5. Mathematics and Physics
Here, I have to mention mathematics. Mathematics as a tool, often scientists must use, it is the use of mathematical tools to make a lot of abstract physical knowledge easy to interpret; that is, an important means of physics is to use mathematical tools to describe physical phenomena and propose mathematical expressions that can be quantitatively calculated. For example, Sommerfeld often used mathematical knowledge to explain physical phenomena, and won many Nobel Prize-level results, and his peers at that time called him "a mathematician among physicists, a physicist among mathematicians"; Born used the matrix as a mathematical tool to study the laws of atomic systems and founded matrix mechanics, which solved the problems about atomic theory that the old quantum theory could not solve; Neumann developed Hilbert's theory of operators through the study of unbounded operators. He made up for the lack of dirac's mathematical treatment of quantum theory, and wrote the classic "Mathematical Basis of Quantum Mechanics", which was repeatedly published in German, French, English and other languages, and had great influence.
Galileo Galileo once said, "This great book of nature is written in mathematical language." If you don't understand the language of the universe, no one can read the great book of the universe, and this language is the language of mathematics. The famous British physicist Sir James Kings once said: "God is a pure mathematician!" Einstein commented on the relationship between mathematics and physics: "Pure mathematics may be a way to solve the mysteries of physics." Heisenberg said: "We can't help but believe that mathematical forms are correct, that they reveal the true meaning of nature." In short, mathematics can be said to be the basis for solving scientific problems, but mathematics is not the basis for discovering and understanding scientific problems, it is only a tool that can effectively solve all kinds of complex physical problems.
In fact, some of the great figures in the history of science have never doubted that mathematics and physics are intertwined and inseparable. There was a great deal of communication between mathematics and physics, and Gauss, Riemann, and Poincaré all believed that physics was an important source of new mathematics, and mathematics was the language of physics. Mathematics and physics complement each other and promote each other. For example, crystalline matter is made up of an indivisible, identical block, a mosaic that is repeatedly constructed, and we now know that these building blocks are actually clusters of atoms or molecules. But the connection between mathematics and actual crystals was in the 19th century, when doubts were still being held about the theory of the atom. To this end, the physicist Eugene Paul Wigner wrote "The Irrational Effectiveness of Mathematics in the Natural Sciences", which specifically discussed the importance of mathematics to physics. High-dimensional theories such as superstring theory have taken mathematics to a new level; even mathematicians claim that superstring theory should be studied as a branch of mathematics, not purely physical theory. The development of the field of physics is inseparable from mathematics, and the development of the field of physics in turn will also promote the development of mathematics; many mathematicians have created new mathematical theories when discussing physical problems; such as Gauss, Euler and others.
Mathematicians and physicists
Traditionally, mathematicians and physicists have been inseparable since Greek times; many great scientists were also great mathematicians, such as Snyer, Descartes, Pascal, Newton, Laplace, Fourier, Gauss, Lagrange, and Poincaré. Newton and his contemporaries never made a distinct distinction between mathematics and physics, calling themselves natural philosophers and interested in the worlds of mathematics, physics, and philosophy.
In order to discover major scientific problems or solve major physics problems, physicists need a keen perspective on problems, innovative ideas to solve problems, determination to challenge authority, and perseverance to overcome difficulties; many great physicists have this ability and excellent quality. For example, Ms. Meyer, the second female Nobel laureate in history, in the case of not getting a penny of salary for many years, dared to challenge the authoritative and famous physicist Nils Bohr in 1935 proposed the "nuclear droplet model", with a keen perspective and strong mathematical knowledge, proposed a mathematical model of the shell structure of the atomic core, thoroughly explaining "why a specific number of nuclei make the atomic nucleus particularly stable" This puzzled physicist for a long time, and won the 1963 Nobel Prize in Physics in World War I. The use of mathematical tools solves the problems that plague physicists.
7. Content characteristics
In general popular science works, there are some orthodox knowledge, especially there are many formulas, which make people look a little difficult, which affects the interest in reading. There is also some slightly orthodox knowledge in this work, please do not get bored with the reader, after all, this scientific knowledge has changed our lives, and even today we can see their shadows in our daily work and life. In order to attract everyone's interest in reading, the author himself combined with daily life, try to use simple language to describe complex physical phenomena and physical theories, try to use relaxed text plus a little bit of scientist gossip news to attract everyone, I hope that readers and friends can like physics in a relaxed language environment, fall in love with physics.
In addition to letting readers and friends understand the life anecdotes and inspirational stories of these great scientists, they can also learn a lot of physical knowledge; although it is a very simple and not very professional introduction, the author believes that through the description of these physical knowledge, readers and friends can broaden their horizons and increase their knowledge. Of course, the work also involves the issue of family education, and many places mention the great influence of scientists' tutoring on them, so the readers of this book can also be expanded to parents and friends; I hope that parents and friends can learn from the successful experience of educating children. If you can learn from it, think deeply and precipitate your thoughts, it will have more or less influence and enlightenment on the life of the reader himself or his family.
VIII. Limitations of History
Without taking into account the context of their time, it is difficult to judge their academic contributions, and it is difficult to recognize their greatness; even from the present point of view, some of their contributions can be said to be insignificant, wrong, and stupid. After all, everyone has its cognitive limitations in the context of the special era in which they live, which is also a universal law.
Rukibber and Democritus certainly could not have imagined that atoms could be further decomposed, because now people with a higher education level in junior high school know that atoms can be further divided into protons, neutrons, and electrons, and if we look at Rukibber and Democritus's disciples from the current point of view, we must conclude that they are fools. Nor could Aristotle and Ptolemy imagine that the Earth revolved around the Sun, as their geocentric theory influenced the Western world for more than 1,500 years. Copernicus could not recognize that there were many galaxies beyond the solar system; Huygens might not have imagined that light would be not just waves but also particles, with wave-particle duality; and Newton could not have imagined that the classical mechanics he had founded would not be applicable.
Yes, in the era of cattle and horse-drawn carriages, how could it be thought that there would be cars, trains, planes, and rockets in the future? In the era of kerosene lamps, how could it be that there would be electric lights and telephones in the future? How could one have anticipated the convenience of telegram and e-mail in the days of the postman? How could one imagine before World War II that a bomb could form a mushroom cloud and easily destroy a city? People before the 1960s wouldn't have recognized the existence of six quarks inside atoms; scientists in the 1970s, before Rubin confirmed the existence of dark matter, wouldn't have imagined that the universe was mostly made up of invisible and untouchable dark matter.
This is the limitation that history brings to us, and it is precisely because of this limitation that people are prompted to seek truth and seek knowledge, to gradually progress in science, and to have talented scientists influence the whole world and change our lives and even our thoughts with their great discoveries and inventions. See, this is the magic of science, this is the surprise that physicists bring us; this is why we look at the main basis of physicists' academic contributions and academic influence in a specific historical context.