Physics the sun. Many of his studies were

Physics the sun. Many of his studies were

Physics began when man first started to study his surroundings. Early applications of physics include the invention of the wheel and of primitive weapons. The people who built Stone Henge had knowledge of physical mechanics in order to move the rocks and place them on top of each other. It was not until during the period of Greek culture that the first systematic treatment of physics started with the use of mechanics. Thales is often said to have been the first scientist, and the first Greek philosopher.

He was an astronomer, merchant and mathematician, and after visiting Egypt he is said to have originated the science of deductive geometry. He also discovered theorems of elementary geometry and is said to have correctly predicted an eclipse of the sun. Many of his studies were in astronomy but he also observed static electricity. Pythagoras was a Greek philosopher. He discovered simple numerical ratios relating the musical tones of major consonances, to the length of the strings used in sounding them.

The Pythagorean theorem was named after him, although this fundamental statements of deductive geometry was most likely first an idea from Egyptian methods of measurements. Aristotle was the most important scientific philosopher in Greece. He believed that all matter on earth consisted of four pure substances or elements, which were earth, air, fire, and water. He also believed that the earth was the centre of the universe, and that anything beyond the earth consisted of a fifth pure substance called quintessence. Archimedes was an inventor and mathematician, who discovered several basic scientific principles and developed a number of measuring techniques.

Ptolemy was an Egyptian astronomer. He developed a model for predicting the positions of the sun, moon, stars, and planets. Like Aristotle, he believed that the earth was the center of the universe.

Between 400 AD. and 1000 AD. Most educated people in Western Europe looked to religion rather than scientific investigation to answer their questions about the laws of nature. At the same time Arabic scholars were correcting Ptolemy system of astronomy and performing experiments in optics and mechanics. As trade increased between Arab countries and western countries, their work and Greek scientific documents became available to western culture. During the 1200’s St.

Thomas Aquinas reconciled Aristotle’s beliefs with church principles. During this time Roger Bacon an English scholar conducted studies in optics. During the Renaissance there were many social, economic and political changes that produced new approaches to science. The famous Italian painter Leonardo da Vinci conducted studies in motion and hydraulics. The polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus proposed a system in which the sun was placed at the centre of the universe and the earth was one of the planets orbiting the sun. Gerhard Herzberg received a Nobel Prize for his studies of the ways atoms and molecules give off and absorb light. The Alouette satellites, which were launched in the 1960s, have helped Physicists to study matter high above the earth’s surface.

At the turn of the twentieth century the understanding of the physical universe changed completely when Antoine Henri Becquerel and Wilhelm Roentgen discovered radioactivity and x-rays. A general, theoretical picture for the generation of x-rays emerged after Niels Bohr developed the first atomic theory. Bibliography: