Golden Age of physics
Encyclopedia
Physics
Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...
sciences, and this includes the previous and current developments of cosmology
Cosmology
Cosmology is the discipline that deals with the nature of the Universe as a whole. Cosmologists seek to understand the origin, evolution, structure, and ultimate fate of the Universe at large, as well as the natural laws that keep it in order...
, and astronomy
Astronomy
Astronomy is a natural science that deals with the study of celestial objects and phenomena that originate outside the atmosphere of Earth...
. Each "golden age" introduces significant advancements in theoretical and experimental methods. Discernable time periods marking a "golden age" of advancements are, for example, the development of mechanics under Galileo (1564–1642), and Newton
Isaac Newton
Sir Isaac Newton PRS was an English physicist, mathematician, astronomer, natural philosopher, alchemist, and theologian, who has been "considered by many to be the greatest and most influential scientist who ever lived."...
(1642–1727). Another small epoch seen as a golden age is the unification of electricity, magnetism, and optics because of 19th century notables; Faraday
Michael Faraday
Michael Faraday, FRS was an English chemist and physicist who contributed to the fields of electromagnetism and electrochemistry....
, Maxwell
James Clerk Maxwell
James Clerk Maxwell of Glenlair was a Scottish physicist and mathematician. His most prominent achievement was formulating classical electromagnetic theory. This united all previously unrelated observations, experiments and equations of electricity, magnetism and optics into a consistent theory...
, and others.
Significant advancements in methods of investigation were introduced for celestial mechanics
Celestial mechanics
Celestial mechanics is the branch of astronomy that deals with the motions of celestial objects. The field applies principles of physics, historically classical mechanics, to astronomical objects such as stars and planets to produce ephemeris data. Orbital mechanics is a subfield which focuses on...
, which includes realizing a universal gravitational force, with the introduction of the telescope
Telescope
A telescope is an instrument that aids in the observation of remote objects by collecting electromagnetic radiation . The first known practical telescopes were invented in the Netherlands at the beginning of the 1600s , using glass lenses...
. Basing mechanics
Kinematics
Kinematics is the branch of classical mechanics that describes the motion of bodies and systems without consideration of the forces that cause the motion....
on expermental results was possible with the development of devices that could measure time, and tools for measuring distance. The advances in electromagnetism
Electromagnetism
Electromagnetism is one of the four fundamental interactions in nature. The other three are the strong interaction, the weak interaction and gravitation...
in the 19th century enamored physicists, as another golden age closed, and there was a reluctance to perceive further advancement. Hence, the progress of one era, termed a "golden age" has appeared to mark the completion of physics as a science. Yet, this perception has turned out to be erroneous. For example, around 1980 Stephen Hawking predicted the end of theoretical physics
Theoretical physics
Theoretical physics is a branch of physics which employs mathematical models and abstractions of physics to rationalize, explain and predict natural phenomena...
within 20 years. Around 2001, he amended his prediction to twenty years from that year. Stephen Weinberg predicts a unified physics by 2050. Tadeusz Lulek, Barbara Lulek, and A. Wal - the authors of a 2001 book - believed themseleves to be at the beginning of a new "golden age of physics".
Paul Davies
Paul Davies
Paul Charles William Davies, AM is an English physicist, writer and broadcaster, currently a professor at Arizona State University as well as the Director of BEYOND: Center for Fundamental Concepts in Science...
notes that whilst "many elderly scientists" may regard the first 30 years of the 20th century as a golden age of physics, historians may well, instead, regard it to be the dawning days of "the New Physics".
The golden age of physics was the 19th century. According to Emilio Segrè, in Italy it came to an end in the 18th century after the time of Alessandro Volta
Alessandro Volta
Count Alessandro Giuseppe Antonio Anastasio Gerolamo Umberto Volta was a Lombard physicist known especially for the invention of the battery in 1800.-Early life and works:...
. He reported in his autobiography that Enrico Fermi
Enrico Fermi
Enrico Fermi was an Italian-born, naturalized American physicist particularly known for his work on the development of the first nuclear reactor, Chicago Pile-1, and for his contributions to the development of quantum theory, nuclear and particle physics, and statistical mechanics...
felt that it was coming to an end in 1933. The golden age of physics began with the simultaneous discovery of the principle of the conservation of energy
Conservation of energy
The nineteenth century law of conservation of energy is a law of physics. It states that the total amount of energy in an isolated system remains constant over time. The total energy is said to be conserved over time...
in the mid 19th century. The golden age of physics was the years 1925 to 1927. The golden age of nonlinear physics was the period from 1950 to 1970, encompassing the Fermi–Pasta–Ulam problem
Fermi–Pasta–Ulam problem
In physics, the Fermi–Pasta–Ulam problem or FPU problem was the apparent paradox in chaos theory that many complicated enough physical systems exhibited almost exactly periodic behavior instead of ergodic behavior. One of the resolutions of the paradox includes the insight that many non-linear...
and others. This followed the golden age of nuclear physics which had spanned the two decades from the mid-1930s to the mid-1950s. The golden age of physics started at the end of the 1920s.
The golden age of physics cabinets was the 18th century, with the rise of such lecturer-demonstrators as John Keill
John Keill
John Keill was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, and was primarilya mathematician and important disciple of Isaac Newton. He studied at Edinburgh University, under David Gregory, and obtained his bachelors degree in 1692 with a distinction in physics and mathematics...
, John Theophilus Desaguliers
John Theophilus Desaguliers
John Theophilus Desaguliers was a natural philosopher born in France. He was a member of the Royal Society of London beginning 29 July 1714. He was presented with the Royal Society's highest honour, the Copley Medal, in 1734, 1736 and 1741, with the 1741 award being for his discovery of the...
, and William Whiston
William Whiston
William Whiston was an English theologian, historian, and mathematician. He is probably best known for his translation of the Antiquities of the Jews and other works by Josephus, his A New Theory of the Earth, and his Arianism...
who all invented new physics apparatus for their lectures.