Physics

Date: 2015-10-07; view: 456.

(retelling)

People have always wondered why things behave the way they do. In early descriptions of the world, philosophers such as Aristotle reported what they believed to be true, rather than they saw to be true. Others, however, such as astronomers from India, Egypt and China, or the Greek thinker, Archimedes were able to use calculations to predict the movements of the Sun and the Moon or to describe and build machines.

The works of Eastern scholars reached Europe in the 12^th and 13^th centuries. There were studies of planetary motion and the theories of light. Eventually, these ideas pushed Europe into a scientific revolution. Isaac Newton set out his Laws of Motion and modern physics was born.

The next great area of investigation was electricity and in the 19^th century Michael Faraday first demonstrated an electromagnetic motor. At the same time, other scientists were working on thermodynamics, that is, the study of changes of heat in matter. Physicists such as Robert Boyle, James Prescott Joule and many others set out the theories that allow us today to make use of engines and other mechanical devices. Röntgen's discovery of X-rays and the work of Pierre and Marie Curie on radioactivity led to the development of the science of nuclear physics. The parts of the atom were identified – its nucleus, protons and electrons. Eventually in the 1940s, scientists in the USA were able to split a nucleus and the result was the world's first nuclear explosion.

Professor Brimble talked about events which physicists have observed and which their theories and experiments have not yet been able to explain. There are theories and ideas which scientists haven't been able to prove right or wrong.

Well, what happens that can't be explained? One phenomenon is ball lightning. Another is the accelerating universe. Physicists know that everything in the universe is moving away from everything else faster and faster. They've even measured the acceleration. But what they don't know is why it's happening. One idea is that it's something to do with dark matter, but because it is dark matter, we can't see it and many physicists will say they don't even know where to look for it – if it exists at all. Research is going ahead, but answers may take a long time to come.

Without physics to describe the way things behave, we would have none of the technology and machinery we take for granted today.