It is said that the world is "moving away from science", but physics, in particular, seems to be unpopular, and at the University of Tsukuba where I am, only about one-third of the students have taken physics in high school. Biology is our main subject, so it's only natural that physics isn't as popular as biology or chemistry. Also, compared to the recent spectacular development of biology, the development of physics seems to have slowed down to a certain extent, so it may not be attractive as a research subject. More than anything else, I think that the real intention of the students is that mathematics is difficult because there is a lot of it and that they do not feel that it will be very useful in their daily life or research activities.
But I want to say it out loud and from the bottom of my heart. At the very least, I want the students who have the chance to take my lectures or come to my laboratory to study physics.
There are many reasons why you should study physics. First, there is the notion that physics is a "model" for all other sciences. In fact, many sciences are more or less influenced by physics in their thinking and methodology. That's because many modern and contemporary scientific ideas are based on physics.
A prominent one is a reductionism. In other words, the idea is that a very small number of laws can explain many phenomena without contradiction and that such laws must exist in the world. And when such a law is discovered, it persistently verifies its correctness in the light of all experimental facts. And when we find an "exception" that doesn't fit the rule, we don't allow that exception, but rather a more comprehensive policy that can explain the exception properly and still doesn't contradict the original rule. I will continue to strive relentlessly to find the law. That's the history of physics.
A feature of reductionism in physics is the idea that laws can be expressed mathematically without contradiction. This is an idea that began with Galileo, was developed and strengthened by Kepler and Newton, and was made decisive by quantum mechanics and the theory of relativity. I believe in the power of mathematics, and that the consistency of mathematics will not collapse even if there are laws beyond the reach of human imagination.
This reductionism is particularly easy to do with natural phenomena that are easier to control experimentally. However, when approaching field phenomena such as ecology, meteorology, and geography, the power of reductionism is weakened by the mixed elements. It is then up to each scientist to decide whether to continue or abandon the reductionist understanding of natural phenomena. A scientist familiar with the physical approach imagines the power and limits of reductionism and draws the line with his own judgment. However, scientists who are ignorant of physics either abandon reductionism from the beginning or imitate other scientists' judgments, simply using the excuse that "nature is complicated."
Another feature of reductionism in physics is the idea of "Occam's razor." The basic law of explaining things is that if two candidates are equally valid, the simpler one is the correct one. This is not always the right way of thinking, but it should be understood that physics (and most of the sciences) tend to go for consistency followed by simplicity.
With the success of Newtonian mechanics, mankind has witnessed how powerful the reductionist thinking of physics can be. As a result, many believe that ``physics is the true science and the model for science and that it would be wise for other sciences to receive results from physics and proceed with their research in the same way as physics.'' scientists (especially close to physics) began to think. However, it is up to you to decide whether or not you will adopt that idea. It doesn't matter if you think it's different. However, there is a kind of "physical supremacy" way of thinking like this in the world, and it is necessary to arm ourselves with a theory about it. You need to study physics for that. The worst thing you can do is to think that you have understood the methodology of physics by reading such a small article of mine.
At least the physics that university students learn is already an almost complete and precise system. In order to learn it, you have to choose a good textbook, think carefully and critically with your own head, and steadily build up and study. But conversely, if you make that kind of effort, anyone can understand. In that respect, physics is an impartial discipline. It is also important to understand that fairness experientially. Then you will know how to study other subjects as well.
As I mentioned earlier, physics uses the power of mathematics to discover laws beyond the reach of human imagination. Mathematics differs from many other disciplines in that it does not care about the substance or meaning of what it talks about as long as it is logically consistent. That's what gives physics so much power. As a result, the laws of physics can be very abstract and difficult at times. However, its power is truly amazing. I can't even imagine what's going on, but it's true that if you use mathematics to solve the equation, it fits quantitatively exactly with the actual phenomenon. So the "quantitative reductionism" of physics teaches humans not to try to understand natural phenomena solely at the level of human intuition. That level of imagination isn't just that the equations are complicated and variable and difficult. Rather, they are simple as equations but require highly abstract mathematical ideas to describe and understand them. The reality of nature is too surreal, too mathematical.
However, if you can understand abstract mathematics to some extent, some people will be able to "image" it. It's a very strange image, but I can imagine a little anyway. It is very strange to think that it reflects the actual nature of the entity in some way. It has a decisive influence on a person's view of the world. In ancient times, people imagined that the earth was flat, or that it rested on top of a large turtle or elephant. But when we consider how much our naive worldview has progressed from the images of those people long ago, we see that, compared to the mathematics that describes physics, at least at the level of "images," we have advanced a great deal. do not have. For example, many people imagine electrons revolving around atoms in circular orbits, but this is physically incorrect. Without studying physics, it would be difficult to understand that nature transcends such "imaginary limits."
By the way, there is a lot of occult science in the world. Physics gives us a tolerance for such things. When hearing about a device that emits negative ions, people in physics are skeptical and wonder, "What is the law of conservation of electric charge?" Physics is skeptical about supernatural powers such as teleportation and telepathy. not). Around 2003, it was reported on television that a certain religious cult began to wrap the white cloth around everything in order to protect itself from what is called "scalar electromagnetic waves." Physics is skeptical about what, if anything, it has to do with the white cloth (white being an electromagnetic wave, a property of vector waves).
Physics relies on mathematics. Conversely, physics is a good customer of mathematics. Mathematics has evolved over the years to serve physics because business is about serving customers and making a profit. Abstract mathematics also has many physical applications. A good way to study abstract subjects is to think of concrete examples, so it is very efficient to study physics together with mathematics. It's unbelievably good. Even if you are not interested in physics but you are interested in mathematics, please think you have been deceived and study physics. For example, when studying mathematics about matrices, many students say, "What is the use of something like this?" It is also useful in non-academic subjects, especially statistics).
I know a few mathematicians, and most of them say, "It's annoying that some mathematics students don't study physics."
Physics as the foundation of measurement and control
Whether it's stone, paper, living creatures, or food, measuring and making things is essential when working with things.
To measure is to express the characteristics of an object by converting them into numerical quantities. Physics is essential in the process. To measure the concentration of a chemical in a solution, we look at how much light of a particular wavelength penetrates the solution. The principle is physics.
Even if you don't know the principle, you can use the machine for the time being by reading the manual. However, it is difficult to read the manual if you do not understand the principle. Besides, manuals are written by people, so they're not always correct. Or you may say, "I don't even need to write this in the manual."
Not only measurement but also "control" is important for experimenting and making things. For example, when raising living things, it is often necessary to keep the environment such as temperature, light, and humidity constant. The principle is also physics. If you have a good understanding of physics, you should be able to combine the materials and machines you have at hand and build an appropriate control system.
In this way, both measurement and control require more or fewer machines. Machines work according to the laws of physics regardless of your feelings. If you want to use machines like limbs, you have to understand their feelings and the physics. For that, you need to learn physics experiments. In particular, many machines are powered by electricity, so knowledge of electricity is very important.
There are crises (pinch) in society and life. Many life-threatening pinches are physical phenomena. Traffic accidents are Newtonian mechanics (and their application, mechanics of materials). Plane crashes and ship sinking are also Newtonian mechanics (and their application, fluid mechanics). Many natural phenomena such as tsunamis, typhoons, earthquakes, lightning strikes, and volcanoes are also dealt with in physics (geophysics). When it comes to accidents in the home, children play pranks, but falls, electric shocks, and suffocation are physical phenomena. In order to prevent or take countermeasures against these in advance, the concept of physics is important.
Electrical appliances used in the home are carefully designed and tested by manufacturers to prevent accidents, so accidents rarely occur. However, it still breaks down as it ages, and accidents happen. Preventing it is personal judgment and management. It requires an understanding of how machines work or physics.
Machines other than home appliances, that is, machines for research and business purposes are "professional specifications", so they do not necessarily have the thorough safety verification that home appliances do. Many specialized small and medium-sized companies make them, not large companies like home appliances, so they can't handle such "safety measures for amateurs". So care, judgment and skill are required when working with such machines, which is why many qualifications are required. Many of the questions on those exams are physics.
But I want to say it out loud and from the bottom of my heart. At the very least, I want the students who have the chance to take my lectures or come to my laboratory to study physics.
Physics as a model for science
There are many reasons why you should study physics. First, there is the notion that physics is a "model" for all other sciences. In fact, many sciences are more or less influenced by physics in their thinking and methodology. That's because many modern and contemporary scientific ideas are based on physics.
A prominent one is a reductionism. In other words, the idea is that a very small number of laws can explain many phenomena without contradiction and that such laws must exist in the world. And when such a law is discovered, it persistently verifies its correctness in the light of all experimental facts. And when we find an "exception" that doesn't fit the rule, we don't allow that exception, but rather a more comprehensive policy that can explain the exception properly and still doesn't contradict the original rule. I will continue to strive relentlessly to find the law. That's the history of physics.
This reductionism is particularly easy to do with natural phenomena that are easier to control experimentally. However, when approaching field phenomena such as ecology, meteorology, and geography, the power of reductionism is weakened by the mixed elements. It is then up to each scientist to decide whether to continue or abandon the reductionist understanding of natural phenomena. A scientist familiar with the physical approach imagines the power and limits of reductionism and draws the line with his own judgment. However, scientists who are ignorant of physics either abandon reductionism from the beginning or imitate other scientists' judgments, simply using the excuse that "nature is complicated."
Another feature of reductionism in physics is the idea of "Occam's razor." The basic law of explaining things is that if two candidates are equally valid, the simpler one is the correct one. This is not always the right way of thinking, but it should be understood that physics (and most of the sciences) tend to go for consistency followed by simplicity.
With the success of Newtonian mechanics, mankind has witnessed how powerful the reductionist thinking of physics can be. As a result, many believe that ``physics is the true science and the model for science and that it would be wise for other sciences to receive results from physics and proceed with their research in the same way as physics.'' scientists (especially close to physics) began to think. However, it is up to you to decide whether or not you will adopt that idea. It doesn't matter if you think it's different. However, there is a kind of "physical supremacy" way of thinking like this in the world, and it is necessary to arm ourselves with a theory about it. You need to study physics for that. The worst thing you can do is to think that you have understood the methodology of physics by reading such a small article of mine.
At least the physics that university students learn is already an almost complete and precise system. In order to learn it, you have to choose a good textbook, think carefully and critically with your own head, and steadily build up and study. But conversely, if you make that kind of effort, anyone can understand. In that respect, physics is an impartial discipline. It is also important to understand that fairness experientially. Then you will know how to study other subjects as well.
Physics as a worldview
As I mentioned earlier, physics uses the power of mathematics to discover laws beyond the reach of human imagination. Mathematics differs from many other disciplines in that it does not care about the substance or meaning of what it talks about as long as it is logically consistent. That's what gives physics so much power. As a result, the laws of physics can be very abstract and difficult at times. However, its power is truly amazing. I can't even imagine what's going on, but it's true that if you use mathematics to solve the equation, it fits quantitatively exactly with the actual phenomenon. So the "quantitative reductionism" of physics teaches humans not to try to understand natural phenomena solely at the level of human intuition. That level of imagination isn't just that the equations are complicated and variable and difficult. Rather, they are simple as equations but require highly abstract mathematical ideas to describe and understand them. The reality of nature is too surreal, too mathematical.
However, if you can understand abstract mathematics to some extent, some people will be able to "image" it. It's a very strange image, but I can imagine a little anyway. It is very strange to think that it reflects the actual nature of the entity in some way. It has a decisive influence on a person's view of the world. In ancient times, people imagined that the earth was flat, or that it rested on top of a large turtle or elephant. But when we consider how much our naive worldview has progressed from the images of those people long ago, we see that, compared to the mathematics that describes physics, at least at the level of "images," we have advanced a great deal. do not have. For example, many people imagine electrons revolving around atoms in circular orbits, but this is physically incorrect. Without studying physics, it would be difficult to understand that nature transcends such "imaginary limits."
By the way, there is a lot of occult science in the world. Physics gives us a tolerance for such things. When hearing about a device that emits negative ions, people in physics are skeptical and wonder, "What is the law of conservation of electric charge?" Physics is skeptical about supernatural powers such as teleportation and telepathy. not). Around 2003, it was reported on television that a certain religious cult began to wrap the white cloth around everything in order to protect itself from what is called "scalar electromagnetic waves." Physics is skeptical about what, if anything, it has to do with the white cloth (white being an electromagnetic wave, a property of vector waves).
Physics as teaching material for mathematics
Physics relies on mathematics. Conversely, physics is a good customer of mathematics. Mathematics has evolved over the years to serve physics because business is about serving customers and making a profit. Abstract mathematics also has many physical applications. A good way to study abstract subjects is to think of concrete examples, so it is very efficient to study physics together with mathematics. It's unbelievably good. Even if you are not interested in physics but you are interested in mathematics, please think you have been deceived and study physics. For example, when studying mathematics about matrices, many students say, "What is the use of something like this?" It is also useful in non-academic subjects, especially statistics).
I know a few mathematicians, and most of them say, "It's annoying that some mathematics students don't study physics."
Physics as the foundation of measurement and control
Whether it's stone, paper, living creatures, or food, measuring and making things is essential when working with things.
To measure is to express the characteristics of an object by converting them into numerical quantities. Physics is essential in the process. To measure the concentration of a chemical in a solution, we look at how much light of a particular wavelength penetrates the solution. The principle is physics.
Even if you don't know the principle, you can use the machine for the time being by reading the manual. However, it is difficult to read the manual if you do not understand the principle. Besides, manuals are written by people, so they're not always correct. Or you may say, "I don't even need to write this in the manual."
Not only measurement but also "control" is important for experimenting and making things. For example, when raising living things, it is often necessary to keep the environment such as temperature, light, and humidity constant. The principle is also physics. If you have a good understanding of physics, you should be able to combine the materials and machines you have at hand and build an appropriate control system.
In this way, both measurement and control require more or fewer machines. Machines work according to the laws of physics regardless of your feelings. If you want to use machines like limbs, you have to understand their feelings and the physics. For that, you need to learn physics experiments. In particular, many machines are powered by electricity, so knowledge of electricity is very important.
Physics as Crisis Management
There are crises (pinch) in society and life. Many life-threatening pinches are physical phenomena. Traffic accidents are Newtonian mechanics (and their application, mechanics of materials). Plane crashes and ship sinking are also Newtonian mechanics (and their application, fluid mechanics). Many natural phenomena such as tsunamis, typhoons, earthquakes, lightning strikes, and volcanoes are also dealt with in physics (geophysics). When it comes to accidents in the home, children play pranks, but falls, electric shocks, and suffocation are physical phenomena. In order to prevent or take countermeasures against these in advance, the concept of physics is important.
Electrical appliances used in the home are carefully designed and tested by manufacturers to prevent accidents, so accidents rarely occur. However, it still breaks down as it ages, and accidents happen. Preventing it is personal judgment and management. It requires an understanding of how machines work or physics.
Machines other than home appliances, that is, machines for research and business purposes are "professional specifications", so they do not necessarily have the thorough safety verification that home appliances do. Many specialized small and medium-sized companies make them, not large companies like home appliances, so they can't handle such "safety measures for amateurs". So care, judgment and skill are required when working with such machines, which is why many qualifications are required. Many of the questions on those exams are physics.
Why Study Physics?
Reviewed by ahmhasan
on
September 11, 2022
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Reviewed by ahmhasan
on
September 11, 2022
Rating:
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