Physics is a basic science that marches into the depth and breadth of the material world and explores the material world and its laws of motion. It is like a pagoda of knowledge, with a solid foundation. Mechanics, heat, electricity, optics and even relativity, quantum mechanics, nuclear physics and particle physics, condensed matter physics and astrophysics have formed a magnificent building. It is also like a big tree, with deep roots and luxuriant leaves. It grows a trunk from the root, dense branches from the trunk, and bears countless fruits. It is also like a rolling river, surging, wave after wave. However, through these metaphors, it is still not enough to explain how physics develops. Only by understanding the history of the development of physics can we understand the grandeur of physics more deeply. Through the study of the history of physics, we can not only increase our knowledge and deepen our understanding of physics, but more importantly, we can learn from it, broaden our horizons and get inspiration from the experience of our predecessors. The 1 version of this book is based on the handout we wrote when we talked about the history of physics. The course, originally named Special Lecture on the History of Physics, is an elective course for undergraduates in Tsinghua University. It is called a special lecture because universities of science and engineering don't have so much time and don't need to give systematic lectures step by step. That's boring and time-consuming. We haven't talked about some topics yet. If students are interested, they can find their own books to read. We believe that instead of listing a lot of historical facts directly, we should seize some typical examples, analyze them one by one and tell them in depth. What is a case study? We mean to fully reveal an event, a discovery or a scientist's achievement and explain its cause and effect, not only what it is, but also why. For example, you can ask: Why? Why is there a new breakthrough? Why do you make great people? Analyze the elements of its success, sum up its experience and lessons, and extract spiritual wealth for everyone to enjoy. So we chose more than a dozen topics, and each time we talked about a topic, we analyzed one or several examples, so we called it a special lecture. After listening to several classes, I feel that elective courses should not be too professional, and students should not spend too much energy reading original documents. However, it is necessary to keep the essence of special lectures, that is, to keep all kinds of beneficial inspirations obtained from case analysis, which are not instilled in students, but through real history and physical history.
Practical materials and vivid scenes guide students into the historical atmosphere, so that they can experience it for themselves and get the enlightenment they deserve. So this elective course was renamed "Enlightenment from the History of Physics". This course has been taught for more than ten years. 1993, after many experiments and revisions, the lecture notes were finally officially published and named History of Physics. Our work has been encouraged and cared by many teachers and students inside and outside the school, including the guidance and encouragement of the older generation of physicists. What makes us feel most honored is that Professor Qian Sanqiang, a famous physicist in China, has given us specific guidance many times and personally prefaced it. See:, Shen,. In memory of Mr. Qian Sanqiang. Modern physics knowledge,1994 (1): 41~ 44. Over the years, the book History of Physics has been selected as a textbook of physics history by many colleges and universities, and it has also become a reference book for physics teachers. There are many defects and mistakes in this book, and we deeply feel it is necessary to revise and improve it. This revision is mainly aimed at the following aspects: (1) Strengthen the discussion of various branches of physics in the 20th century, including relativity, quantum theory, particle physics, modern optics, condensed matter physics and astrophysics. (2) Make full use of pictures and materials. (3) Necessary supplements and modifications. Many colleagues have provided us with information about the history of physics for many years, especially Melba Phillips, who was shocked to learn that 97-year-old Melba Phillips passed away on June 165438+ 10/8, 2004. Professor. She and american physical society helped us in many ways. Professor Allen Franklin is also an active supporter of our work. We express our sincere thanks to them. We also want to thank the copyright owners of pictures and materials. As the pictures have been collected from various sources for many years, it is difficult to indicate the source one by one.
Edit this part of the table of contents
Preface to the first edition
order
Chapter 1 development of mechanics
1. 1 historical overview 1. 1.2 New progress in astronomy has opened the prelude to the scientific revolution 3 1.3 Establishment of the law of inertia 1 0/.4 Galileo's study of falling objects/kloc-
Chapter II Development of Heat
2. 1 Historical overview 40 2.2 Early research on thermal phenomena 40 2.3 Establishment of the first law of thermodynamics 47 2.4 Carnot and research on the efficiency of heat engines 59 2.5 Establishment of the absolute temperature scale 62 2.6 Establishment of the second law of thermodynamics 64 2.7 Establishment of the third law of thermodynamics and the development of low-temperature physics 68 2.8 Development of gas dynamics theory 72.9 Establishment of statistical physics 6 1.
Chapter 3 Development of Electromagnetism
3. 1 History Overview 90 3.2 Early Research on Magnetism and Electricity 90 3.3 Discovery of Coulomb's Law 94 3.4 Research on Animal Electricity and Invention of Volta Reactor 102 3.5 Magnetic Effect of Current 105 3.6 Ampere laid the foundation of electrodynamics 1 10 3.7 Ohm
The fourth chapter is the development of classical optics.
4. 1 Historical Overview/Establishment of the Law of Reflection and Refraction of Kloc-0/324.2/Study on the Dispersion of Light by Kloc-0/334.3 Newton/Particle Theory and Wave Theory of Light 140 4.5 Measurement of Light Speed 146 4.6
5. 1 historical overview
5.219/Three Experimental Discoveries at the Turn of the 20th Century 158 5.3 Exploration of "Ether Drift" 170 5.4 Study of Thermal Radiation 180 5.5 Crisis of Classical Physics 186.
Chapter 6 The Establishment and Development of Relativity
6. 1 historical background 188 6.2 Einstein's process of establishing special relativity 19 1 6.3 establishment of theoretical system of special relativity 198 6.4 encounter and experimental test of special relativity 203 6.5 establishment of general relativity 205 6.6 experimental test of general relativity 2/kloc
Chapter 7 Preparation of Early Quantum Theory and Quantum Mechanics
7. 1 historical overview 22 1 7.2 Planck's energy quantum hypothesis 22 1 7.3 Study on photoelectric effect 224 7.4 Historical evolution of specific heat of solid 229 7.5 atomic model 232 7.6α scattering and Rutherford nucleation atomic model 237.7 Bohr's steady-state transition atomic model and corresponding principles 240 7.8 Contributions of Sommerfeld and Erenfest.20007.000000000007 Einstein and wave-particle duality 250 7.1X-ray nature argument 252 7. 1 1 Compton effect26536.19996666667
Chapter 8 the establishment and development of quantum mechanics
8. A historical overview of1258.2 The concept of electron spin and the proposal of incompatibility principle 259 8.3 De Broglie hypothesis 26 1 8.4 Experimental verification of matter wave theory 262 8.5 Foundation of matrix mechanics 267 8.6 Foundation of wave mechanics 268.7 Physical explanation of wave function 270 8.8 Proposal of uncertainty principle and complementary principle 27 1 8.9 Quantum
Chapter 9 Development of Nuclear Physics and Particle Physics
9. 1 History Overview 282 9.2 Study on radioactivity 282 9.3 Preliminary realization of artificial nuclear reaction 287 9.4 Improvement of detection instruments 289 9.5 Discovery of cosmic rays and positrons 292 9.6 Discovery of neutrons 294 9.7 Discovery of artificial radioactivity 298 9.8 Discovery of heavy nuclear fission 298 9.9 Chain reaction 303 9. 1 0 nuclear model theory invents 29546 muon 3 12 9. 14 exotic particle research 36548+03 9.65438+5438+04 9.16 hadron structure and quark theory 3 16 9. 17.
Chapter 10 A brief history of condensed matter physics
10. 1 historical overview 324 10.2 early research of solid state physics 325 10.3 theoretical basis of solid state physics 327 10.4 experimental basis of solid state physics 330 10.5 invention of transistor 330/kloc. 465438.6656666606
Chapter 165438 The Rise of Modern Optics
1 1. 1 Preparation of laser science 3601.2 Invention of microwave maser 365 1 1.3 Imagination and realization of laser 3671.
Chapter 12 development of astrophysics
12. 1 the rise of astrophysics 395 12.2 the mystery of Pickering genealogy 396 12.3 the establishment of the theory of stellar evolution 399 12.4 the discovery of quasars +0 12.5 the discovery of cosmic background radiation 302/.
Chapter 13 Nobel Prize in Physics
13. 1 establishment of the nobel prize in physics 4 16 13.2 distribution statistics of the nobel prize in physics 4 18 13.3 time division 420 13.4 classification summary 422
Chapter 14
The position and role of experiment and laboratory in the development of physics 14. 1 the role of experiment in the development of physics 452 14.2 the position of laboratory in the development of physics 455 Chapter 65438 +05 unit, brief history of unit system and basic constants 470 15. 1 5.
Edit the development history of classical physics-mechanics in this section.
Physics is the science of studying matter, its behavior and motion. It is one of the earliest natural sciences, and it may be the oldest if astronomy is included. The earliest physics book is Physics by Aristotle, an ancient Greek scientist. The elements that form physics mainly come from the study of astronomy, optics and mechanics, which are integrated together by geometric methods to form physics. These methods were formed in Cuba and ancient Greece, when representatives such as mathematician Archimedes and astronomer Ptolemy; Subsequently, these theories were introduced into the Arab world and developed into more physical and experimental traditional theories by Arab scientists such as Hashim at that time. Finally, these theories were introduced into Western Europe, and roger bacon was the first representative scholar to study these contents. However, in the western world at that time, philosophers generally believed that these theories were technical in nature, so they generally didn't realize that what they described reflected the important philosophical significance in nature. In the scientific history of ancient China and India, similar methods of studying mathematics were also developing. In this era, philosophy, which includes the so-called "natural philosophy" (that is, physics), focuses on trying to develop explanatory means (not just descriptive ones) for phenomena in nature under the premise of Aristotle's theory. According to the philosophy of Aristotle and later Socrates, objects move because movement is one of the basic natural properties of objects. The trajectory of celestial bodies happens to be circular, because the perfect circular orbit motion is considered to be the inherent property of the motion of objects in the sacred celestial sphere. Impulse theory, as the original ancestor of the concepts of inertia and momentum, also originated from these philosophical traditions, and was developed by Philopoulos, ibn sina, Bridan and others in the Middle Ages. The sports traditions in ancient China and India are also highly philosophical.
The historical background of mechanics
Mechanics is one of the most primitive branches of physics, and the most primitive mechanics is statics. Statics originated from simple machinery used in the early productive labor of human civilization, such as lever, pulley, inclined plane, etc. The ancient Greeks learned some basic concepts and principles related to statics from a lot of experience, such as lever principle and Archimedes principle. However, it was not until the16th century that capitalist industrial progress really began to create material conditions for natural science research in the western world. Especially in the era of geographical discovery, the navigation industry rose, and human beings spent unprecedented efforts in the study of observational astronomy, among which Danish astronomer tycho brahe and German astronomer and mathematician johannes kepler were the representatives. The observation of cosmic celestial bodies has also become an excellent field for human beings to further study mechanical motion. In 1609 and 16 19, Kepler discovered three laws of Kepler's planetary motion, and summarized the observation data of his teacher Tycho.
Galileo's dynamics
In Europe in the17th century, natural philosophers gradually attacked the medieval scholasticism. They believe that the mathematical model abstracted from the study of mechanics and astronomy will be suitable for describing the movement of the whole universe. Galileo galilei, an Italian physicist, mathematician and astronomer, is known as the "father of modern natural science" (or Archduke of Tuscany according to the geography at that time), and is the leader of this revolution. Galileo lived in an era shortly after the Renaissance. Before that, Leonardo da Vinci's physical experiments, Nicholas Copernicus's Heliocentrism and Francis Bacon's scientific methodology which emphasized experimental experience were all important factors that prompted Galileo to study natural science deeply, while Copernicus's Heliocentrism directly pushed Galileo to try to describe the movement of celestial bodies in the universe mathematically. Galileo realized the philosophical value of this mathematical description. He noticed Copernicus's research work on the movement of the sun, the earth, the moon and other planets, and thought that these radical analyses at that time would probably be used to prove that the description of nature by scholastic philosophers was inconsistent with the actual situation. Galileo carried out a series of mechanical experiments, and expounded his views on motion, including refuting Aristotle's view that the speed of falling body is directly proportional to the weight with inclined plane experiments and free fall experiments, summing up the relationship between the distance of free fall and the square of time, and thinking about motion with famous inclined plane ideal experiments. In his book Dialogue between Ptolemy and Copernicus published in 1632, he mentioned: "As long as the slope continues, the ball will continue to move infinitely and accelerate, because this is the essence of moving weight." This idea is regarded as the predecessor of the law of inertia. But the real concept of inertia was completed by Descartes in 1644. He clearly pointed out that "unless an object is influenced by external factors, it will always remain at rest or in motion" and "all motions are linear in nature". Galileo's most famous contribution to astronomy was to improve the refraction telescope in 1609, through which he discovered four moons of Jupiter, sunspots and Venus phases similar to the moon. Galileo's outstanding contribution to natural science is reflected in his interest in mechanical experiments and his method of describing the movement of objects in mathematical language, which established a natural philosophy tradition based on experimental research for later generations. This tradition, together with Bacon's experimental induction, profoundly influenced a group of natural scientists in later generations, including Ivanjesta Torricelli, marin mersenne and Blaise Pascal, christiaan huygens, robert hooke and robert boyle.
Newton's three laws and the law of universal gravitation?
Isaac newton 1687, British physicist, mathematician, astronomer and natural philosopher isaac newton published the book Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy, which marked the formal establishment of the classical mechanical system. For the first time in human history, Newton used a set of universal basic mathematical principles-Newton's three laws of motion and the law of universal gravitation-to describe the motion of all objects in the universe. Newton gave up the idea that the trajectory of an object is natural (for example, Kepler thought that the trajectory of a planet was essentially elliptical). On the contrary, he pointed out that any movement that can be observed now, as well as any movement that will happen in the future, can be mathematically deduced and calculated by using their known motion state, object mass and external force. Galileo and Descartes' research on dynamics ("above-ground" mechanics) and Kepler and French astronomer Brian's research on astronomy ("above-ground" mechanics) all influenced Newton's research on natural science. Brian once pointed out that the force of the sun on the planet should be inversely proportional to the square of the distance, although he himself does not think that this force really exists. 1673, Huygens independently put forward the centrifugal force formula of circular motion (Newton got a similar formula by mathematical means in 1665), which enabled scientists to roughly deduce inverse square law from Kepler's third law at that time. Robert hooke, edmund halley and others thus considered the shape of the object's trajectory in the inverse square force field. 1684, Harley asked Newton this question, and Newton then answered it in a 9-page paper (later commonly known as "On Motion"). In this paper, Newton discussed the motion of objects in the inverse square force field, and deduced Kepler's three laws of planetary motion. Later, Newton published his second paper "On the Motion of Objects", in which he expounded the law of inertia, and discussed in detail the nature that gravity is directly proportional to mass and inversely proportional to the square of distance, as well as the universality of gravity in the whole universe. These theories were finally summarized in the book Principles published by Newton 1687, in which Newton listed three laws of motion and deduced six inferences in axiomatic form (Inference 1 and 2 described the principle of force synthesis and decomposition and motion superposition; Inferences 3 and 4 describe the law of conservation of momentum; Inferences 5 and 6 describe Galileo's principle of relativity. Thus, Newton unified "heavenly" and "earthly" mechanics, and established a mechanical system based on the three laws of motion. Newton's principles (excluding his mathematical methods) have aroused controversy among continental European philosophers, who think that Newton's theory is unacceptable because it lacks metaphysical explanation of the motion and gravity of objects. From about 1700, the contradiction between continental philosophy and British traditional philosophy began to escalate, and the cracks began to widen, which was mainly rooted in the war of words between Newton and Leibniz's followers about who developed calculus first. At first, Leibniz's theory prevailed in continental Europe (in Europe at that time, except Britain, Leibniz's calculus symbols were mainly used elsewhere), and Newton himself was distressed by the lack of a philosophical explanation of gravity, but he insisted in his notes that the truth of gravity could be inferred without adding anything. /kloc-After the 8th century, Chinese mainland's natural philosophers gradually accepted Newton's viewpoint, and began to give up the metaphysical explanation of ontology and use mathematics to describe movement.
Newton's absolute view of time and space?
Newton's theoretical system is based on his assumptions of absolute time and absolute space. Newton had the following understanding of time and space: "Absolute, real and mathematical time itself is disappearing, and because of its nature, it is disappearing evenly, regardless of anything external."
"Absolute space, by its nature, has nothing to do with anything outside. It is always static and motionless."
-Newton's Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy
Newton further defined the concepts of "absolute motion" and "absolute rest" from the assumption of absolute time and space. In order to prove the existence of absolute motion, Newton conceived an ideal experiment in 1689, namely the famous bucket experiment. In the bucket experiment, the bucket filled with water is kept still at first. When it starts to rotate, the water in the bucket stays still at first, but then it will rotate with the bucket, so it can be seen that the water gradually leaves its center and rises along the bucket wall, forming a concave shape, until it finally coincides with the rotation speed of the bucket, and the water surface is relatively static. Newton thought that the rise of the water surface indicated the trend of water leaving the rotating shaft, which did not depend on any movement of water relative to the surrounding objects. Newton's absolute view of time and space, as the basic hypothesis of his theoretical system, was questioned in the next two hundred years. Especially at the end of19th century, Austrian physicist ernst mach sharply criticized Newton's absolute view of time and space in the Review of Mechanical History.
Edit this passage "History of Physics" by Cacioli.
Copyright information of Chinese translation
Kayori wrote a history of physics.
[1] Title: History of Physics Author: (America) F. Kayoli Translator: Dai Nianzu, Fan Dainian Translation School Press: Guangxi Normal University Press, 2002 1 Edition: 20021Edition. June 5438+February 2002 Second printing: 1~ 10 000,1~15000 format: 787mm *1092mm/.
Brief introduction of the author
F Caioli, a famous American mathematician and historian of science, was born in Switzerland in 1859, returned to the United States in 1875, and died in the United States in 1930. He is a member of the American Mathematical Society, the Association for the Development of Science, the Society for the History of Science and the International Society for the History of Science. He is the author of American Mathematics Teaching and History, History of Mathematics, Early Mathematics Teaching in North and South America and History of Mathematical Symbols.
Brief introduction of translator
Dai Nianzu was born in 1942. He is currently a researcher at the Institute of Science History of China Academy of Sciences. He has written China history of mechanics and China Acoustics History, published nearly 100 papers, and won many natural science awards from China Academy of Sciences.
brief Introduction of the content
History of Physics is a general history of physics that has long been familiar, valued and respected by physics and science circles. This paper describes the important historical facts of the development of physics from the Babylonian period to 1925. The author's attitude towards drawing historical facts and describing major historical events is extremely objective and rigorous, and many descriptions even become research materials in the history of philosophy and thought. In addition, History of Physics also describes the laboratory development and historical events that are no longer mentioned in the published works on the history of science, or the development facts that have not yet attracted people's attention, which is rare and valuable in the works on the history of science. The translator also added a brief history of China's physics development to the History of Physics, which greatly enriched the content of the book. The History of Physics is accompanied by references and indexes at the end of the article, which is convenient for readers to study deeply and find facts. The first edition of History of Physics was published in 1899, and the sixth edition was published in 1962, during which it was printed and revised many times. In contrast, all versions of "History of Physics" written by China scholars are dogmatic.
Table of contents of this book
The preface of the first edition of the second edition is the preface of the Babylonians and Egyptians, Greeks ("failure" in the research of mechanics, optics, electricity and magnetism, meteorology, acoustics, atomism and Greek physics), Romans and Arabs, the European Renaissance in the Middle Ages (gunpowder and navigation compass, hydrostatics, optics) (Copernican system, mechanics, optics, electricity and magnetism, meteorology, induction of scientific research).