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Physics

Physics is the scientific study of matter, energy, and their interactions, and is considered one of the oldest academic disciplines. It evolved from natural philosophy during the Scientific Revolution and intersects with various fields, leading to technological advancements. The term 'physics' is derived from Latin and Greek words meaning 'study of nature', reflecting its historical roots in ancient astronomy and natural philosophy.

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Romel Dimasacat
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3 views

Physics

Physics is the scientific study of matter, energy, and their interactions, and is considered one of the oldest academic disciplines. It evolved from natural philosophy during the Scientific Revolution and intersects with various fields, leading to technological advancements. The term 'physics' is derived from Latin and Greek words meaning 'study of nature', reflecting its historical roots in ancient astronomy and natural philosophy.

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Romel Dimasacat
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© © All Rights Reserved
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Physics

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For other uses, see Physics (disambiguation).

Not to be confused with Physis.


The expansion of the universe
according to the Big Bang theory in physics

Part of a series on

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Physics is the scientific study of matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior
through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force.[1] Physics is one of the
most fundamental scientific disciplines.[2][3][4] A scientist who specializes in the field of physics is
called a physicist.

Physics is one of the oldest academic disciplines.[5] Over much of the past two millennia,
physics, chemistry, biology, and certain branches of mathematics were a part of natural
philosophy, but during the Scientific Revolution in the 17th century, these natural sciences
branched into separate research endeavors. Physics intersects with many interdisciplinary areas
of research, such as biophysics and quantum chemistry, and the boundaries of physics are not
rigidly defined. New ideas in physics often explain the fundamental mechanisms studied by
other sciences[2] and suggest new avenues of research in these and other academic disciplines
such as mathematics and philosophy.

Advances in physics often enable new technologies. For example, advances in the
understanding of electromagnetism, solid-state physics, and nuclear physics led directly to the
development of technologies that have transformed modern society, such as television,
computers, domestic appliances, and nuclear weapons;[2] advances in thermodynamics led to
the development of industrialization; and advances in mechanics inspired the development
of calculus.

History

Main article: History of physics

The word physics comes from the Latin physica ('study of nature'), which itself is a borrowing of
the Greek φυσική (phusikḗ 'natural science'), a term derived from φύσις (phúsis 'origin, nature,
property').[6][7][8]

Ancient astronomy

Main article: History of astronomy


Ancient Egyptian astronomy is
evident in monuments like the ceiling of Senemut's tomb from the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt.

Astronomy is one of the oldest natural sciences. Early civilizations dating before 3000 BCE, such
as the Sumerians, ancient Egyptians, and the Indus Valley Civilisation, had a predictive
knowledge and a basic awareness of the motions of the Sun, Moon, and stars. The stars and
planets, believed to represent gods, were often worshipped. While the explanations for the
observed positions of the stars were often unscientific and lacking in evidence, these early
observations laid the foundation for later astronomy, as the stars were found to traverse great
circles across the sky,[5] which could not explain the positions of the planets.

According to Asger Aaboe, the origins of Western astronomy can be found in Mesopotamia, and
all Western efforts in the exact sciences are descended from late Babylonian astronomy.
[9]
Egyptian astronomers left monuments showing knowledge of the constellations and the
motions of the celestial bodies,[10] while Greek poet Homer wrote of various celestial objects in
his Iliad and Odyssey; later Greek astronomers provided names, which are still used today, for
most constellations visible from the Northern Hemisphere.[11]

Natural philosophy

Main article: Natural philosophy

Natural philosophy has its origins in Greece during the Archaic period (650 BCE – 480 BCE),
when pre-Socratic philosophers like Thales rejected non-naturalistic explanations for natural
phenomena and proclaimed that every event had a natural cause.[12] They proposed ideas
verified by reason and observation, and many of their hypotheses proved successful in
experiment;[13] for example, atomism was found to be correct approximately 2000 years after it
was proposed by Leucippus and his pupil Democritus.[14]

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