The development of
Physics
Presented by Nguyen Thu Thuy
There are 5 parts in this presentation:
Scientific
Ancient 18th
revolutio
history century
n
19th 20th
century century
Ancient
Greece
- Thale refused to accept various supernatural,
religious or mythological explanations for
natural phenomena, proclaimed that every
event had a natural cause.
- made advancements in 580 BCE by suggesting
that water is the basic element, experimenting
with the attraction between magnets and
rubbed amber and formulating the first
recorded cosmologies
Heraclitus proposed that the only
basic law governing the Universe was
the principle of change and that
nothing remains in the same state
indefinitely. This observation made
him one of the first scholars in ancient
physics to address the role of time in
the universe, a key and sometimes
contentious concept in modern and
present-day physics.
- promoted the concept that observation of
physical phenomena could ultimately lead to
the discovery of the natural laws governing
them.
- In the 4th century BCE, Aristotle founded
the system known as Aristotelian physics. He
attempted to explain ideas such as motion
(and gravity) with the theory of four
elements.
Aristotle Aristotelian physics became enormously
(384 – 322 BCE)
popular for many centuries in Europe,
informing the scientific and scholastic
developments of the Middle Ages. It
remained the mainstream scientific
paradigm in Europe until the time of
Galileo Galilei and Isaac Newton.
• Aid the foundations of hydrostatics, statics and
calculated the underlying mathematics of the lever.
• A leading scientist of classical antiquity, Archimedes
also developed elaborate systems of pulleys to move
large objects with a minimum of effort.
• Archimedes even tore apart the arguments of Aristotle
and his metaphysics, pointing out that it was impossible
to separate mathematics and nature and proved it by
converting mathematical theories into practical
inventions
• Furthermore, in his work On Floating Bodies, around
250 BCE, Archimedes developed the law of buoyancy,
also known as Archimedes' principle.
• In mathematics, Archimedes used the method of
exhaustion to calculate the area under the arc of a
parabola with the summation of an infinite.
Scientific
revolution
In 1543, he gave strong arguments for the heliocentric
model of the Solar system, ostensibly as a means to render
tables charting planetary motion more accurate and to
simplify their production. In heliocentric models of the Solar
system, the Earth orbits the Sun along with other bodies in
Earth's galaxy, a contradiction according to the Greek-
Egyptian astronomer Ptolemy whose system placed the
Earth at the center of the Universe and had been accepted for
over 1,400 years.
The Polish astronomer Copernicus' new perspective, along with the accurate
Nicolaus Copernicus observations made by Tycho Brahe, enabled German
(1473–1543)
astronomer Johannes Kepler (1571–1630) to formulate his
laws regarding planetary motion that remain in use today.
• Was famous for his support for Copernicanism, his astronomical
discoveries, empirical experiments and his improvement of the
telescope.
• The contributions that Galileo made to observational astronomy
include the telescopic confirmation of the phases of Venus; his
discovery, in 1609, of Jupiter's four largest moons (subsequently
given the collective name of the "Galilean moons"); and the
observation and analysis of sunspots
• At 19, he discovered (and, subsequently, verified) the isochronal
nature of the pendulum when, using his pulse, he timed the
oscillations of a swinging lamp in Pisa's cathedral and found that it
remained the same for each swing regardless of the swing's
amplitude. He soon became known through his invention of a
hydrostatic balance and for his treatise on the center of gravity of
solid bodies.
• According to Stephen Hawking, "Galileo, perhaps more than any The Italian mathematician, astronomer,
other single person, was responsible for the birth of modern and physicist Galileo Galilei
science.”. As religious orthodoxy decreed a geocentric or Tychonic (1564–1642)
understanding of the Solar system, Galileo's support for
heliocentrism provoked controversy and he was tried by the
Inquisition. Found "vehemently suspect of heresy", he was forced to
recant and spent the rest of his life under house arrest.
• Descartes, like Galileo, was convinced of the importance of mathematical
explanation, and he and his followers were key figures in the development
of mathematics and geometry in the 17th century. Cartesian mathematical
descriptions of motion held that all mathematical formulations had to be
justifiable in terms of direct physical action.
• Descartes supposed that different kinds of motion, such as that of planets
versus that of terrestrial objects, we re not fundamentally different, but
were merely different manifestations of an endless chain of corpuscular
motions obeying universal principles.
• Descartes' influence in mathematics is apparent; the Cartesian coordinate
system — allowing algebraic equations to be expressed as geometric
The French shapes in a two-dimensional coordinate system — was named after him.
philosopher René He is credited as the father of analytical geometry, the bridge between
Descartes (1596–1650) algebra and geometry, important to the discovery of calculus and analysis.
• Newton formulated three laws of motion which formulated the relationship
between motion and objects and also the law of universal gravitation, the
latter of which could be used to explain the behavior not only of falling
bodies on the earth but also planets and other celestial bodies. To arrive at
his results, Newton invented one form of an entirely new branch of
mathematics: calculus (also invented independently by Gottfried Leibniz),
which was to become an essential tool in much of the later development in
most branches of physics.
• Using his three laws of motion and law of universal gravitation, Newton
removed the idea that objects followed paths determined by natural shapes
and instead demonstrated that not only regularly observed paths, but all the
future motions of any body could be deduced mathematically based on
knowledge of their existing motion, their mass, and the forces acting upon
them. However, observed celestial motions did not precisely conform to a
Sir Isaac Newton Newtonian treatment, and Newton, who was also deeply interested in
(1642–1727) theology, imagined that God intervened to ensure the continued stability of
the solar system.
William Gilbert, published an important work on magnetism in 1600,
court physician to describing how the earth itself behaves like a giant magnet.
Queen Elizabeth I
Robert Boyle studied the behavior of gases enclosed in a chamber and
(1627–91) formulated the gas law named for him
Early thermodynamics
A precursor of the engine was designed by the German
scientist Otto von Guericke who, in 1650, designed and built the
world's first vacuum pump and created the world's first ever
vacuum known as the Magdeburg hemispheres experiment. He
was driven to make a vacuum to disprove Aristotle's long-held
supposition that 'Nature abhors a vacuum'. Shortly thereafter,
Irish physicist and chemist Boyle had learned of Guericke's
designs and in 1656, in coordination with English scientist
Robert Hooke, built an air pump. Using this pump, Boyle and
Hooke noticed the pressure-volume correlation for a gas:
PV = k,
where P is pressure, V is volume and k is a constant
This relationship is known as Boyle's Law
18 century development
th
I/ Mechanics
Brook Taylor derived the fundamental frequency of a
1714 stretched vibrating string in terms of its tension and mass per
unit length by solving a differential equation.
Daniel Bernoulli derived the fundamental frequency and
1733 harmonics of a hanging chain by solving a differential equation
Bernoulli solved the differential equation for the vibrations of an
elastic bar clamped at one end. Bernoulli's treatment of fluid
1734 dynamics and his examination of fluid flow was introduced in his
1738 work Hydrodynamica.
1705 Edmond Halley predicted the periodicity of Halley's Comet
1781 William Herschel discovered Uranus.
Henry Cavendish measured the gravitational constant and
1798 determined the mass of the Earth.
John Michell suggested that some objects might be so massive
1783 that not even light could escape from them.
18 century development
th
I/ Mechanics
Leonhard Euler solved the ordinary differential equation for a
1739 forced harmonic oscillator and noticed the resonance
phenomenon
Colin Maclaurin discovered his uniformly rotating self-gravitating
spheroids.
1742
Benjamin Robins published his New Principles in Gunnery,
establishing the science of aerodynamics.
Jean le Rond d'Alembert published his Traite de Dynamique, in which
he introduced the concept of generalized forces for accelerating
1743 systems and systems with constraints, and applied the new idea of
virtual work to solve dynamical problem, now known as D'Alembert's
principle, as a rival to Newton's second law of motion.
1759 Euler solved the PDE for the vibration of a rectangular drum
Euler examined the PDE for the vibration of a circular drum and
1764
found one of the Bessel function solutions.
1789 Antoine Lavoisier states the law of conservation of mass.
18 century development
th
Thaccepted theory of heat in the 18th century viewed
it as a kind of fluid, called caloric; although this theory
was later shown to be erroneous, a number of
scientists adhering to it nevertheless made important
discoveries useful in developing the modern theory,
including Joseph Black (1728–99) and Henry Cavendish
(1731–1810). Opposed to this caloric theory, which had
been developed mainly by the chemists, was the less
accepted theory dating from Newton's time that heat
is due to the motions of the particles of a substance.
This mechanical theory gained support in 1798 from
the cannon-boring experiments of Count Rumford
(Benjamin Thompson), who found a direct relationship
between heat and mechanical energye.
19 century development
th
I/ Mechanics
William Hamilton began his analysis of Hamilton's characteristic function. In
1821 1835, he stated Hamilton's canonical equations of motion.
Peter Ewart supported the idea of the conservation of energy in his paper On
1813 the measure of moving force.
Gaspard Coriolis introduced the terms of work (force times distance) and
1829 kinetic energy with the meanings they have today.
Julius Robert von Mayer, an amateur scientist, wrote a paper on the
1841 conservation of energy, although his lack of academic training led to its
rejection.
1847 Hermann von Helmholtz formally stated the law of conservation of energy.
19 century development
th
II/ Electromagnetism
Alessandro Volta invented the electric battery (known as the voltaic pile)
1800 and thus improved the way electric currents could also be studied
Thomas Young demonstrated the wave nature of light—which received strong
1801 experimental support from the work of Augustin-Jean Fresnel—and the
principle of interference
Hans Christian Ørsted found that a current-carrying conductor gives rise to a
magnetic force surrounding it, and within a week after Ørsted's discovery
1820
reached France, André-Marie Ampère discovered that two parallel electric
currents will exert forces on each other.
Michael Faraday built an electricity-powered motor, while Georg Ohm stated
1821 his law of electrical resistance in 1826, expressing the relationship between
voltage, current, and resistance in an electric circuit.
Faraday (and independently Joseph Henry) discovered the reverse effect, the
production of an electric potential or current through magnetism – known as
1831
electromagnetic induction; these two discoveries are the basis of the electric
motor and the electric generator, respectively.
19 century development
th
III/Laws of thermodynamics
Joule published results from his series of experiments (including the
paddlewheel experiment) which show that heat is a form of energy, a fact
1849 that was accepted in the 1850s.
The relation between heat and energy was important for the development
of steam engines
Sadi Carnot's work provided a basis for the formulation of the first law of
Around thermodynamics—a restatement of the law of conservation of energy—which was
1850 stated around 1850 by William Thomson, later known as Lord Kelvin, and Rudolf
Clausius
Lord Kelvin, who had extended the concept of absolute zero from gases to all
substances in 1848, drew upon the engineering theory of Lazare Carnot, Sadi Carnot,
and Émile Clapeyron–as well as the experimentation of James Prescott Joule on the
interchangeability of mechanical, chemical, thermal, and electrical forms of work—to
formulate the first law.
Kelvin and Clausius also stated the second law of thermodynamics, which was
originally formulated in terms of the fact that heat does not spontaneously
flow from a colder body to a hotter.
19 century development
th
III/Laws of thermodynamics
Hippolyte Fizeau and Léon Foucault measured the speed of light in water and
find that it is slower than in air, in support of the wave model of light.
1850
Joule and Thomson demonstrated that a rapidly expanding gas cools, later named
the Joule–Thomson effect or Joule–Kelvin effect.
1852
19 century development
th
IV/Statistical mechanics
James Clerk Maxwell discovered the distribution law of molecular velocities. Maxwell
showed that electric and magnetic fields are propagated outward from their source at a
speed equal to that of light and that light is one of several kinds of electromagnetic
radiation, differing only in frequency and wavelength from the others. In 1859,
1859 Maxwell worked out the mathematics of the distribution of velocities of the molecules
of a gas. The wave theory of light was widely accepted by the time of Maxwell's work
on the electromagnetic field, and afterward the study of light and that of electricity and
magnetism were closely related.
James Maxwell published his papers on a dynamical theory of the electromagnetic
1864 field, and stated that light is an electromagnetic phenomenon in
Heinrich Hertz discovered the photoelectric effect. Research on the electromagnetic
waves began soon after, with many scientists and inventors conducting experiments on
1887 their properties. In the mid to late 1890s Guglielmo Marconi developed a radio wave
based wireless telegraphy system
19 century development
th
IV/Statistical mechanics
The kinetic theory in turn led to a revolutionary approach to science, the
statistical mechanics of Ludwig Boltzmann (1844–1906) and Josiah Willard Gibbs
(1839–1903), which studies the statistics of microstates of a system and uses
statistics to determine the state of a physical system. Interrelating the statistical
likelihood of certain states of organization of these particles with the energy of
those states, Clausius reinterpreted the dissipation of energy to be the statistical
tendency of molecular configurations to pass toward increasingly likely,
increasingly disorganized states (coining the term "entropy" to describe the
disorganization of a state)
20 century development
th
I/Radiation experiments
1895 Wilhelm Röntgen caused a sensation with his discovery of
X-rays
1897 J. J. Thomson discovered the electron, and new radioactive
elements found by Marie and Pierre Curie raised questions
about the supposedly indestructible atom and the nature of
matter. Marie and Pierre coined the term "radioactivity" to
describe this property of matter, and isolated the
radioactive elements radium and polonium.
Studies of radiation and radioactive decay continued to be a
preeminent focus for physical and chemical research through the
1930s, when the discovery of nuclear fission by Lise Meitner and Otto
Frisch opened the way to the practical exploitation of what came to be
called "atomic" energy
20 century development
th
II/ Albert Einstein’ theory of relativity
1905 a 26-year-old German physicist named Albert Einstein (then a patent
clerk in Bern, Switzerland) showed how measurements of time and
space are affected by motion between an observer and what is being
observed. Einstein's radical theory of relativity revolutionized science.
Although Einstein made many other important contributions to
science, the theory of relativity alone represents one of the greatest
intellectual achievements of all time. Although the concept of
relativity was not introduced by Einstein, his major contribution was
the recognition that the speed of light in a vacuum is constant, i.e. the
same for all observers, and an absolute physical boundary for motion
20 century development
th
III/ Special relativity
The ultraviolet catastrophe, was solved by the new theory of quantum
mechanics. Quantum mechanics is the theory of atoms and subatomic
systems. Approximately the first 30 years of the 20th century represent
the time of the conception and evolution of the theory. The basic ideas of
quantum theory were introduced in 1900 by Max Planck (1858–1947), who
was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1918 for his discovery of the
quantified nature of energy. The quantum theory (which previously relied
in the "correspondence" at large scales between the quantized world of
the atom and the continuities of the "classical" world) was accepted when
the Compton Effect established that light carries momentum and can
scatter off particles, and when Louis de Broglie asserted that matter can
be seen as behaving as a wave in much the same way as electromagnetic
waves behave like particles (wave–particle duality).
In 1905, Einstein used the quantum theory to explain the photoelectric
effect, and in 1913 the Danish physicist Niels Bohr used the same
constant to explain the stability of Rutherford's atom as well as the
frequencies of light emitted by hydrogen gas.
20 century development
th
III/ Special relativity
Quantum mechanics was extensively developed by Heisenberg,
Wolfgang Pauli, Paul Dirac, and Erwin Schrödinger, who established an
equivalent theory based on waves in 1926; but Heisenberg's 1927
"uncertainty principle" (indicating the impossibility of precisely and
simultaneously measuring position and momentum) and the
"Copenhagen interpretation" of quantum mechanics (named after
Bohr's home city) continued to deny the possibility of fundamental
causality
The new quantum mechanics became an indispensable tool in the
investigation and explanation of phenomena at the atomic level. Also
in the 1920s, the Indian scientist Satyendra Nath Bose's work on
photons and quantum mechanics provided the foundation for Bose–
Einstein statistics, the theory of the Bose–Einstein condensate.
