Acknowledgements
The following is contained in The Restless Universe (copyright © 2007) (eds Robert Lambourne and John Bolton) which forms part of an Open University course, S207 The Physical World. This book may be...
View ArticleReferences
Barrow, J (1988) The World Within the World, Oxford.Berkson, W. (1974) Fields of Force, RKP.Cassidy, D.C., (1992) Uncertainty, New York.Cohen, I.B., (1987) The Birth of a New Physics, Penguin.Einstein,...
View Article4 Suggestions for further reading
If you wish to pursue some of the topics discussed in this unit in greater detail you might like to start with one or another of the following works.GeneralJohn D. Barrow (1988), The World Within the...
View Article3 Appendix: Some highlights of physics
c. 624 BCBirth of Thales of Miletus: traditionally ‘the first physicist’.384 BCBirth of Aristotle: author of Physics.1543Nicolaus Copernicus' De Revolutionibus Orbium Celestium.1600William Gilbert's De...
View Article2.6.2 End-of-unit questions
Question 8Express the following numbers using scientific (powers of ten) notation:(a) 2.1 million(b) 36 000(c) 1/10(d) 0.00005Answer(a) 2.1 × 106(b) 3.6000 × 104(c) 1 × 10−1(d) 5 × 10−5Each of these...
View Article2.6.1 Unit summary
Laws summarise regularities observed in Nature. They can summarise large numbers of similar phenomena and make it possible to predict the course of particular phenomena.In physics, many of the laws are...
View Article2.5.3 The end of physics?
Suppose for the moment that quantum field theory, or string theory or M-theory, or some other theory no one has yet heard of, does turn out to be the much sought-after superunified theory. Suppose it...
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Richard Feynman
Richard P. Feynman (1918–1988) Figure 36 Richard P. FeynmanRichard Phillips Feynman was one of the most colourful and celebrated of US physicists. He was born in New York in 1918 and educated at the...
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2.5.2 Quantum fields and unification
From its inception, quantum physics was concerned not just with particles such as electrons, but also with light and other forms of electromagnetic radiation. In 1900 Planck discovered the quantum in...
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2.5.1 Quantum mechanics and chance
The real quantum revolution dates from the formulation of quantum mechanics by Werner Heisenberg (1901–1976) and others in 1925, and its physical interpretation by Max Born (1882–1970) in 1926....
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2.5 The uncertain Universe
Despite the impact of relativity, the greatest source of change in the scientific world-view in the twentieth century has undoubtedly been the development of quantum physics. This is the branch of...
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Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein (1879–1955) Figure 27 Albert EinsteinAlbert Einstein was born in Ulm, Germany on 14 March 1879. The following year he and his family moved to Munich where he had a successful, though...
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2.4.2 Relativity, space, time and gravity
Throughout the development of mechanics and electromagnetism the role of space and time had been clear and simple. Space and time were simply the arena within which the drama of physics was played out....
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Faraday and Maxwell
Michael Faraday (1791–1867) Figure 21 Michael FaradayMichael Faraday was the son of a blacksmith. Apprenticed to a bookbinder at 14, he read about science, became enthralled with the subject, secured a...
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2.4.1 Electromagnetism and fields
When Newton wrote about ‘The System of the World’ in Part 3 of Principia, the only forces he could discuss in any detail were the contact forces that arose when one object touched another, and gravity,...
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2.3.3 Statistical mechanics
You saw earlier that very strong claims were made for Newtonian mechanics. Many regarded it as a basic framework that would underlie all scientific explanations. It is therefore natural to ask about...
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2.3.2 Equilibrium and irreversibility
As the science of thermodynamics developed beyond its industrial roots, two powerful ideas came to the fore – equilibrium and irreversibility. These ideas were already implicit in studies of heat. You...
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2.3.1 Thermodynamics and entropy
The first half of the nineteenth century was a period of great economic and industrial growth. The steam engine, invented in the previous century, was becoming increasingly common in locomotives, mines...
View Article2.3 The irreversible Universe
‘Science owes more to the steam engine than the steam engine owes to Science.’L.J. Henderson (1917)From the time of Newton until the end of the nineteenth century the development of physics consisted...
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2.2.2 Energy and conservation
Newtonian mechanics is concerned with explaining motion, yet it contains within it the much simpler idea that some things never change. Take the concept of mass, for example, which appears throughout...
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2.2.1 Mechanics and determinism
It is probably fair to say that no single individual has had a greater influence on the scientific view of the world than Isaac Newton. The main reason for Newton's prominence was his own intrinsic...
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2.1.2 Mathematics and quantification
Roger Bacon once said ‘Mathematics is the door and the key to the sciences’. This statement aptly summarises the role of mathematics in science, particularly in physics, and it is not hard to see...
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2.1.1 Science and regularity
‘Our experience shows that only a small part of the physical Universe needs to be studied in order to elucidate its underlying themes and patterns of behaviour. At root this is what it means for there...
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1 Physics and the physical world
Studying physics will change you as a person. At least it should. In studying physics you will encounter some of the deepest and most far-reaching concepts that have ever entered human consciousness....
View ArticleLearning outcomes
By the end of this unit you should be able to:explain the meaning of all the emboldened terms introduced in this unit;explain what is meant by a physical world-view and describe some of the major...
View ArticleIntroduction
This unit offers a fascinating overview of the ‘big ideas’ that have shaped physics from the time of Kepler to the present day. Using little mathematics, the unit surveys fundamental features of key...
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