20th Century Mindset - Physics

Kagan Ch. 24

What are they talking about?

O Ernst Mach, The Science of Mechanics, 1883O Henri PoincareO Hans Vaihinger, 1911O Wilhelm Roentgen, Dec. 1895O Henri Becquerel, 1896O Marie Curie, 1911O J. J. ThompsonO Ernest Rutherford, 1902O Max Planck, 1900O Albert Einstein, 1905O Werner Heisenberg, 1927

science = a description of the scientist’s perceptions

uncertainty principle – pattern of electron can’t be predetermined

scientific theories should be considered hypothetical

theory of relativity = time and space exist together in a combined continuum

quantum theory of energy

science = “as if” descriptions

realizes the immense potential of energy created through the breakdown of radioactive elements

discovered radium

discovered uranium

X-ray = energy can penetrate seemingly solid objects

developed the theory of the electron

New PhysicsO Newtonian Physics – back in the good ol’ days

O Universe = machine in which time, space and matter were objective realities

O ThermodynamicsO Marie & Pierre Curie; Henri Becquerel; J.J. Thompson –

atoms radiate own energy – electron & protons = atom

O Max Planck – quantum theory = questions subatomic realm of atom: Is atom the building block of the material world?

O Albert Einstein “The Electro-Dynamics of Moving Bodies”, 1905 = relativity theory (E=mc2) time and space are relative to the observer and matter is just another form of energy

O Universe = uncertainty (Heisenberg, 1927)O Not as ordered as we thought O Contains other forces at work that were previously

unknownO Often defies reason in its complexity