This course covers the establishment of the ideas and institutions of modern physics, tracking the evolution of the discipline over the last two centuries. The period has witnessed dramatic developments, both intellectual and structural. While the course's guiding thread is the history of physical concepts, these are woven into their social, cultural, and political context.
We begin with the nineteenth-century organization of the discipline and the debates over the classical world picture: mechanics, thermodynamics and statistical mechanics, electromagnetism and optics, concepts of matter and fields. We then follow the dramatic changes that reworked the classical picture, from the discovery of radioactivity, x-rays, and the electron, through Einstein's theories of relativity, on to the the creation of quantum mechanics and accompanying philosophical disputes. We consider the elucidation of atomic structure, the exploration of the nucleus, and the establishment of the field-theoretic description of natural phenomena.
Alongside these conceptual upheavals we will watch the transformation of the discipline from a small-scale, academic, largely European enterprise to a world-wide profession on an American model, carried out in reliance upon massive state funding, and endowed with the power, through its creations (solid-state devices, the atomic bomb), to shape national and international destinies.
The course draws approaches and materials from both history and science. We deal in some depth with scientific concepts, but in a way that remains accessible to non-scientists willing to put in some effort. Throughout, however, we emphasize historical development. The ideas of science are not timeless, and they did not drop from the sky. A main course goal is to practice thinking historically; assignments and examinations call on those skills.
The course is aimed equally at two groups of students.
- Science and engineering majors will gain an understanding of the structure and functioning of a field they have studied. They should come away from the course with a sense for how physics works and hangs together, not just how to do problem sets.
- Non-science/engineering students will get a historical introduction to this scientific discipline. A decent high-school course in physics or chemistry is adequate preparation. Students concerned about their background should feel free to talk to me or the GSI. This course fulfills the L&S breadth requirement in physical sciences.
Major is not a good predictor of success in the class. In past years, students who got As and A-s have come from history, astrophysics, philosophy, MCB, music, math, IB, engineering physics, business administration, English, physics, Near Eastern studies, PACS, and EECS.