Isaac newton, a famous British scientist.
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Sir isaac newton (1643, 65438+1October 4-65438+March 0727, 3 1) is a British physicist, mathematician, astronomer, natural philosopher and alchemist. In the paper Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy published in 1687, he described gravity and three laws of motion. These descriptions laid the scientific view of the physical world in the next three centuries and became the basis of modern engineering. By demonstrating the consistency between Kepler's law of planetary motion and his theory of gravity, he showed that the movements of ground objects and celestial bodies all follow the same natural law; Thus, the last doubt about the sun center was eliminated and the scientific revolution was promoted.
A Brief Introduction to Stephen Hawking's Life
Professor Stephen Hawking is the most famous physicist in the world today, the founder of the black hole theory and the Big Bang theory, and the author of the famous A Brief History of Time. He is currently the chairman of the Mathematics Center of Cambridge University. This position is Newton's position before his death.
Stephen Hawking (1942-)
Stephen hawking, a British physicist, has spent his whole life studying the space-time and the Big Bang principle of the origin of the universe, which is no longer applicable to the general physical theorem of black holes. His prediction that black holes can emit radiation (now called Hawking radiation) is now an accepted hypothesis. His research work is far less well-known in the scientific community than his best-selling book A Brief History of Time. His best-selling book has sold 25 million copies, giving a lot of introduction to quantum physics and relativity.
1942 65438+1October 8th
Born in Oxford, England.
1962
After completing the physics degree course at Oxford University, he went to Cambridge University for postgraduate study. British astronomer Fred Hoyle (19 15-), the hero of Hawking's youth, is a professor of astronomy here. Hawking was diagnosed with motor neuron disease.
1965
Be awarded a doctorate. His research shows that the mathematical equation used to explain the collapse of black holes can also explain the expansion of the universe from a point.
1970
Hawking studied the characteristics of black holes. He predicted that the radiation from black holes (now called Hawking radiation) and the surface area of black holes would never decrease.
1974
Elected as a member of the Royal Society. He went on to prove that black holes have temperature, black holes emit thermal radiation, and gasification will lead to mass loss.
1980
Lucas, a professor of mathematics at Cambridge University (isaac newton once held this position).
Aristotle (384-322 BC), a native of Guidorat in ancient Greece, was one of the greatest philosophers, scientists and educators in the ancient history of the world.
Aristotle was Plato's student and Alexander's teacher. In 335 BC, he established a school in Athens called Lv Keang, called Minstrel. Marx once called Aristotle the most learned figure among ancient Greek philosophers, and Engels called him ancient Hegel.
Aristotle, like Plato, advocates that education is the function of the state and schools should be managed by the state. He first put forward the viewpoint of children's physical and mental development stage; He is in favor of the education of Athens bodybuilding and harmonious development, and advocates that natural quality, habit formation and rational development should be the three sources of moral education, but he opposes women's education and advocates "elegant" education, so that education can serve leisure.
Aristotle devoted his life to academic research, which involved logic, rhetoric, physics, biology, education, psychology, politics, economics, aesthetics and so on. , and wrote a lot of works. His works are ancient encyclopedias, and it is said that there are 400 to 1000 books, mainly including instrumentalism, metaphysics, physics, ethics and politics. His thoughts have had a far-reaching impact on mankind. He founded formal logic, enriched and developed various branches of philosophy and made great contributions to science.
The beauty of science
Science is the pursuit of discovering the unity in the diversity of nature, or more strictly speaking, it is the pursuit of discovering the unity in the diversity of our experiences. Then, science uses unified natural laws and formulas to solve various complex concrete problems. What is beauty? Beauty is unity in diversity, and diversity in unity. In this way, isn't Kemei a natural marriage?
Wei Yi, a French mystic and social philosopher in the 20th century, once wrote: "The real theme of science is the beauty of the world."
Pearson said: "In our existence, there is an element that cannot be satisfied by the formal reasoning process;" This is an imaginary or aesthetic aspect that poets and philosophers turn to. If science is to be scientific, it cannot be ignored. "
Leibniz: "The beauty of nature is so great, it is so pleasant to stare at it, … whoever tastes it has to regard all other happiness as secondary." He pointed out that no matter how the beauty in science changes in the historical process-what the previous generation thought beautiful may be regarded as of little value and mediocrity to the next generation-the quality of the most beautiful theory always seems to be easy to understand and self-evident. Whoever realizes the beauty of "simplicity in diversity" in nature and theory means the harmony of things and their parts. In short, it is beauty. People should seek the truth of beauty, and in doing so, they act as a mirror of God, because God and beauty have created "the best things in the whole world".
Heisenberg: "We can honestly say that beauty is the most important source of inspiration and clarity in precision science, no less than art."
Einstein also showed that science and art can be well combined in aesthetics, image and form after the skills reach a superb level. Great scientists are often great artists.
Copernicus gave an aesthetic explanation and demonstration of Heliocentrism's mathematical structure, from which he saw amazing "symmetry" and "harmonious connection"
Kepler was fascinated by the harmony of the universe. He clarified the three laws of planetary motion with aesthetic feeling in Tycho's complicated data, and he sincerely felt incredible ecstasy and beautiful pleasure.
Galileo's revelation of the law of falling body is to seek a unified law in the diversity of facts.
Newton's strict and simple mechanical system unified the movement of everything in the world. He advocated the principle of conservation and thought that God was most interested in appreciating the beauty and harmony of the universe.
Kuhn: In art and science, it is very important to consider the symmetry, simplicity and exquisiteness of symbolic representation and other forms of mathematical aesthetics. However, in art, aesthetics itself is the purpose of creation; In science, it is only a tool at best, that is, the selection criteria when several theories are equal in other aspects, or just a guide that can stimulate imagination and try to solve troublesome technical doubts. Only when it solves the question, and only when the aesthetics of scientists is finally consistent with the aesthetics of nature, can aesthetics play a good role in the development of science. In science, aesthetics itself is rarely an end, and it is never primary.
Hill: Real scientists are also keen and sensitive artists. Scientists are also poets. His eyes can see where others can't see, his ears can capture the cosmic melody that others can't hear, and his fingers can touch the pulse of the world that others can't feel. Mathematician Sylvester is such a person: he has a high appreciation for the harmony of beauty. He feels that this is the foundation of all knowledge, the source of all happiness, and it constitutes the premise of all kinds of actions. Feynman was fascinated by the "most profound and wonderful fact" of the symmetry and conservation of the basic laws of physics, and felt "an indescribable joy". They are extremely beautiful and far-reaching things in physics, and they are based on the universality of the principle of minimum action.
Rutherford made it clear that science is also art, and great scientific theories are great works of art. He said: I insist that the process of scientific discovery should be regarded as a form of artistic activities. This is best reflected in the theory of physical science. Mathematicians built a magnificent building step by step according to some assumptions and some thoroughly understood logical rules, and at the same time, according to his imagination, clearly revealed the hidden relationship between the various parts of the building. In some ways, a well-formed theory is undoubtedly a work of art, and a wonderful example is the famous Maxwell electrodynamics theory. Einstein's theory of relativity, no matter how effective it is, cannot but be regarded as a great work of art.
Dirac is more devout to beauty, and even compares his belief in aesthetics to religion: "Schrodinger and I have a very strong appreciation of the beauty of mathematics, which dominates all our work." For us, this is an act of faith, that is to say, any equation describing the basic laws of nature must have great mathematical beauty. For us, it is like a religion. It is a very useful religion, but it can also be considered as the basis of many of our successes. "
When referring to the second law of thermodynamics, Si Nuo said: "This is the most profound and universal law: it has its own melancholy beauty, which makes people respect like all important scientific laws.
Kalldin pointed out that scientific beauty is a change in harmony and unity, which describes the characteristics of scientific beauty and determines the change of scientific beauty. It is different from the beauty of pure mathematics. The unity of mathematics is only due to the rigor of logic: it is the unity of propositions, which are reliably derived whether they are consistent with the facts or not. But the unity of science is not only due to the logical rigor of theoretical explanation; It also includes the experimental observation that is unified with the logical system, and what is deduced from this system is consistent with the observation. The works of scientific beauty are complete and complete works, and the facts in them are summarized theoretically or illustrated by examples. Unity in science is not as perfect as in mathematics, but its further harmony type, that is, the harmony between a group of logically related propositions and a group of independent observation materials, is more abundant.
Maxwell: "I always regard mathematics as the way to get the best shape and dimension of things;" This means not only the most practical and economical, but also the most harmonious and beautiful. "
Russell: Mathematics, if viewed correctly, has supreme beauty-cold and simple beauty, just like the beauty of sculpture. This beauty is not the weak aspect that attracts our nature. This beauty has no ornate decoration of painting or music. It can be pure to sublime, and it can reach a perfect state that only the greatest art can express. A real spiritual pleasure, a spiritual excitement, a sense of superiority-these are the standards of perfection and beauty, which can be obtained in poetry and mathematics.
Dirac put forward: "The laws of physics should have mathematical beauty."
Einstein: "If Euclid (geometry) can't arouse your childhood enthusiasm, then you are not a natural scientific thinker."
Hutcheson believes that with the increase of abstraction, the objects of beauty perceived by scientists have three levels. The objects at the bottom are the entities and phenomena that constitute the scientific theme, such as the stars with high diversity and consistency arranged in the night sky. The second object at the abstract level is the law of nature, which cannot be directly seen in the phenomenon, but becomes an obvious object in the model or clarification proposed by the theory. The third is the mathematical theorem and the scientific theory itself.
Dion's description of structural beauty: No matter where the order rules, it will bring beauty with it. Theory not only makes the physical laws it describes easier to master, more convenient, more useful, but also more beautiful. Following a great physical theory, we can't help but revel in the beauty of such a structure and keenly feel that the creation of such a person's mind is the real work of art.
Sanite raised the question: Is beauty unified, self-consistent, amazing, awe-inspiring, amazing, perfect, symmetrical, or a combination of one or more of them? According to Plato, the master of ancient aesthetics, beauty is nothing more than moderation, proportionality, harmony and order. In fact, these standards can become the standards of scientific beauty to some extent.
Poincare, a master of modern scientific aesthetics, said: Mathematicians associate great significance with the elegance of their methods and results. This is not a simple taste. In the solution and proof, what gives us the feeling of elegance? It is the harmony of all parts, their symmetry and ingenious balance; In short, it is everything that introduces order, everything that gives unity, and everything that allows us to clearly observe and understand the whole and details at one stroke. However, this is the reason for the remarkable results; In fact, the clearer and clearer we observe this set, the more thoroughly we can perceive its similarity with other neighboring objects, and thus have more opportunities to speculate on possible generalizations. Elegance can produce unexpected feelings when we meet objects that we don't usually accidentally get together; Here, it is fruitful, because it reveals the kinship that we didn't realize before. Even if it is only because of the strong contrast between the simplicity of the method and the complexity of the questions raised, it is fruitful; So it reminds us of the reason for this disparity, and often reminds us that contingency is not the reason; It must be found in some thought-provoking laws. In short, the sense of mathematical elegance is just the satisfaction of the solution to meet our spiritual needs. It is because of this adaptation that this solution can become our tool. Therefore, this aesthetic satisfaction is closely related to thinking economy. Once again, I thought of the metaphor of the female statue column in the temple of Erik Dion. Like the desire for usefulness, the desire for beauty makes us make the same choice. Therefore, according to Mach's point of view, the economy and labor of this kind of thinking are the eternal trend of science and the source of beauty and practical interests. The building we worship is the one where architects know how to make the means commensurate with the purpose. In such a building, it seems that the columns can easily bear the weight imposed on them without any hardship, just like the elegant female portrait columns in the temple of Erik Tion. The universal harmony of the world is the source of all beauty, and only this inner harmony is beautiful and worthy of our efforts.
Mcallister believes that the aesthetic essence of the theory should first make the observer feel that the theory has a high degree of conformity. He listed five aesthetic attributes: symmetrical form, use of model, visualization and abstraction, metaphysical loyalty and simple form.
McMorris divided scientific aesthetic elements into two categories: formal category and connotation category. Formal elements are considered as an available tool in construction theory. Connotation elements are regarded as derived from our interpretation of these theories and their objective characteristics, and are related to meaning. In scientific theory, the aesthetic elements that win universal recognition are rigor, simplicity, elegance, surprise or surprise and grandeur.
Page (the abbreviation of page) J. Davis and R. Hersh gave a long list of scientific aesthetic standards: "the alternation of tension and belief, the realization of unexpected relationship and unified surprise, visual pleasure, the juxtaposition of simplicity and complexity, freedom and compulsion, and of course the harmony, balance and contrast of familiar elements in art", in addition, they also
Astronomer Chandraseka pointed out through a series of detailed examples that the key aspects of the aesthetic basis and standard of physics are: the description of nature must be natural; It cannot be temporary; Insight must be imaginative, that is, beyond the obvious information and ideas at hand; It must have something wonderful or unexpected; Insight usually leads to finding simplicity in obvious complexity; Insight can be confirmed by others who spend time and energy recreating it; When the generality of the principle extends to an extremely wide range of previously separated phenomena, when simplicity and verifiability are lacking, the integration of mathematical integrity, internal consistency and coordination can be used as an alternative.
Physicist Weinberg believes that the laws of nature are simple and inevitable. Because of simplicity, the basic laws of nature are limited. Due to inevitability, the nature of a law is bound to be related to the whole and restricted by the nature of other laws. Therefore, he used these two criteria to define beauty: "the beauty of perfect structure, the beauty of complete adaptation of everything, the beauty of variability out of nothing, and the beauty of rigorous logic."
1905, Einstein published six epoch-making papers, namely: the preliminary views on the generation and transformation of light, a new method to determine the molecular size, the motion of suspended particles in static liquid required by the theory of thermomolecular motion, the electrodynamics of moving objects, and whether the inertia of an object is related to the energy it contains. "Some investigations on Brownian motion". Therefore, this year is called "Einstein miracle year". Therefore, the year 2005 after 100 was designated as "World Physics Year".
Einstein's former residence in Bonn 1905. In March, the German Physical Yearbook published a tentative view on the generation and transformation of light. He thinks that light is composed of separated particles. Einstein explained that light is also composed of small energy particles (light quantum), and quantum can move like a single particle. The theory of "light quantum" greatly promoted the quantum theory founded by Planck in 1900, and revealed the basic feature of the microscopic world: wave-particle duality.
1905 may 1 1 day, the german yearbook of physics published a paper "the motion of suspended particles in a still liquid required by the theory of thermomolecular motion" (die von der molecular kinetic schentheorier w? I hope you can stay. This paper is a pioneering study on the translation and diffusion of Brownian motion.
1905 On June 30th, the German Yearbook of Physics published "On Electrodynamics of Moving Objects" (Elektrodynamik bewegter K? Rper)。 The basic principle of special relativity is put forward for the first time, and two basic axioms are put forward in the paper: "the speed of light is constant" and "the principle of relativity".
1905 On September 27th, the German Yearbook of Physics published "Is the inertia of an object related to the energy it contains? "(is it die Tr? gheit eines K？ What is an energy company like? ngig？ ), that is, "the mass of an object can measure its energy", and then E = mc? The formula of.
[Editor] Become famous
Einstein was a part-time lecturer at Berne University from 65438 to 0908. 1909 left the patent office and became an associate professor of theoretical physics at the University of Zurich. 19 1 1 is a professor of theoretical physics at Deutschland University in Prague, and 19 12 is a professor at his alma mater, Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich. 19 14 years, at the invitation of Max Planck and walther nernst, he returned to Germany and served as the director of the Royal Institute of Physics William and a professor at the University of Berlin until 1933. 1920 at the invitation of hendrik lorentz and paul ehrenfest, he also served as distinguished professor of Leiden university in the Netherlands. After the outbreak of World War I, he devoted himself to public and underground anti-war activities.
1919165438+10/0 The New York Times published the news that new observations confirmed the theory of relativity, describing it as a great victory of Einstein's theory. Einstein published his general theory of relativity in 19 15. His prediction that light will bend after passing through the gravitational field of the sun was confirmed by the observation of the total solar eclipse by British astronomer arthur stanley eddington in 19 19. 19 16 The gravitational wave he predicted was also confirmed in 1978. Einstein and relativity have become household names in the west, but they have also attracted vicious attacks from chauvinists, militarists and anti-Semitists in Germany and other countries.
19 17, Einstein put forward the theory of stimulated radiation, which became the theoretical basis of laser.
Einstein was awarded the 192 1 Nobel Prize in Physics for his research on photoelectric effect. Relativity is not mentioned in the announcement of Swedish Academy of Science because it is still controversial [1].
1933 1 10 After the Nazi Party seized the German regime in October, Einstein was the primary object of persecution in the scientific community. Fortunately, he was giving a lecture in America at that time and was not killed. Returning to Europe in March, he took refuge in Belgium. On September 9, he found himself being followed by the Gestapo who planned to assassinate him. He crossed the sea on a starry night, and in June 5438+10, he was transferred to the newly established Princeton Institute for Advanced Studies in the United States (Princeton Institute for Advanced Studies and Princeton University are not an institution), until he retired in June 5438 +0945. 1940 Obtaining American citizenship.
1937, Einstein visited Charlie Chaplin who lived in California.
1939, he was told that uranium nuclear fission and its chain reaction were discovered. Under the impetus of Hungarian physicist Leo Szilard, he wrote to President Roosevelt and suggested developing an atomic bomb to prevent the Germans from taking the lead. On the eve of the end of World War II, the United States dropped atomic bombs over Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan. Einstein was strongly dissatisfied with this. After the war, the United States waged unremitting struggles and launched a peaceful movement against the dangers of nuclear war and fascism.
[Editor] Mathematics
Most modern historians believe that Newton and Leibniz independently developed calculus and created their own unique symbols for it. According to people around Newton, Newton came up with his method several years earlier than Leibniz, but he hardly published anything before 1693, and didn't give his complete explanation until 1704. At the same time, Leibniz published a complete description of his method in 1684. In addition, Leibniz's notation and "differential method" were completely adopted in continental Europe. After about 1820 years, Britain finally adopted this method, and Britain is the only country that uses Newton's calculus system for various reasons. Leibniz's notebook records the development process of his thought from early stage to mature stage, but only Newton's final result is found in the known records. Newton claimed that he had been reluctant to publish his calculus because he was afraid of being laughed at.