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Three Scientific Revolutions: How They Transformed Our Conceptions of Reality

Page 29

by Richard H. Schlagel


  Meyer, Julius Lothar, 135, 147

  Michelson, Albert A., 165, 166

  Michelson-Morely experiments, 77, 145, 160, 165, 166–67

  Mills, Robert. See Yang-Mills gauge theory

  “minima” of Epicurus, 24, 118, 147, 212

  Minkowski, Herman, 168

  Mlodinow, Leonard, 216

  molecular chemistry, 123–30, 132–37

  molecular physics, 183

  molecules, 130, 134, 136, 148, 153, 154, 163, 164, 182–83, 198

  biomolecular components of the brain, 232, 239

  molecular structure, 51, 76, 118, 129, 132, 133, 137, 147, 175, 188

  molecular substances and compounds, 122–23, 125, 128, 130, 132, 137

  DNA as molecular, 243, 247, 250. See also DNA

  momentum, 111, 118, 164, 185, 186, 191, 194, 199, 200, 201, 204

  angular momentum, 180, 181, 184, 186, 205

  Montague, Charles, 87

  Moore, G. E., 155

  Moore, Gordon, 230

  Moore, Keith, 66, 88

  Moore’s law for computers, 230

  Moravec, Hans, 240–41

  Morley, Edward W., 165.

  See also Michelson-Morely experiments

  Morveau, Guyton de, 122

  Moseley, H. G. J., 174, 175, 183

  motion, 149

  Einstein on, 170–71

  electrodynamics of moving bodies, 164–65

  Galileo’s incline plane experiments, 12, 43–44, 54, 60–61, 64

  Newton on

  absolute motion, 76, 77, 164

  F = ma, 81, 163, 168, 223. See also motion, Newton on

  laws of, 64, 66, 67–68, 77–78, 163

  projectile motion, 60

  Mottelay, P. Fleury, 94, 96

  Mount Wilson Observatory, 14, 38, 222–23

  M-theory, 227

  Mubarak, Hosni, 250

  Muhammad (prophet), 252

  multiuniverses, cosmological theory of, 14, 216–17, 220, 224, 227

  “Music of the Spheres,” 19, 183, 225

  Musschenbroek, Pieter van, 101–102

  Mysterium Cosmographicum [The Cosmographic Mystery] (Kepler), 20

  Nagel, Thomas, 155

  Napier, John, 41

  NASA, 217

  Nash, Leonard K., 129, 133

  National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), 243–44

  National Institutes of Health, 244

  nature

  mathematics as language of, 42, 65, 75

  principle of uniformity of nature, 52, 187

  stability in, 187–89

  Ne’eman, Yuval, 176, 177, 185–86, 192

  neutrinos, 209, 226

  neutrons, 13, 76, 177, 209, 210, 212, 224

  New Astronomy [Astronomia Nova] (Kepler), 39

  New System of Chemical Philosophy (Dalton), 14, 126, 128

  Newton, Isaac, 10, 11, 13, 23, 63–90, 105, 117, 142, 147–48

  absolute space and time cosmological theory of, 13, 63, 76, 77, 140, 164–65

  corpuscular-mechanics worldview of, 36, 50, 52, 63–90, 117, 141, 142, 155, 204

  objections to, 109–111, 112, 142–44

  wave theory of light replacing, 112–13

  early years, 66–67

  on gravity, 13, 65, 68–69, 75, 80, 86, 105, 107, 108, 109–110, 112, 141

  influence of, 93

  later years, 87–89

  on magnetism, 84, 86, 93, 109

  and mathematics, 65, 66, 67–69, 70–71, 74–75, 76, 77, 78–79, 88–89

  on motion

  absolute motion, 76, 77, 164

  F = ma, 81, 163, 168, 223. See also motion, Newton on

  laws of, 64, 66, 67–68, 77–78, 163

  projectile motion, 60

  Opticks, 75, 76, 81, 83–87, 93, 96, 109, 147–48

  and philosophy, 74–75, 78–79

  Principia Mathematica, 65, 66, 68, 72–79, 81, 83–84, 88, 164

  Preface to the First Edition, 74–76

  Scholium in, 76, 77, 79–80

  and religion, 71–72, 76, 87, 88, 122–23

  similarities with Galileo, 79, 80

  style of presentation, 60

  on time and space, 198

  “Newton’s rings,” 69, 110

  NHGRI. See National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI)

  Niccolini, Francesco, 59

  Nicholson, John, 180

  Nobel Prize, 150, 151, 158, 162, 163, 166, 177, 192, 193, 207, 208, 209, 213–14, 243, 246

  nuclear physics, 140, 183, 213, 226

  nucleus of the atom, 174, 176–77, 178–84

  Obama, Barack, 229

  observable evidence/properties, 11, 35, 55, 147, 155, 190, 194

  “occult force or powers,” 40, 57, 80, 86, 93, 164

  odd number law, 12, 44, 59

  “Ode Dedicated to Newton” (Halley), 74

  Oersted, Hans Christian, 113, 114, 145–46

  On a Dynamical Theory of the Electro-magnetic Field (Maxwell), 147

  On Motion [De Motu] (Galileo), 43

  “On the Absorption of Gases by Water and Other Liquids” (Dalton), 125–26

  “On the Constitution of Atoms and Molecules” (Bohr), 179

  “On the Heavens” (Aristotle), 23

  On the Magnet [De Magnete] (Gilbert), 38, 94–96

  On the Motion of Bodies in Orbit [De Motu corporum in gyrum] (Newton), 73–74

  “On the Nature of the Principle which Combines with Metals during Calcination and Increases their Weight” (Lavoisier), 121

  On the Nature of Things [De rerum natura] (Lucretius), 25

  On the Revolutions of Heavenly Spheres [De revolutionibus orbium coelestium] (Copernicus), 10, 36

  “On the Soul” (Aristotle), 23

  “On the Theory of Light and Colors” (Young), 110, 143

  “Opinions and Conjectures Concerning the Properties and Effects of the Electric Matter, arising from Experiments and Observations made at Philadelphia, 1749” (Franklin), 103–104, 105–106

  Opticks (Newton), 75, 76, 81, 83–87, 93, 96, 109, 147–48

  compared with Principia Mathematica, 83–84

  optogenetics, 234, 235–36

  orbits of planets. See celestial mechanics

  Oreme, Nicole, 59

  Orestes (governor of Alexandria), 33

  “Outlines of Experiments and Inquiries Respecting Sound and Light” (Young), 109, 142

  Oxford Dictionary, 240

  oxygen, 107, 118, 119, 121, 122, 128, 135, 136, 147

  in water, 126, 131, 137

  Pais, Abraham, 152–53, 158, 180, 181, 182–83, 194–95, 197, 206–207

  “Parallel Worlds,” 220

  Parkinson’s disease, 244, 254

  particle physics, 85–86

  particles

  alpha rays, 157

  having wave properties, 194

  infinitely divisible, 117–18

  of light (photons), 162–63, 181, 184

  Newton on, 122, 155

  subatomic particles, 149, 153, 204

  Partington, J. R., 121

  pattern recognition and robots, 233, 234

  Patterson, Clair, 217

  Patterson, Elizabeth C., 124–25

  Pauli, Wolfgang, 178, 184, 193, 196, 209–210, 227

  Paul III (pope), 36

  Paul V (pope), 47

  Peachell, John, 81–82

  perception, 50–52, 64–65

  and belief in an external world, 219, 223–24

  and the human brain, 237.

  See also senses

  Periodic Law (Meyer), 135, 147

  Periodic Table (Mendeleev), 135–37, 147, 188, 222.

  See also elements

  Perrin, Jean-Baptiste, 164, 174–75

  Petit, Alexis, 132–33, 134, 135

  Philolaus of Croton, 20, 29

  Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica (Newton). See Principia Mathematica (Newton)

  Philosophical Magazine, 153, 175, 177

>   Philosophical Transactions (Royal Society), 96, 98, 109, 142

  phlogiston theory of combustion, 100, 118–20, 121–22

  photons, 70, 84, 162, 163–64, 181, 184, 185–86, 206, 208, 209, 212, 224

  Physicae subterraneae (Becher), 119

  Physical Review (journal), 201

  physical world, composition of

  four elements of the physical world, 12, 20, 21, 23, 117, 190.

  See also atoms and atomism

  physics, 149

  and the atom, 173–217

  origins of modern atomism, 117–37

  future of, 219–56

  in the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries, 139–72

  nuclear physics, 140, 183, 213, 226

  “Physics” (Aristotle), 23

  Physics and Beyond: Encounters and Conversations (Heisenberg), 187

  Physics of the Future: How Science Will Shape Human Destiny and Our Daily Lives by the Year 2100 (Kaku), 222, 229–30

  Piccolomini, Ascanio, 59

  Planck, Max, 14, 65, 84, 160–64, 179–81, 184, 194, 199

  Planck’s constant, 162, 179, 180–81, 184–85, 192, 200

  theory of radiation, 179

  Planck as a unit of length, 226

  Planck telescope, 217

  Plato, 20, 21, 24, 27, 28, 37, 39, 109, 190

  “Pleiades” constellation, 11, 46

  Plücker, Julius, 148

  “plum pudding” model of the atom, 173, 179

  Podolsky, Boris, 201, 203.

  See also EPR article

  positivism, 154, 155

  Priestley, Joseph, 92–93, 107, 119–20, 121–22

  Principia Mathematica (Newton), 65, 66, 68, 72–79, 81, 83, 88, 164

  compared to Opticks, 83–84

  Preface to the First Edition, 74–76

  Scholium in, 76, 77, 79–80

  Prior Analytics, The (Aristotle), 22

  probability, 161, 197

  Proceedings of the Royal Society, 206

  projectile motion, 60

  Protestant denominations, 252

  protons, 13, 76, 118, 137, 174, 176–77, 209, 210, 212, 224, 226

  Proust, Joseph Louis, 122–23

  “psi” particle. See J/Y particle

  Ptolemaic dynasty, 27

  Ptolemy, 21, 23, 29

  Ptolemy I Sorter, 27

  Putin, Vladimir, 250

  Putnam, Hilary, 155

  Pythagoras of Samos, 19–20, 225

  Pythagoreans, 29, 36, 109, 190, 225

  QCD. See quantum chromodynamics (QCD)

  QED. See quantum electrodynamics (QED)

  “Quantization as an Eigenvalue Problem” (Schrödinger), 194

  quantum chemistry, 182–83

  quantum chromodynamics (QCD), 211–15

  quantum electrodynamics (QED), 206, 208–209, 210, 213

  quantum mechanics, 181, 190–91, 193, 204–206, 208, 219–20, 222–23

  and Bohr, 181, 184, 187, 201–202

  Bohr’s Institute’s impact on, 206

  Copenhagen Interpretation, 183, 203, 220

  duality of contrary properties, 185

  Einstein’s aversion to, 162, 183, 215

  future of, 228

  and matrix mechanics, 14, 186, 191, 192, 195, 196–97

  and Planck, 14, 65, 163

  quantum theory and interior of the atom, 179

  uncertainty principle in, 140, 171, 185, 198, 202.

  See also magnetism

  “Quantum Mechanics of Collision Phenomena” (Born), 197

  “quantum of energy,” 184, 219

  quarks, 24, 147, 208, 211, 212, 213, 214, 224, 226

  Queries of Newton. See Opticks (Newton)

  Quigg, Chris, 209

  Quinn, Helen, 214

  radiation, 149, 158, 173, 179–80, 243

  Balmer radiational formula, 180, 182, 206

  blackbody radiation, 70, 84, 158–59, 160–61, 163, 182, 184, 185–86

  electromagnetic radiation, 70, 145, 180, 185

  electron radiation, 182

  identification of, 149–52, 156

  and light, 70, 85

  Planck’s theory of radiation, 160, 162–63, 179

  radioactivity, 151–52, 156, 157–58, 170, 175–76, 178–79, 182, 212, 217

  Rayleigh, Lord (John William Strutt), 166

  Rayleigh-Jeans Law, 159–60

  relativity, theories of, 14, 65, 81, 163, 168, 181, 206, 226

  general theory of relativity, 140, 168, 171, 226

  special theory of relativity, 77, 145, 163, 164, 166, 169, 203, 226

  religiousness

  reasons for, 248–49

  in static societies, 253

  Republic (Plato), 109

  Review of Modern Physics (journal), 205

  Reynolds, Joshua, 240

  Ricci, Ostilio, 43

  Richter, Burton, 211, 213

  RNA, 243, 244, 250

  Robinson, Elihu, 123

  robotics, 15, 231–32, 233–34, 240–41

  and prosthesis, 239

  simulating human behavior, 234–35

  Roemer, Olaf, 75, 142

  Roller, Duane and Duane H. D., 96, 106–107, 108

  Röntgen, Wilhelm, 150, 156

  Rosen, Nathan, 201, 203.

  See also EPR article

  Rosenberg, Alex, 229, 246–48

  Royal Institution, 113, 131, 135

  Royal Society, 66, 68, 72, 74, 99, 102, 107, 113, 153

  Newton as president, 83, 88, 96–97

  Philosophical Transactions, 96, 98, 109, 142

  Proceedings of the Royal Society, 206

  Rubbia, Carlo, 213

  Rudolph II, 41

  Rudolphine Tables [Tabula Rudophinæ](Kepler), 41

  Rufus of Ephesus, 32

  Rühmkorff, Heinrich, 149

  Russell, Bertrand, 155

  Rutherford, Ernest, 140, 155–59, 173–77, 178–79, 183

  “Rutherford Memorandum” (Bohr), 179

  Rydberg’s constant, 182

  Ryle, Gilbert, 155

  Sagan, Carl, 18, 89–90, 115, 251–52

  Sagredo, 12, 53–58

  Salem, Abdus, 213

  Salviati, 12, 53–58

  Sarpi, Paolo, 44

  Sarsi, Lothario of Siguenza. See Grassi, Orazio

  Saturn, 11, 37, 45, 56

  Scheele, Carl Wilhelm, 119

  Scheiner, Christopher, 47

  Scholasticism, 23, 42, 53

  Schrödinger, Erwin, 178, 184, 186, 192, 193–99, 206, 207

  Schwinger, Julian, 208, 211, 214

  Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI), 14

  Segrè, Emilio, 156, 161, 162, 175, 198–99

  senses, 11, 48, 50–52, 109, 203, 217.

  See also perception

  SETI. See Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI)

  Shaky Game: Einstein Realism and the Quantum Theory, The (Fine), 222

  Sidereus Nuncius [The Starry Messenger] (Galileo), 11, 44–45, 46–47

  Simplicius, 12, 53–58

  Sklodowska, Marya. See Curie, Marie

  SLAC. See Stanford Linear Accelerator (SLAC)

  Sloane, Hans, 88

  Socrates, 22

  Soddy, Frederick, 157, 158

  solar model of the atom. See atoms and atomism

  solar system, 38, 168

  center of solar system. See geocentrism; heliocentrism

  and planetary orbits. See celestial mechanics

  time for revolutions of planets, 54.

  See also names of planets, i.e., Jupiter, Mars, Venus, etc.; sun

  solar year, length of, 20

  Sommerfeld, Arnold, 183, 187

  Bohr-Sommerfeld quantum conditions, 190

  space, 76, 93, 111, 114, 169–70

  luminiferous ether filling space, 85

  multidimensional hyperspace, 227

  red shift of light waves in outer space, 141

  space-distance between two events,
168

  space flight, 140, 229

  space-time

  absolute space and time cosmological theory, 13, 63, 76, 77, 140, 164–65, 166, 198

  Einstein on, 140, 141, 145, 167, 168, 188, 203

  space time interval, 168

  “twins paradox,” 169–70

  spectral analysis, 148–49, 159, 182

  spin, 204–206, 207, 209–210

  stability

  atomic stability, 175, 186, 188

  of the elements, 132

  in nature, 187–89

  of the sun, 48, 49, 58

  Stahl, George Ernest, 119

  STAIR (robot), 233

  Stalin, Joseph, 250

  “Standard Theory” of Feynman and Gell-Mann, 211, 222

  Stanford Linear Accelerator (SLAC), 211, 213

  Starry Messenger, The [Sidereus Nuncius] (Galileo), 11, 44–45, 46–47

  static societies, 251, 253, 254

  Stefan’s law, 162

  stem cell research, 245–46

  Stern, Otto, 183

  Stern-Gerlach experiment, 209

  Stevens, J. Christopher, 250

  Stoney, George, 154

  Strange Beauty (Johnson), 217

  “strangeness,” 212

  string theory, 15, 220–21, 225–28

  “heterotic string theory,” 227

  superstring theory, 225

  strong force, 171, 212, 213, 214

  “Structure for Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid, A” (Watson and Crick), 242–43

  “Structure of the Atom, The” (Rutherford), 175

  Strutt, John William. See Rayleigh, Lord (John William Strutt)

  Stukeley, William, 68

  “Subatomic Particle Is Breakthrough in Understanding [the] Basics of the Universe” (Washington Post), 221

  subatomic particles, 149–54, 155–59, 162–64, 173–217, 204, 211–15

  having wave properties, 194–98

  modern atomism

  study of structure and subatomic particles, 162–64

  WIMPs, 224–25, 228.

  See also baryons; bosons; “charm”; electrons; fermions; gluons; gravitons; hadrons; Higgs boson; J/Y particle; leptons; mesons; neutrinos; neutrons; particles, i.e., electrons, protons, bosons, leptons, etc.; photons; protons; quantum mechanics; quarks; “strangeness”

  sun, 14, 38, 56, 73, 108–109, 142

  as center of solar system, 11, 12, 20–21, 29, 36, 37, 38–40, 45, 48, 49, 53–58, 109. See also geocentrism; heliocentrism

  distance from, 40, 68, 75

  gravitational force of, 55, 64, 75, 168

  length of a solar year, 20

  orbits of planets around, 20–21

  circular orbits, 29, 36–37, 43, 55, 78

  elliptical orbits, 10–11, 38–39, 43, 53, 55, 68, 73, 78

  rising and setting of, 20, 54

  stability of, 48, 49, 58

  sun spots, 47, 53, 58.

  See also geocentrism; heliocentrism; solar system

  superconducting collider, funding in US cut for, 228–29

 

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