Do you love nature? Then you would love physics!
The word physics is etymologically derived from the Greek word physis, which means nature. The word science is derived from the Latin word sciente, which means knowledge. As a branch of science, then physics means the knowledge of nature. Physics help us to better understand the world around us, both visible and invisible realm, such as matter, energy, motion, force, space, time, and atoms.
Physics has two major branches: classical physics and modern physics. Modern physics is about 120 years old now, so I am not sure would it still be called modern physics after four-five centuries. Classical physics covers the study of motion and energy of macro-scale mechanistic objects with slow speeds, along with optics, acoustics, thermodynamics, and electromagnetism. For instance, the motion of a running person or a space rocket, energy exchange of a hot coffee in room temperature. Modern physics covers the study of the notions of space and time, micro-scale objects such as particles smaller than atoms, and super-fast particles moving with speeds close to the speed of light. Modern physics allowed us to make technological innovations such as smartphones, laptops, lasers, GPS devices, and MRI machines.
Classical physics, in other words Newtonian mechanics, provides a successful approximation based on a set of laws about how things work in the macro-scale world. So far classical physics allowed us to build mechanisms, such as engines, cars, and space rockets and practically made our lives easier. However, classical mechanics is valid only for macro-scale mechanistic systems and offers solutions only with approximations; and thus can not provide an ultimate understanding of the inquiry of how the world and the universe work.
Around four centuries after the hegemony of the Newtonian laws, in late 1800s, scientists discovered another set of rules, which to their surprise did not align with Newtonian laws. They called it modern physics. Modern physics includes two main areas of scientific inquiry: Quantum Physics and Relativity. Modern physics did not rule out the laws of classical physics, but it provided a whole new perspective to understand unexplored aspects of reality. Just like classical physics, modern physics sets a milestone as a scientific revolution in the history of science.
Classical physics was like a tamed carriage horse with its linear approach and predictable nature. This monolithic predictability created a sense of safety in the study of classical physics. The realm of classical physics was observable, measurable, accessible to five senses; thus there was not so much big surprises, it does the job, serves the purpose.
Then around late 1800s a wild horse joined the farm; modern physics. Modern physics was the rebellious wild horse of the farm. First of all, nobody could understand what this rebellious horse would come up with; it was definitely not linear, not predictable. Every new discovery in modern science was controversial to the previously well-defined science framework. Modern physics was a source of astonishment and disbelief even for the scientists who made discoveries in relativity and quantum mechanics. This rebellious horse did not follow any of the classical rules, it was making its own rules in its own framework and scientists had to obey this whole new set of rules.
Did you know that the first generation modern physicists had a hard time to accept and agree with their own scientific discoveries, which did not make sense at all due to the counter-intuitive nature of discoveries?
This rebellious horse, modern physics, enabled a paradigm shift in the history of scientific enterprise and ultimately altered our understanding about the world, and reality.
What does paradigm shift mean to you?
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