Physics
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What is Physics?
Historical Perspective
Observation &
Discovery
Superconductors
What and How, Not
Why
Metrics
What is Physics?
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The study of the natural world
– Laws, “rules,” principles,
– patterns and relationships
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The most BASIC Science
– What are modern “compartments” of
science?
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Began as Natural Philosophy
– Aristotle (384-322 B.C.)
– “Law” when Church=State
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From subatomic particles to galaxies
PARADIGM
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Paradigm Shifts
(watches, bike
seats)
Plato (Greek philosopher,
teacher of Aristotle)
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390 B.C. PLAT0: Theory
of Knowledge, and Ether
as fifth element (after
earth, air, fire, and water
as the first four).
ARISTOTLE
arguably the most influential
person in all of western civilization
For almost 2,000 years, Aristotle’s teachings
were considered FACT and even LAW by the
Roman Catholic Church/State. (Lived around
350 B.C. in Greece, and all of his theories and
methods persisted until Galileo around 1600.)
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370 B.C. ARISTOTLE: Free falling
bodies accelerate but heavier bodies fall
faster
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340 B.C. ARISTOTLE: Earth is a sphere;
Space is continuous and always filled
with matter
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330 B.C. ARISTOTLE: Geocentric
cosmology
 All
science began with ancient
Greeks as “Natural Philosophy.”
 All
other science disciplines
branched off from physics—the
most BASIC, or the most
foundational science.
SCIENCE PARADIGM SHIFTS
–Copernican
Revolution
1500’s (pub.
1543)
–Galileo late
1500’s & early
1600’s
• “father of
experimental
Physics”
Paradigm shift of “natural” motion
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From the time of Aristotle around 350
B.C., for 2,000 years until Galileo
around 1650 A.D., it was believed that
ALL objects eventually tend to stop
moving.
It was believed that things had “natural”
motion and “violent” motion.
It was believed that some force was
required to keep an object moving.
No separation between
Church and State…
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It was considered heresy against the
church (and therefore state) to go
against the teachings considered “right”
by the church
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Therefore Galileo got in huge trouble
for experimenting and going against the
science that was considered law.
A few things Galileo got in trouble for…
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Dropping objects and showing that ALL
accelerated at same rate, regardless of
mass (against Aristotle’s teachings)
First to USE a telescope to look at
“heavenly bodies” as far as we know.
Showed that the moon had craters.
Supported the Copernican view, or
Heliocentric model, where the Earth
was NOT the center of the universe (nor
even the center of the solar system)
Published in Italian
–Newton late 1600’s-Newtonian/Classical Physics
(most of what we will do in here)
“If I have seen far, it is because I have stood on the
shoulders of giants.” --Newton’s tribute to Galileo
– 1700’s explosion
of science
– Lyell 1830 said
Earth millions of
yrs. old
– Darwin 1858
Natural Selection
–Einstein early 1900’s
• “father of modern physics”
Terms
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Fact: Close agreement by competent
observers who make a series of
observations; always subject to
CHANGE WITH NEW INFORMATION!
Hypothesis: Educated guess to be
tested by experiment. Only SCIENTIFIC
if it can be PROVEN wrong if it IS wrong.
Einstein said, “No number of
experiments can prove me right, but one
can prove me wrong.”
Principles and Laws:
When hypotheses have stood
up under repeated testing,
they may become known as
principles or laws.
 Always subject to
CHANGE with NEW
KNOWLEDGE or
testing.
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Theory:
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A synthesis of a large body of
information that encompasses welltested and verified hypotheses
about certain aspects of the natural
world. For example--atomic theory,
cell theory, the theory of relativity,
theory of evolution.
Facts vs. Theories
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Facts are
REVISABLE
DATA about the
world
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Theories
interpret facts
(but are also
revisable!)
Science vs. Technology
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Science is a way
of KNOWING
Knowledge for its
own sake
Open-ended,
always expanding
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Technology is a
way of DOING
Application of
Science
To design, create,
build for human use
Economics and Science
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How does scientific research affect the
economy?
Are dollars spent for pure scientific
research well spent?
For example, if quarks and leptons are
the building blocks of all matter, would
7 billion dollars to build a
Superconducting Super Collider be
well spent if it helps us understand all
matter in the universe?
How do
science and
technology
overlap?
 What
are some
problems
associated with
technology?
Science vs. Religion: Actually Do
NOT contradict each other in any
broad sense; they ask different
questions…
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Science is about
COSMIC ORDER
Science asks
“HOW”
Mechanisms,
patterns, quantify,
show relationships
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Religion is about
COSMIC
PURPOSE
Religion asks
“WHY”
Underlying
meaning
Pseudo-Science:
Paranormal, other studies
which cannot be disproven
even if they ARE wrong!
(Called “a test for wrongness.”)
MATH is the language of
science. No translation, no
ambiguity or nuances.
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ENGLISH SYSTEM
Difficult to convert
Based on a KING’S measurements
Inconsistent
Not used in science textbooks (even
in U.S.) in 20 years!
METRIC SYSTEM and
SI (System International)
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Easy to convert
(just move decimal
place)
Based on TENS
Consistent
Used by most
countries in the
world
METRIC STAIRCASE