars above me, was perplexed by the motion of water, and watched in awe the triumph of space travel. It is this same childhood curiosity that propels me forward in my studies of mathematics and physics. In much the same way English is the language and poetry, the creative product of the combination of language, mathematics is the language of nature and physics, the creative culmination of human thought in describing the world around us. Recently, I have begun to appreciate more than the theoretical beauty of physics - its application to various fields of study serves as a testament to the value and importance of the subject. From financial engineering to political science, methods and tools from physics are employed to develop a quantitative approach to problems previously left to speculation and subjectivity. I live in New York City, where I graduated from Stuyvesant High School. I will be attending Harvard University in the fall, where I plan to major in mathematics and physics. Standing on the shoulders of giants in the field, I hope to one day see further and help develop the Grand Unified Theory, a theory that beautifully and elegantly encompasses all the laws of physics into a collection of cohesive equations.