In General > s.a. history
of physics by areas.
* Trends: In fundamental
physics, questions that were metaphysical at one time become well-posed at
a later time.
* Analogy: Copernicus, Kepler, Newton were like sleepwalkers, who
managed to go where they wanted to without knowing how (A Koestler); Einstein
even
more.
@ General references: Buckley 29; Einstein & Infeld 38; Yourgrau & Breck
ed-70; McCormack ed-74; Heilbron & Wheaton 81 [refs]; Weart & Phillips
ed-85; Kargon & Achinstein
ed-87; Brush AJP(87)aug-RL,
ed-88; Weaver 87; Park 88; Motz & Weaver 89; Wu IJMPA(89);
Roche ed-90.
@ Biographies: Daintith et al 94; Porter ed-94, & Ogilvie ed-00.
@ Special topics: Shamos 59 [great experiments]; McCoy ht/96-in
[physics vs metaphysics]; Rabinowitz JNE(01)phy [limitations];
Davies phy/02 [and
astronomy]; Wilczek Nat(04)phy [examples];
Brown AJP(06)may
[role of myths]; Crease pw(07)jan
[role of letters for historians]; Jackson AJP(08)aug-a0708
[0th
theorem of the history
of physics]; Maienschein & Smith Isis(08)
[value of history of science].
Models, Stages of Evolution
* Taketani's three stages:
Phenomenological (Tycho / Franklin's & Gilbert's
in electromagnetism / cross sections, branching ratios in particle physics);
Substantialistic (kinematics: Kepler's laws / Faraday & Oersted / standard
model); Essentialistic (dynamics, Newton's laws / Maxwell's equations / ??).
@ References: Taketani PTPS(71),
Sakata PTPS(71); Bellone & Bruzzanti RNC(92);
Bacry IJTP(93).
History of Physics / Science Education
* V century BC: The trivium was
composed of grammar, dialectic, and rhetoric; the quadrivium of
arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, and
harmony;
"Nature" was not studied until the late XVIII century.
Early Developments > s.a. vacuum;
{#Newton}.
* First prediction: A
solar eclipse in 585 BC, by Thales of Miletus (Ionia), using Babylonian astronomical
tables.
* Earliest views of Nature: Forces at work in the world were thought
of as generalizations of human emotions.
* Thales: The universe is composed
of water, moving under forces inherent in itself – not at the whim of the Gods.
* Anaximander of Miletus:
The universe is composed of a common inanimate substance from which Earth,
Mist, Fire and Water are formed, in some sense
moving in search of their equilibrium.
* Pythagoras' school:
(Croton, Italy) Nature is governed by Mind; They had a deep mathematical sense.
* V century BC, Leucippus
and Democritus: Atoms moving under the influence
of laws.
* III century BC, Archimedes:
The most important scientist of Antiquity, worked on buoyancy and centers
of gravity in planes, among other things.
* Interlude: The naturalistic
view of the universe lay dormant from the V century BC to the Renaissance
(e.g., Leonardo).
* XVIII century: Physicists
became fascinated with electricity; 1746, Leyden jars store charge and produce
sparks; 1752, Franklin draws electricity from lightning with kites; Doctors
treat patients with electric shocks; France plays prominent role in research.
* XIX century: 1800, Volta
invents the electric pile; Physics became recognized as the key to the secrets
of nature, and to the products of industrial and military innovation; But physics
then was remarkably different from its modern incarnation; It concerned
itself with a mysterious, all-pervading and impossible-to-detect ether, through
which forces, radiation and matter manifested themselves; Many of its practitioners
were concerned
with understanding nature
in metaphysical or theological terms, others were devising spectacular demonstrations
of "natural" effects to earn a living, still others had interests
in spiritualism and psychical research; And physicists were also public intellectual
figures, engaging in political and economic debate; The UK plays prominent
role in research.
@ General references: Sambursky 87 [early physics]; Greene 92 [preclassical
science]; Pedersen 93; Wallace pw(99)dec
[before Galileo].
@ Middle Ages to XIX century: Barrañón phy/01 [Alonso
de la Veracruz]; Sylla PT(08)apr
[Medieval dynamics, 1328 Thomas Bradwardine]; Bucciantini et al ed-07 [mechanics
and cosmology].
@ XIX century: Purrington 97; Garber 99 [and XVIII, pw(99)oct],
d’Agostino 00 [and
XX,
theoretical
physics];
Morus
05 [r pw(05)aug];
Capri 07 [and
XX].
Sociology, Politics, Countries, Community of Physicists
* Physicists: Physics
as a profession arose in the mid 1800s; The word 'physicist' was coined by
Wheewell.
@ History of the community: Phillips AJP(89)jul;
Kevles 95.
@ Formation of physicists: issue PT(86)jun.
@ Countries: Low HSPBS(99) [Japan]; Morán-López PT(00)oct
[Latin America];
Kak phy/03 [India];
Sánchez-Ron HSPBS(02)
[Spain]; Baracca et al PT(06)sep
[Cuba]; Narayan phy/07,
phy/07 [Indian
Nyaya-Vaisesika School]; Case HSNS(09) [Antebellum US South].
@ Sociology: Rothman 89 [fashions]; Galam PhyA(04)phy-in
[sociophysics]; > s.a. astronomy; cosmology; detection
of gravitational waves.
@ Special topics: Schweber PT(93)nov
[restructuring];
Kirby & Czujko PT(93)dec
[job market]; Appelquist & Shapero PT(01)nov
[community in new century]; > s.a. XX
century, XXI
century.
Individual Physicists and Personal Accounts
@ Personal accounts: Born 68, 69; Gamow 70; Heisenberg 75; Dyson 81;
Casimir 83; Heisenberg 83; Feynman 85, 88; Peierls 86; Bernstein 88; Wick in(88);
Lifshitz
ed-89; Weisskopf 89; Bondi 90; Rossi 90; Bethe 91; Zel'dovich 92; Sagdeev 95;
Weiner 08.
@ By physicists: Landau 65; Wheaton & Heilbron 82; Lightman & Brawer
90; Bernstein 93; Freund 07.
@ On physicists: Cropper [from Galileo to Hawking]; Bernstein 01; James
04 [r pw(04)apr];
Jones CP(05)
[from Galileo to Yukawa]; Crease pw(08)jan
[re Dictionary
of Scientific Biography].
Online Resources > see AIP Center for History of Physics; Physics timeline.
main page – abbreviations – journals – comments – other
sites – acknowledgements
send feedback and suggestions to bombelli at olemiss.edu – modified 24
oct
2009