Física

Mathematics — The Language of Science

Science and human conditions advanced dramatically after the integration of science and
mathematics some four centuries ago. When the ideas of science are expressed in mathematical
terms, they are unambiguous. The equations of science provide compact expressions of
relationships between concepts. They don’t have the multiple meanings that so often confuse the
discussion of ideas expressed in common language. When findings in nature are expressed
mathematically, they are easier to verify or to disprove by experiment. The mathematical
structure of physics will be evident in the many equations you will encounter throughout this
book. The equations are guides to thinking that show the connections between concepts in
nature. The methods of mathematics and experimentation led to enormous success in science.

Science, Art, and Religion

The search for order and meaning in the world around us has taken different forms: One is
science, another is art, and another is religion. Although the roots of all three go back thousands of
years, the traditions of science are relatively recent. More important, the domains of science, art,
and religion are different, although they often overlap. Science is principally engaged in
discovering and recording natural phenomena, the arts are concerned with personal
interpretation and creative expression, and religion addresses the source, purpose, and meaning
of it all.

Science and the arts are comparable. In the art of literature, we discover what is possible in human
experience. We can learn about emotions ranging from anguish to love, even if we haven’t
experienced them. The arts do not necessarily give us those experiences, but they describe them
to us and suggest what may be possible for us. Science tells us what is possible in nature. Scientific
knowledge helps us to predict possibilities in nature even before those possibilities have been
experienced. It provides us with a way of connecting things, of seeing relationships between and
among them, and of making sense of the great variety of natural events around us. Science
broadens our perspective of nature. A knowledge of both the arts and the sciences makes for a
wholeness that affects the way we view the world and the decisions we make about the world and
ourselves. A truly educated person is knowledgeable in both the arts and the sciences. Science and
religion have similarities also, but they are basically different—principally because their domains
are different. The domain of science is natural order; the domain of religion is nature’s purpose.
Religious beliefs and practices usually involve faith in, and worship of, a supreme being and the
creation of human community—not the practices of science. In this respect, science and religion
are as different as apples and oranges: They are two different yet complementary fields of human
activity.
When we study the nature of light later in this book, we will treat light first as a wave and then as
a particle. To the person who knows a little bit about science, waves and particles are
contradictory; light can be only one or the other, and we have to choose between them. But to the
enlightened person, waves and particles complement each other and provide a deeper
understanding of light. In a similar way, it is mainly people who are either uninformed or
misinformed about the deeper natures of both science and religion who feel that they must
choose between believing in religion and believing in science. Unless one has a shallow
understanding of either or both, there is no contradiction in being religious and being scientific in
one’s thinking.

Many people are troubled about not knowing the answers to religious and philosophical
questions. Some avoid uncertainty by uncritically accepting almost any comforting answer. An
important message in science, however, is that uncertainty is acceptable. For example, in Chapter
31 you’ll learn that it is not possible to know with certainty both the momentum and position of
an electron in an atom. The more you know about one, the less you can know about the other.
Uncertainty is a part of the scientific process. It’s okay not to know the answers to fundamental
questions. Why are apples gravitationally attracted to Earth? Why do electrons repel one another?
Why do magnets interact with other magnets? Why does energy have mass? At the deepest level,
scientists don’t know the answers to these questions—at least not yet. We know a lot about
where we are, but nothing really about why we are. It’s okay not to know the answers to such
religious questions. Given a choice between a closed mind with comforting answers and an open
and exploring mind without answers, most scientists choose the latter. Scientists in general are
comfortable with not knowing.

Science and Technology

Science and technology are also different from each other. Science is concerned with gathering
knowledge and organizing it. Technology is applied science, used by technologists and engineers
for practical purposes. It also provides the tools needed by scientists in their further explorations.
Technology is a double-edged sword that can be both helpful and harmful. We have the
technology, for example, to extract fossil fuels from the ground and then to burn the fossil fuels
for the production of energy. Energy production from fossil fuels has benefited our society in
countless ways. On the flip side, the burning of fossil fuels endangers the environment. It is
tempting to blame technology itself for problems such as pollution, resource depletion, and even
overpopulation. These problems, however, are not the fault of technology any more than a
shotgun wound is the fault of the shotgun. It is humans who use the technology, and humans who
are responsible for how it is used.

Remarkably, we already possess the technology to solve many environmental problems. This 21st
century is seeing a switch from fossil fuels to more sustainable energy sources, such as
photovoltaics, solar thermal electricity generation, and biomass conversion. Whereas the paper in
the printed version of this book came from trees, paper will soon come from fast-growing weeds,
with less needed as electronic screens gain popularity. We are recycling more and more waste
products. In some parts of the world, progress is being made on stemming the human population
explosion that aggravates almost every problem faced by humans today. We live on a finite planet
and more of us are acknowledging Earth’s population carrying capacity. The greatest obstacle to
solving today’s problems lies more with social inertia than with a lack of technology. Technology is
our tool. What we do with this tool is up to us. The promise of technology is a cleaner and
healthier world. Wise applications of technology can lead to a better world.

Physics — The Basic Science

Science, once called natural philosophy, encompasses the study of living things and nonliving
things, the life sciences and the physical sciences. The life sciences include biology, zoology, and
botany. The physical sciences include geology, astronomy, chemistry, and physics.

Physics is more than a part of the physical sciences. It is the basic science. It’s about the nature of
basic things such as motion, forces, energy, matter, heat, sound, light, and the structure of atoms.
Chemistry is about how matter is put together, how atoms combine to form molecules, and how
the molecules combine to make up the many kinds of matter around us. Biology is more complex
and involves matter that is alive. So underneath biology is chemistry, and underneath chemistry is
physics. The concepts of physics reach up to these more complicated sciences. That’s why physics
is the most basic science. An understanding of science begins with an understanding of physics.
The following chapters present physics conceptually so that you can enjoy understanding it.

SUMMARY OF TERMS (KNOWLEDGE)

Scientific method: Principles and procedures for the systematic pursuit of knowledge involving the
recognition and formulation of a problem, the collection of data through observation and
experiment, and the formulation and testing of hypotheses.

Hypothesis: An educated guess; a reasonable explanation of an observation or experimental result

Scientific attitude: The scientific method inclined toward inquiry, integrity, and humility.

Fact: A statement about the world that competent observers who have made a series of
observations agree on.

Law: A general hypothesis or statement about the relationship of natural quantities that has been
tested over and over again and has not been contradicted. Also known as a principle.

Theory: A synthesis of a large body of information that encompasses well-tested and verified
hypotheses about certain aspects of the natural world.

Pseudoscience: Fake science that pretends to be real science.

Science, Art, and Religion

7. Why are students of the arts encouraged to learn about science and science students
encouraged to learn about the arts?

17. Must people choose between science and religion?

18. Psychological comfort is a benefit of having solid answers to religious questions. What benefit
accompanies a position of not knowing the answers?

Science and Technology

19. Clearly distinguish between science and technology.

Physics— The Basic Science

20. Why does an understanding of science begin with an understanding of physics?

THINK AND EXPLAIN (SYNTHESIS)

23. Give one example of a scientific theory that has undergone change over time.

24. Which of the following are scientific hypotheses?

(a) Chlorophyll makes grass green. (b) Earth rotates about its axis because living things need an
alternation of light and darkness. (c) Tides are caused by the Moon.

25. In answer to the question, “When a plant grows, where does the material come from?”
Aristotle hypothesized by logic that all material came from the soil. Do you consider his hypothesis
to be correct, incorrect, or partially correct? What experiments do you propose to support your
choice?

26. When you step from the shade into the sunlight, the Sun’s heat is as evident as the heat from
hot coals in a fireplace in an otherwise cold room. You feel the Sun’s heat not because of its high
temperature (higher temperatures can be found in some welder’s torches) but because the Sun is
big. Which do you estimate is larger: the Sun’s radius or the distance between the Moon and
Earth? Check your answer in the list of physical data on the inside back cover. Do you find your
answer surprising?

27. If a hypothesis cannot be proved wrong does that mean it is scientific?

29. If Earth were smaller than it is, but the Alexandria-to-Syene distance were the same, would the
shadow of the vertical pillar in Alexandria be longer or shorter at noon during the summer
solstice?

THINK AND DISCUSS (EVALUATION)

30. The great philosopher and mathematician Bertrand Russell (1872–1970) wrote about ideas in
the early part of his life that he rejected in the latter part of his life. Discuss with your classmates
whether you see this as a sign of weakness or as a sign of strength in Bertrand Russell. (Do you
speculate that your present ideas about the world around you will change as you learn and
experience more, or do you speculate that further knowledge and experience will solidify your
present understanding?)

31. Bertrand Russell wrote, “I think we must retain the belief that scientific knowledge is one of
the glories of man. I will not maintain that knowledge can never do harm. I think such general
propositions can almost always be refuted by well-chosen examples. What I will maintain—and
maintain vigorously—is that knowledge is very much more often useful than harmful and that fear
of knowledge is very much more often harmful than useful.” Discuss with your friends examples to
support this statement.

32. Your favorite young relative is wondering whether to join a large and growing group in the
community, mainly to make new friends. Your advice is sought. Before replying, you learn that the
group’s charismatic leader tells followers, “Okay, this is how we operate: First, you should NEVER
question anything I tell you. Second, you should NEVER question what you read in our literature.”
What advice do you offer?