20 th Century Mindset - Physics Kagan Ch. 24

What are they talking about? O Ernst Mach, The Science of Mechanics, 1883 O Henri Poincare O Hans Vaihinger, 1911 O Wilhelm Roentgen, Dec O Henri Becquerel, 1896 O Marie Curie, 1911 O J. J. Thompson O Ernest Rutherford, 1902 O Max Planck, 1900 O Albert Einstein, 1905 O 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 Physics O Newtonian Physics – back in the good ol’ days O Universe = machine in which time, space and matter were objective realities O Thermodynamics O 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=mc 2 ) 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 unknown O Often defies reason in its complexity