From the First to the Second Scientific Revolution
The Scientific Revolution
Two Main Threads of Physics Macro: Motion, Time, and Space Micro: Constitution of Matter
Aristotelian Physics World was divided into two realms Heavenly and terrestrial bodies separated by the moon in a geocentric system Above the moon: Perfect circular motions Below the moon: Everything is made of four elements (fire, air, water, and earth) and most bodies fall to the center of earth; heavier bodies fall faster than lighter ones
Copernican Heliocentric Astronomy
Galileo’s New Physics Revolutionary combination of mathematics and experimentation Law of Inertia (circular) Copernican Astronomy with telescope Unified motions heavenly and on earth
Newton Three Laws of Motion Law of Gravitation Culmination of the Scientific Revolution
Physics by Late 19 th Century Newtonian mechanics Faraday-Maxwell Theory of Electromagnetism and Light Atomic theory of matter Thermodynamics
Clouds on the Horizon Roentgens and X-ray, 1895 Becquerel and Radioactivity, 1896 Thomson and Electron, 1896 Marie and Pierre Curie and Radium, 1898 Rutherford and Transmutation Max Planck and the Quantum Proposal, 1900