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Forum: History of Physics
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Discussion and questions about the history of physics

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Archaic Period by greame on 2011-01-05 02:52:20
Elements of what became physics were drawn primarily from the fields of astronomy, optics, and mechanics, which were methodologically united through the study of geometry. These mathematical disciplines began in Antiquity with the Babylonians and with Hellenistic writers such as Archimedes and Ptolemy. Meanwhile, philosophy, including what was called “physics”, focused on explanatory (rather than descriptive) schemes, largely developed around the Aristotelian idea of the four types of “causes”.

The move towards a rational understanding of nature began at least since the Archaic Period in Greece (650 BCE – 480 BCE) with the Pre-Socratic philosophers. The philosopher Thales (7th and 6 centuries BCE), dubbed "the Father of Science" for refusing to accept various supernatural, religious or mythological explanations for natural phenomena, proclaimed that every event had a natural cause.[1] Leucippus (first half of 5th century BCE), developed the theory of atomism – the idea that everything is composed entirely of various imperishable, indivisible elements called atoms. This was elaborated in great detail by Democritus.



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New Biographies topic impacts on History og Physics by bci1 on 2009-02-26 19:51:40
A new, contributed topic on biographies at PlanetPhysics.org impacts on History of Physics.

Hope new contributions will fill in all the biographies listed as a
"wish list", with some already contributed.

bci1
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On the Existence of Atoms by zorpoid on 2008-10-15 01:38:19
Greetings,

I have seen PlanetMath and it is pretty good. I use it for a quick reference when I am not able to consult my own library. PlanetPhysics would be great if it had as much material as PlanetMath. Of course you have to get people to contribute.

I believe that I could make a few contributions, but that would take quite a bit of effort. For example, I have studied the historical and  scientific background for our belief that atoms exist. I imagine that that would fall under the history of physics, but it's really about what compels scientific belief. How do you convince a scientist that invisible objects really exits?

I have already written it up to solidify my thoughts on the subject. The result is well over 400 pages and amounts to a book. Its really quite detailed, but will probably never see the light of day. So, I decided to write "A Short Account of Atomism". It is about 80 pages so far. I have a few sections to finish and I must add references, etc.

I have been doing all my writing with Word. The equations I did using Equation Editor and the illustrations are mostly bmp files. Changing the equations to Latex would be a major chore. I am not sure what to do with the illustrations or the text in terms of PlanetPhysics.

Is there any interest in this topic? I don't want to invest lots of time and effort if no one cares. Let me know.

Sincerely,

Zorpoid

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context of Einstein quote by smw on 2006-08-09 21:01:23
"Imagination is more important than knowledge." That is one of Einstein's most famous sayings. I am interested in finding out where this quote comes from. Which essay or book?

Thank you.
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"Relational Mechanics" - An alternative to Relativity? by ETGalante on 2005-04-01 08:44:57
(Excuse me for the wrong title in the last message)

Hello,

Do anybody in here have ever heard about "Relational Mechanics", an alternative gravitational theory by professor A. K. T. Assis?

It seems to have a "Weber's law of gravitational force...

Thanks

Elias.
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