Table of Contents
Table of Contents
"Ten Experiments that Shocked Physics"
INTRODUCTION
HERTZ AND ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVES
MICHELSON, MORLEY AND LUMINIFEROUS ETHER
EINSTEIN AND TIME
RUTHERFORD AND THE ATOMS
EDDINGTON AND THE CURVED SPACE-TIME
YOUNG AND THE TWO SLOTS
FERMI AND THE NUCLEI
PENZIAS AND THE COSMIC RADIATION
RUBBIA AND THE ELECTROWEAK THEORY
THE SUPER KAMIOKANDE AND THE FAILED UNIFICATIONS
"Ten Experiments that Shocked Physics"
"Ten Experiments that Shocked Physics"
SIMONE MALACRIDA
In this book, ten experiments that led to a radical change in physical and scientific theories, starting from what happened in the late nineteenth century and ending in the late twentieth century, are set out in great detail.
These experiments are described first by focusing on the problem that prompted the testing of that very experimental apparatus, then by describing the solution found, and finally by exposing the consequence
Simone Malacrida (1977)
Engineer and writer, has worked on research, finance, energy policy and industrial plants.
ANALYTICAL INDEX
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INTRODUCTION
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I – HERTZ AND THE ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVES
The initial problem
The experimental solution
The consequences
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II - MICHELSON, MORLEY AND LUMINIFEROUS ETHER
The initial problem
The experimental solution
The consequences
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III - EINSTEIN AND TIME
The initial problem
The experimental solution
The consequences
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IV - RUTHERFORD AND THE ATOMS
The initial problem
The experimental solution
The consequences
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V - EDDINGTON AND THE CURVED SPACE-TIME
The initial problem
The experimental solution
The consequences
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VI - YOUNG AND THE TWO FEN D ITURES
The initial problem
The experimental solution
The consequences
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VII - STOP AND THE CORE
The initial problem
The experimental solution
The consequences
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VIII - PENZIAS AND CO SMIC RADIATION
The initial problem
The experimental solution
The consequences
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IX - RUBBIA AND THE ELECTROWEAK THEORY
The initial problem
The experimental solution
The consequences
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X - THE SUPER KAMIOKANDE AND THE UNIFICATIONS FAILED
The initial problem
The experimental solution
The consequences
INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION
The history of science, and in particular the history of physics, has not continued in a linear fashion during the unfolding of the events of human civilization.
It can be said that, for the majority of its existence, Homo sapiens ignored the scientific foundations underlying Nature.
Even among the ancient civilizations that paid greater attention to natural and astronomical phenomena, science had progressed more by imitation and logic than by a path that we consider essential today: the experimental one.
Modern science, as we conceive it today, was born very late in the history of humanity, roughly between the end of the sixteenth century and the beginning of the seventeenth century, mainly through the work of Galileo Galilei.
We owe Galileo the introduction of the experimental method, the only one able to refute or confirm a theory from the quantitative point of view given by the mathematical formalism.
Since that time the importance of experiments has remained central to physics.
It can be said that a scientific theory must, inevitably, pass the test of experimentation in order to be called such.
Therefore, focusing on the last four centuries, we can see how the path has often been determined by sudden accelerations.
We are dealing with those fundamental passages in science, which in other fields are called "revolutions", which bring the same destructive charge with respect to the previous schemes and a new vitality for future knowledge.
In this book, we focus on just a few of these experiments.
Why only some?
For the simple reason that listing all the groundbreaking experiments would amount to a veritable encyclopedia.
Ten have been chosen (but they could very well have been twelve, fifteen etc) at the total discretion of the author.
Thus, to confirm the quantum theory, Young's experiment on the two slits was chosen, while some could safely object by bringing other experimental evidence.
In particular, we wanted to focus on what happened from the second half of the nineteenth century until the end of the twentieth century.
A "long" century, about 120 years, which brought together such a quantity of physical revolutions as to leave one stunned.
This does not mean that what was discovered before the nineteenth century was not equally decisive, but only that we wanted to make a precise choice in terms of time period.
Similarly, nothing of what happened in the Twenty-first Century is reported, but not because there have not been revolutionary experiments (just think of what is happening at CERN in Geneva with the LHC particle accelerator), but rather because the adventure told in this book ends, with an almost perfect coincidence, with the end of the twentieth century.
To understand what we are going to expose, some mathematical and physical prerequisites are necessary, in particular to understand the equations and formulas exposed.
I
HERTZ AND ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVES
HERTZ AND ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVES
Impressum
Verlag: BookRix GmbH & Co. KG
Tag der Veröffentlichung: 20.04.2023
ISBN: 978-3-7554-3964-6
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