Tutorial. - 2nd ed., corrected. and additional - M .: Education, 1982 - 448 p.: Ill. The course in the history of physics is intended for students of pedagogical institutes. It outlines the history of world physics from antiquity to the present day. The book consists of three parts. The first covers the history of the formation of physical science, ending with Newton. The last, third part is devoted to the history of the formation of quantum, relativistic and nuclear physics. The main work of P.S. Kudryavtsev - the three-volume "History of Physics"; its first volume appeared in 1948, the third - in 1971. It covered all of physics - from ancient times to the present day. The author tried for the first time to illuminate the material from Marxist positions; at the same time, the book paid tribute to Russian physicists, whose works were often hushed up by foreign historians. With many positive qualities of the History of Physics and the richness of the material included in it, of course, it could not be a textbook for a course in the history of physics (if only because of the enormous volume ). Therefore, in subsequent years, P.S. Kudryavtsev wrote "History of Physics and Technology" (together with I.Ya. Confederateov), and then in 1974 - "Course in the History of Physics" for students of pedagogical institutes. In this course, P.S. Kudryavtsev took into account the shortcomings and positive aspects of his previous work and reduced the material included in the History of Physics by about a third. Table of contents (under spoiler).
N.N. Malov. Pavel Stepanovich Kudryavtsev (1904-1975)
The emergence of physics (from antiquity to Newton)
Physics of antiquity
The birth of scientific knowledge
The initial stage of ancient science
The emergence of atomism
Aristotle
Atomistics in the post-Aristotelian era
Archimedes
Physics of the Middle Ages
Historical remarks
Achievements of science of the medieval East
European medieval science
Fight for the heliocentric system
Historical remarks
Scientific revolution of Copernicus
Struggle for the heliocentric system of the world. Giordano Bruno. Kepler
Galileo
Emergence of experimental and mathematical methods
New methodology and new organization of science. Bacon and Descartes
Early advances in experimental physics
Completion of the struggle for the heliocentric system
Further advances in experimental physics
newton
Development of the main directions of classical physics (XVIII-XIX centuries)
Completion of the scientific revolution in the XVIII century.
Historical remarks
Science in Russia. M.V. Lomonosov
18th century mechanics
Molecular physics and heat in the 18th century
Optics
electricity and magnetism
The development of the main areas of physics in the XIX century.
The development of mechanics in the first half of the 19th century
Development of wave optics in the first half of the 19th century
The emergence of electrodynamics and its development before Maxwell
Electromagnetism
The emergence and development of thermodynamics. Carnot
Discovery of the law of conservation and transformation of energy
Creation of laboratories
Second law of thermodynamics
Mechanical theory of heat and atomistics
Further development of thermal physics and atomism
The emergence and development of the electromagnetic field theory
Discovery of electromagnetic waves
invention of radio
The main directions of the scientific revolution in physics of the XX century.
Electrodynamics of moving media and electronic theory
Einstein's theory of relativity
Criticism of Newton's mechanics and Euclid's geometry
Further development of the theory of relativity
The emergence of atomic and nuclear physics
Discovery of Roentgen
Discovery of radioactivity
Discoveries of P. and M. Curie
Discovery of quanta
The first stage of the revolution in physics
Discovery of radioactive transformations. The idea of atomic energy
Development of quantum theory by Einstein
Lenin's analysis of "The Newest Revolution in Natural Science"
Rutherford-Bora atom
Models of the atom before Bohr
Discovery of the atomic nucleus
Boron atom
The formation of Soviet physics
Historical remarks
Radio engineering and radiophysics
The development of theoretical physics by Soviet scientists
Development of other areas of Soviet physics
The emergence of quantum mechanics
Difficulties in Bohr's theory
De Broglie's ideas
The emergence of quantum statistics
spin opening
Heisenberg and Schrödinger mechanics
Development of nuclear physics in 1918-1938.
The beginning of nuclear energy. Discovery of isotopes
Nuclear fission
History of the discovery of the neutron
History of the discovery of the neutron
Proton-neutron model of the nucleus
Cosmic rays. Discovery of the positron
Accelerators
artificial radioactivity
Fermi experiments
Fermi's β-decay theory
Discovery of nuclear isomerism
fission of uranium
Implementation of a chain reaction of nuclear fission
Literature
Classics of Marxism-Leninism
General writings on the history and methodology of physics
Works of physical scientists
Biographies and monographs dedicated to individual scientists
The history of physics course is intended for students of pedagogical institutes. It outlines the history of world physics from antiquity to the present day. The book consists of three parts. The first covers the history of the formation of physical science, ending with Newton. The last, third part is devoted to the history of the formation of quantum, relativistic and nuclear physics.
Kudryavtsev Pavel Stepanovich
Proc. allowance for students ped. in-t on physical. specialist. - 2nd ed., corrected. and additional - M.: Enlightenment, 1982. - 448 p., illust
Pavel Stepanovich Kudryavtsev (1904-1975)
Pavel Stepanovich Kudryavtsev - one of the famous Soviet specialists in the history of physics - grew up in a family of rural teachers; his parents helped him get a secondary education and from childhood instilled a taste for science and art.
As a student of the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of Moscow State University, P. S. Kudryavtsev stood out among his comrades for his exceptional memory, the ability to easily grasp new ideas, and his willingness to discuss them in a team, helping others to assimilate unknown, sometimes very complex material. Lively, addicted, P. S. Kudryavtsev divided his time between physics, history, theater and poetry. He wrote good poetry himself.
After graduating from Moscow State University (in 1929), P. S. Kudryavtsev worked at the pedagogical institutes of Gorky and Orel; from 1946 until his death, he taught at the Tambov Pedagogical Institute, where he headed the Department of Theoretical Physics. There he organized a course in the history of physics, opened the country's only museum on the history of physics, created a school for young historians of science, and achieved the opening of a postgraduate course in this discipline.
In 1944, for a book about Newton, he was awarded the degree of Candidate, and in 1951, for the first volume of the History of Physics, he was awarded the degree of Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences.
The main work of the whole life of P. S. Kudryavtsev is the three-volume "History of Physics"; its first volume appeared in 1948, the third - in 1971. It covered the whole of physics - from ancient times to the present day. The author tried for the first time to illuminate the material from Marxist positions; at the same time, the book paid tribute to Russian physicists, whose work was often hushed up by foreign historians.
With many positive qualities of the "History of Physics" and the richness of the material included in it, of course, it could not be a textbook for a course in the history of physics (if only because of the enormous volume).
Therefore, in subsequent years, PS Kudryavtsev wrote "History of Physics and Technology" (together with I Ya Confederateov), and then in 1974 "Course in the History of Physics" for students of pedagogical institutes. In this course, PS Kudryavtsev took into account the shortcomings and positive aspects of his previous works and roughly cut the material included in the "History of Physics"
Employees of pedagogical institutes, schools, as well as students and students are also familiar with other works of PS Kudryavtsev - books about Torricelli, Faraday and Maxwell, articles and speeches on the history of physics PS Kudryavtsev's works are known abroad In recognition of his scientific merits, he was elected Corresponding Member of the International Academy of the History of Sciences.
All his life, PS Kudryavtsev advocated the introduction of the history of physics into the curricula of the physics departments of pedagogical institutes. Let's hope that the reissue of the "Course of the History of Physics" will serve as an impetus for the realization of Pavel Stepanovich's cherished dream.
Professor, Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences N. N. Malov
Preface to the first edition
At present, there are enough books by Soviet and foreign authors that present the history of physics from antiquity to the present day. Nevertheless, the Prosveshchenie publishing house suggested that the author write a one-volume course that could serve as a textbook on the history of physics for students of pedagogical institutes.
The main difficulty in teaching the history of physics lies in the disproportion between its huge material and the number of hours devoted to the study of this subject. If, as a it is often proposed to focus on one part of the course, for example, on the history of modern physics, then a distorted, one-sided picture of the development of physical science is obtained. Meanwhile, the future teacher needs to have a fairly complete picture of the development of science, from its inception to the current state. students about Archimedes and Einstein, about Newton and Rutherford, about Lomonosov and Kurchatov. This information, at least in its main features, he should receive from the “Course of the History of Physics”. Therefore, the proposed book gives a picture of the development of physics throughout its history.
The book consists of three parts. The first of them describes the history of the formation of physical science, starting with the accumulation of basic physical information in the process of everyday experience and ending with Newton's physics.
In the second part, the history of the development of the main directions of classical physics in the 18th-19th centuries is considered.
The last, third part is devoted to the presentation of the leading directions of XX physics in the theory of relativity, quantum theory, atomic and nuclear physics.
The book quite fully reveals the history of the formation of basic physical ideas, contains excerpts from the works of the classics of physical science, and biographical information.
Introduction
The main task of any science is to discover the laws that operate in the area in which this science is engaged. The main task of the history of science is, therefore, to find the laws that govern the development of science. It may seem at first glance that such laws do not exist. It is impossible to foresee the appearance of Archimedes. Newtonian. Lobachevsky, one cannot control the thinking and creativity of a scientist. The history of science is outwardly presented as the result of the uncontrolled activity of individual brilliant thinkers, whose behavior cannot be likened to the behavior of some stone falling in a gravitational field. It is indisputable that science is a product of human activity, moreover, the most complex and subtle activity: cognitive, creative. However, the development of science takes place under certain historical conditions that play an important, decisive role, and these conditions are accessible to scientific analysis.
Historical materialism for the first time made possible the scientific knowledge of the historical development of mankind, discovered the real basis of human activity, including the basis of their spiritual activity. Such a real basis is the method of production of material goods necessary for the existence of each person and the entire human society. It was the process of productive labor activity that played a decisive role in separating man from the herd of animals, in the development of his knowledge and the social conditions of his existence. Engels wrote in his work “The Role of Labor in the Process of the Transformation of Apes into Man”: “Labor itself has become more diverse, more perfect, more versatile from generation to generation. Agriculture was added to hunting and cattle breeding, then spinning and weaving, metal processing, pottery, and shipping. Along with trade and crafts, art and science finally appeared; nations and states developed from tribes. 1 Engels F. Dialectics of nature. - Marx K., Engels f. Op. 2nd ed., vol. 20, p. 493.)
Thus, the very emergence of science becomes possible only at a certain stage of economic development, in countries with developed agriculture, with an urban culture, and in the future, the development of science corresponds to the development of the economy.
Engels quite clearly writes about this: "... from the very beginning, the emergence and development of the sciences is conditioned by production." ( 1 Engels f. dialectics of nature. - Marx K., Engels F. Op. 2nd ed., vol. 20, p. 493.)
Early advances in experimental physics
So, from about the 40s of the 16th century to the 40s of the 17th century (from Copernicus to Galileo), there was a complex revolutionary process of replacing the medieval worldview and science with a new worldview and a new science based on experience and practice. Much work has been done to substantiate and strengthen the heliocentric system of the world (Copernicus, Bruno, Kepler, Galileo), to criticize the peripatetic methodology and science, to develop the methodological foundations of the new science (Bacon, Galileo, Descartes). The success of this great work, extraordinarily important for the development of all human culture and social consciousness, was determined to a large extent by the concrete scientific and practical results achieved.
The successes of the experimental and mathematical method were indicated primarily in mechanics. Already Leonardo da Vinci approached the static and dynamic problems of mechanics in a new way. The 16th century was the century of the development of the ancient heritage. Commandino (1509-1575) translated the works of Euclid, Archimedes, Heron, Pappus of Alexandria. A student of Commandino, patron and friend of Galileo, Guido Ubaldo del Monte (1545-1607) published an essay on statics in 1577, in which he outlined the works of ancient authors and developed them, solving the problem of the equilibrium of an oblique lever, not knowing that this problem was already decided by Leonardo. Guido Ubaldo introduced the term "moment" into science. This term was generally widely used in the 16th and early 17th centuries, in particular by Galileo, but in Ubaldo it is most suitable for the modern concept of “static moment of force”. Guido Ubaldo shows that for the balance of the lever, the values of the forces and the length of the perpendiculars lowered from the fulcrum on the line of action of forces (weights) are important. He calls the combination of both factors that determine the action of the force in the lever a moment and formulates the equilibrium condition of the lever in the form of equality of moments.
Rice. 9. Title of Stevin's book
We find a new approach to static problems in the classic work "Principles of Statics" by the Dutch engineer and mathematician Simon Stevin (1548-1620), to whom mathematics owes the introduction of decimal fractions. Stevin's mathematical approach is combined with experience and technical practice. On the title page of Stevin's treatise, an inclined plane is drawn, entwined with a chain made up of balls connected together. The inscription above the picture reads: "A miracle and no miracle." The inclined plane in the figure is shown as a right triangle with a horizontal hypotenuse. The part of the chain that wraps around the hypotenuse is longer and contains more balls than those parts of it that are adjacent to the legs. The larger part has more weight, so it would seem that the weight of the chain adjacent to the larger leg will pull, and the chain will begin to move. But since the pattern of the distribution of the balls does not change, the movement must continue forever. Stevin considers perpetual motion impossible, so he believes that the effect of the weight of the balls on both legs is the same (the lower part does not play a role, it is completely symmetrical). From this he concludes that the force rolling a load down an inclined plane is as many times less than the weight of the load as the height of the plane is less than its length. So the problem was solved, before which Archimedes, Arab and European mechanics stopped.
But Stevin went even further. He understood the vector nature of force and for the first time found the rule for the geometric addition of forces. Considering the equilibrium of a chain on a triangle, Stevin concluded that if three forces are parallel to the sides of the triangle and their moduli are proportional to the lengths of these sides, then they are balanced. Stevin's work also contains the principle of possible displacements as applied to the chain hoist: how many times the chain hoist gives a gain in strength, the same number of times it loses on the way, a smaller load travels a longer distance.
Particularly important is the part of Stevin's treatise devoted to hydrostatics. To study the conditions for the equilibrium of a heavy fluid, Stevin uses the principle of solidification - the equilibrium will not be disturbed if the parts of a balanced body receive additional bonds and solidify. Therefore, having mentally singled out an arbitrary volume in the mass of a heavy liquid in equilibrium, we will not violate this equilibrium, considering the liquid in this volume to be solidified. Then it will be a body whose weight is equal to the weight of water in the volume of this body. Since the body is in equilibrium, an upward force equal to its weight acts on it from the surrounding fluid.
Since the fluid surrounding the body remains unchanged, if this body is replaced by any other body of the same shape and volume, then it always acts on the body with a force equal to the weight of the fluid in the volume of the body.
This elegant proof of the law of Archimedes entered the textbooks.
Stevin further proves by logical reasoning and confirms by experiment that the weight pressure of a liquid on the bottom of a vessel is determined by the area of the bottom and the height of the liquid level and does not depend on the shape of the vessel. Much later, this hydrostatic paradox was discovered by Pascal, who did not know Stevin's work, written in the little-spread Dutch language.
As a practical shipbuilder, Stevin considers the floating conditions of bodies, calculates the fluid pressure on the side walls, solving issues important for shipbuilding.
Thus, Stevin not only restored the results of Archimedes, but also developed them. It begins a new stage in the history of statics and hydrostatics.
Almost simultaneously with Stevin and independently of him, Galileo solved the problems of statics and hydrostatics. He also found the law of equilibrium of bodies on an inclined plane, which he generally studied in great detail. The inclined plane played an important role in Galileo's mechanical studies. We will return to this when discussing Galilean dynamics.
Galileo restored, in a simpler and modified form, the Archimedean proof of the law of the lever. He substantiated it anew, relying essentially on the principle of possible displacements (with the help of this principle, which he had not yet formulated explicitly, Galileo also substantiated the law of the inclined plane).
The discussion of the law of Archimedes and the conditions for the floating of bodies is devoted to the work of Galileo, published in 1612, “Discourses on Bodies in Water”. And this work of Galileo is inseparably connected with his struggle for a new worldview and a new physics. He wrote: "I have decided to write a real discourse in which I hope to show that I often disagree with Aristotle in my views, not on a whim and not because I did not read it or did not understand it, but because of convincing evidence." In this essay, he writes about his new studies of the satellites of Jupiter, and about the sunspots he discovered, observing which he deduced that the Sun slowly rotates around its axis.
Turning to the main theme of the work, Galileo argues with the peripatetics, who believe that the swimming of bodies is determined primarily by the shape of the body. Galileo's approach to the justification of the law of Archimedes and the theory of floating bodies is original. He considers the behavior of a body in a fluid in a limited volume and raises the question of the weight of a fluid capable of holding a body of a given weight. ( Galileo's question was discussed on the pages of Soviet popular science magazines. Pages of fundamental monographs on hydrostatics and mechanics were dedicated to him.)
The main merit of Galileo in substantiating the dynamics. Little remains for us to add to what has already been said on this subject, but this little is essential. Galileo belongs to the fundamental discovery of the independence of the acceleration of free fall from the mass of the body, which he found, refuting the opinion of Aristotle that the speed of falling bodies is proportional to their mass. Galileo showed that this speed is the same for all bodies, if we ignore air resistance, and is proportional to the time of fall, while the path traveled in free fall is proportional to the square of time.
Having discovered the laws of uniformly accelerated motion, Galileo simultaneously discovered the law of the independence of the action of a force. Indeed, if the force of gravity, acting on a body at rest, gives it a certain speed in the first second, i.e., changes the speed from zero to some finite value (9.8 m / s), then in the next second, acting already on a moving body, it will change its speed by the same amount, etc. This is reflected by the law of proportionality of the rate of fall to the time of fall. But Galileo did not limit himself to this and, considering the motion of a body thrown horizontally, he insistently emphasized the independence of the falling speed from the horizontal speed communicated to the body when throwing: required for a vertical fall to the ground from a height of some hundred cubits, the ball, thrown out of the cannon by the force of gunpowder, will travel four hundred, one thousand, four thousand, ten thousand cubits, so that with all horizontally directed shots the same time will remain in the air.
Galileo also determines the trajectory of a horizontally thrown body. In "Dialogue" he mistakenly considers it to be an arc of a circle. In "Conversations" he corrects his mistake and finds that the trajectory of the body's motion is parabolic.
Galileo checks the laws of free fall on an inclined plane. He establishes the important fact that the speed of falling does not depend on the length, but depends only on the height of the inclined plane. Further, he finds out that a body that has rolled down an inclined plane from a certain height will rise to the same height in the absence of friction. Therefore, the pendulum, laid aside, after passing through the equilibrium position, will rise to the same height, regardless of the shape of the path. Thus, Galileo essentially discovered the conservative nature of the gravitational field. As for the fall time, it is, in accordance with the laws of uniformly accelerated motion, proportional to the square root of the length of the plane. Comparing the times of a body's rolling along an arc of a circle and along a chord contracting it, Galileo finds that the body rolls faster along a circle. He also assumes that the time of rolling does not depend on the length of the arc, i.e., the arc of a circle is isochronous. This statement of Galileo is valid only for small arcs, but it was of great importance. The discovery of the isochronism of the oscillations of a circular pendulum Galileo used to measure time intervals and designed a clock with a pendulum. He did not have time to publish the design of his watch. It was published after his death, when the pendulum clock had already been patented by Huygens.
The invention of the pendulum clock was of great scientific and practical importance, and Galileo was keenly aware of the significance of his discovery. Huygens corrected Galileo's mistake by showing that a cycloid is isochronous and used a cycloid pendulum in his clock. But the theoretically correct cycloidal pendulum turned out to be practically inconvenient, and practitioners switched to the Galilean, circular pendulum, which is still used in clocks.
Even during the life of Galileo, Evangelista Torricelli (1608-1647) attracted his attention with his essay, in which he solved the problem of the motion of a body thrown with an initial velocity at an angle to the horizon. Torricelli determined the flight path (it turned out to be a parabola), calculated the flight altitude and range, showing that for a given initial speed, the greatest range is achieved when the speed is directed at an angle of 45 ° to the horizon. Torricelli developed a method for constructing a tangent to a parabola. The problem of finding tangents to curves led to the emergence of differential calculus. Galileo invited Torricelli to his place and made him his disciple and successor.
The name Torricelli forever went down in the history of physics as the name of the man who first proved the existence of atmospheric pressure and received the "Torricelli void". Even Galileo reported on the observation of Florentine wells that water is not drawn out by a pump to a height of more than a certain value, which is a little more than Hume. Galileo concluded from this that Aristotle's "fear of the void" did not exceed some measurable value.
Torricelli went further and showed that a void can exist in nature. Based on the idea that we live at the bottom of an ocean of air that exerts pressure on us, he suggested that Viviani (1622-3703) measure this pressure with a sealed tube filled with mercury. mercury did not completely pour into a vessel with mercury, but stopped at a certain height, so that an empty space formed in the tube above the mercury. The weight of the mercury column measures the pressure of the atmosphere. Thus, the world's first barometer was constructed.
Torricelli's discovery caused a huge resonance. Another dogma of peripatetic physics collapsed. Descartes immediately proposed the idea of measuring atmospheric pressure at various altitudes. This idea was realized by the French mathematician, physicist and philosopher Pascal Blaise Pascal (1623-1662) - a remarkable mathematician known for his results in geometry, number theory, probability theory, etc., entered the history of physics as the author of Pascal's law on the all-round uniform transmission of fluid pressure, the law of communicating vessels and the theory of hydraulic press In 1648, at the request of Pascal, Torricelli's experiment was carried out by his relative at the foot and on top of Mount Puy de Dome and the fact of a drop in air pressure was established with height. It is quite clear that the "fear of the void", which Pascal recognized as early as 1644, contradicted this result, as well as the fact established by Torricelli that the height of the mercury column changes depending on the state of the weather Scientific meteorology was born from Torricelli's experience. Further development of Torricelli's discovery led to the invention air pumps, the discovery of the law of elasticity of gases and the invention of steam-atmospheric machines, which laid the foundation for the development of heat engineering. So, the achievements of science began to serve technology Along with mechanics, optics began to develop. Here, practice outstripped theory. Dutch spectacle makers built the first optical tube without knowing the law of light refraction. Galileo and Kepler did not know this law, although Kepler correctly drew the path of rays in lenses and lens systems. The law of refraction was discovered by the Dutch mathematician Willebrord Snellius (1580-1626). However, he did not publish it. Descartes first published and substantiated this law with the help of a model of particles that change the speed of movement when moving from one medium to another in his Dioptric in 1637. This book, which is one of the appendices to the Discourse on the Method, is characterized by its connection with practice. Descartes starts from the practice of making optical glasses and mirrors and comes to this practice. He is looking for ways to avoid the imperfections of glasses and mirrors, ways to eliminate spherical aberration. To this end, he explores various forms of reflective and refractive surfaces: elliptical, parabolic, etc.
The connection with practice, with optical production in general, is characteristic of optics in the 17th century. The largest scientists of this era, starting with Galileo, made optical instruments themselves, processed the surface of glasses, studied and improved the experience of practitioners. The degree of surface treatment of the lenses made by Torricelli was so perfect that modern researchers suggest that Torricelli owned an interference method for checking the quality of surfaces. The Dutch philosopher Spinoza earned his livelihood by making optical glasses. Another Dutchman - Leeuwenhoek - made excellent microscopes and became the founder of microbiology. Newton, a contemporary of Snell and Leeuwenhoek, was the inventor of the telescope and made them with his own hands, grinding and working surfaces with extraordinary patience. In optics, physics went hand in hand with technology, and this connection has not been broken to this day.
Another important achievement of Descartes in optics was the theory of the rainbow. He correctly built the course of rays in a raindrop, indicated that the first, bright arc is obtained after double refraction and one reflection in the drop, the second arc after double refraction and double reflection. The phenomenon of total internal reflection discovered by Kepler is thus used in the Cartesian theory of the rainbow. However, Descartes did not investigate the causes of iridescent colors. Descartes' predecessor in the study of the rainbow, Dominis, who died in the prison of the Inquisition, reproduced the colors of the rainbow in glass balls filled with water (1611).
The beginning of research in the field of electricity and magnetism was laid by the book of the physician of the English Queen Elizabeth William Gilbert (1540-1603) “On the magnet, magnetic bodies and the large magnet - the Earth, a new physiology”, published in 1600. Gilbert was the first to give a correct explanation of the behavior of magnetic compass arrows. Its end is not "attracted" to the celestial pole (as thought before Gilbert), but is attracted by the poles of the earth's magnet. The needle is under the influence of terrestrial magnetism, the magnetic field of the earth, as we now explain.
Gilbert confirmed his idea with a model of an earth magnet, turning a ball from magnetic iron ore, which he called "terrella", that is, "earth". Having made a small arrow, he demonstrated its inclination and the change in the angle of inclination with latitude. Gilbert could not demonstrate magnetic declination on his terrell, since the poles of his terrell were also geographic poles for him.
Further, Gilbert discovered the strengthening of the magnetic action by an iron armature, which he correctly explained by the magnetization of iron. He found that the magnetization of iron and steel occurs at a distance from the magnet (magnetic induction).
He succeeded in magnetizing iron wires with the earth's magnetic field. Gilbert noted that steel, unlike iron, retains its magnetic properties after the removal of the magnet. He clarified Peregrine's observation by showing that when a magnet is broken, magnets with two poles are always obtained, and thus separation of the two magnetic poles is impossible.
Hilbert also made a major step forward in the study of electrical phenomena. Experimenting with various stones and substances, he found that, in addition to amber, the property of attracting light objects after rubbing acquires a number of other bodies (diamond, sapphire, amethyst, rock crystal, sulfur, resin, etc.), which he called electric, i.e. similar to amber. All other bodies, primarily metals, which did not show such properties, Hilbert called "non-electric". So the term "electricity" entered science, and so the systematic study of electrical phenomena was initiated. Hilbert investigated the question of the similarity of magnetic and electrical phenomena and came to the conclusion that these phenomena are profoundly different and unrelated. This conclusion was kept in science for more than two hundred years, until Oersted discovered the magnetic field of electric current.
“I give the greatest praise and envy this author,” Galileo wrote in his Dialogue about Hilbert's book. “He seems to me worthy of the greatest praise also for the many new and reliable observations he made, ... and I have no doubt that in the course of time this new science will be improved by new observations and especially by correct and necessary proofs. But this should not diminish the glory of the first observer.
It remains for us to add a few words about the study of thermal phenomena. Heat and cold in Aristotelian physics were among the primary qualities and therefore were not subject to further analysis. Of course, ideas about the “degree of heat” or cold existed before, people noted both extreme cold and extreme heat. But only in the 17th century. attempts began to determine the temperature by more objective indicators than human sensations. One of the first thermometers, more precisely, thermoscopes, was made by Galileo. Studies of thermal phenomena after the death of Galileo were continued by the Florentine academics. New forms of thermometers have appeared. Newton made a thermometer with linseed oil.
However, thermometry took a firm footing only in the 18th century, when they learned how to make thermometers with fixed points. In any case, in the era of Galileo, a scientific approach to the study of thermal phenomena was outlined. The first attempts to construct a theory of heat were also made. Interestingly, Bacon decided to apply his method specifically to the study of heat.
Having collected a large amount of information, including unverified facts, placing them in a table of “Positive Instances” and “Negative Instances” invented by him, he nevertheless came to the correct conclusion that heat is a form of movement of the smallest particles.
From the book Transformation of the Elements author Kazakov Boris IgnatievichThe first steps of the new alchemists Not only uranium and thorium turned out to be radioactive elements, but also the newly discovered polonium and radium. Then another radioactive element was discovered - actinium. By studying radioactivity, as expected, in addition to Becquerel and
From the book The Newest Book of Facts. Volume 3 [Physics, chemistry and technology. History and archeology. Miscellaneous] author Kondrashov Anatoly Pavlovich From the book Interesting about astronomy author Tomilin Anatoly Nikolaevich From the book Atomic Energy for Military Purposes author Smith Henry Dewolf From the book Interplanetary Travel [Flights to world space and reaching celestial bodies] author Perelman Yakov Isidorovich2. The first "burglars" in the palace of Urania A. Method Even the land surveyors of Egypt, cutting sections after the floods of the Nile, remembered the theorem: "The base and two angles with it allow you to build the entire triangle." Isn't this theorem also suitable for the purposes of "star-gauges"? Take, for example, in
From the book Where the river of time flows author Novikov Igor Dmitrievich1. The first steps The space age began on October 4, 1957. It is hardly worth while describing the details of this day again and again. They have become canon. More important is the fact itself: the Soviet Union launched the world's first artificial satellite into space, into Earth's orbit. Let's walk along
From the book Who Invented Modern Physics? From Galileo's pendulum to quantum gravity author Gorelik Gennady EfimovichPart I SUCCESSES IN SOLVING THE MAIN OBJECTIVES PROVISION OF MATERIALS GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS 6.8. As has already become clear from the previous chapters of this report, the supply of materials of sufficient purity represented a major part of the whole problem. As for uranium, it seemed
From the book Knocking on Heaven's Door [Scientific View of the Universe] by Randall LisaTo Chapter VII 5. Advances in Modern Artillery The range of the cannonballs fired by the newest cannons (1922) surpassed even those incredible distances that were covered by the end of the World War by German artillery (that is, 80-100 versts). This became possible,
From the book Tweets About the Universe by Chown MarcusFIRST THOUGHTS ABOUT TIME Since long ago, when I began to read popular books on physics, it seemed to me self-evident that time is an empty duration, flowing like a river, carrying along all events without exception. It invariably and inevitably flows in one
From the book of Faraday. Electromagnetic Induction [High Voltage Science] author Castillo Sergio Rarra From the author's bookThe Birth of Experimental Astrophysics Having sent Galileo his New Astronomy in 1609, Kepler did not have time to be offended by the silence of his Italian colleague. In the spring of 1610, he learned the stunning news: The news came to Germany that you, my Galileo, instead of reading someone else's book
From the author's bookSEPTEMBER 2008: FIRST TESTS The Large Hadron Collider generates proton beams and injects them into the final ring accelerator, barely a series of accelerating “shocks”. There, these beams are sent along an annular trajectory along the tunnel, so that, having made a twist,
From the author's book115. Who were the first astronomers? Astronomy is the oldest of the sciences. Or so they say about astronomers. The first astronomers were prehistoric people who wondered what the Sun, Moon and stars were. The daily movement of the Sun set the clock. Monthly phases of the moon and
From the author's bookTHE FIRST SPARKS OF ELECTRICITY For the first time, Faraday had the opportunity to study what electricity is. The Danish physicist Hans Christian Oersted (1777–1851) had the same goal. In 1820, Oersted discovered that under the influence of an electric current, the compass needle
From the author's bookFIRST DISCOVERIES Although Davy hired Faraday to simply wash test tubes and perform similar tasks, Michael agreed to these terms, taking every opportunity to get closer to real science. Some time later, in October
From the author's bookTHE FIRST ELECTRIC GENERATORS Faraday continued to methodically study the scientific conjectures available in his era and confirmed his new ideas step by step. After he managed to prove that electricity could be induced by magnetism, the next step was to try to create
All books can be downloaded for free and without registration.
NEW. A.N. Bogolyubov.. Mathematics. Mechanics. Biographical reference book. 1983, 639 pages djvu. 14.3 MB.
The reference book contains information about the life and scientific activities of over 1500 scientists - mathematicians and mechanics of the past and present. A chronology of the most important events in the field of mathematics and mechanics and a list of references are given, which include works on the history of mathematics and mechanics, monographs and articles on the work of scientists, as well as the most significant collected works.
For scientists - mathematicians, mechanics and historians of science, teachers of higher and secondary schools, graduate students and students, as well as for readers interested in the history of science and technology.
Mais Jammer. The concept of mass in classical and modern physics. 1967, 255 pp. djvu. 2.9 MB.
Offered to our reader in Russian translation, M. Jammer's book "The Concept of Mass" contains a detailed historical analysis of this concept, in which the natural science and philosophical aspects complement each other. The author draws extensive factual material from the history of philosophy and natural sciences. Starting from the origins of scientific knowledge, he analyzes in detail the process of formation of the physical concept of mass. Revealing three stages in the conceptual development of a scientific concept - the stage of formation, systematization and formalization - M. Jammer draws a historical picture of its natural development. This meaningful picture of the development of one of the fundamental concepts of physics is of considerable interest from the point of view of methodological studies of the structural and genetic laws of scientific knowledge. Consideration of the connection between the concept of mass and the concepts of matter and motion, revealing its relationship to the concepts of space and time - all this makes M. Jammer's book valuable for a reader interested in the history of science and philosophical problems of natural science.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Download
Dorfman Ya. G. World history of physics (from the beginning of the 19th to the middle of the 20th centuries). 1979 321 pp. djvu. 3.9 MB.
The monograph is the final part of the "World History of Physics" written by Ya. G. Dorfman (1898-1974). The first part, covering the period from ancient times to the end of the 18th century, was published by the Nauka publishing house in 1974. The monograph examines the development and completion of classical physics in the 19th century, revolutionary discoveries, the philosophical crisis in physics and the beginning of its new era in the first half of the 20th century In addition to the presentation of the successive change of theoretical concepts and experimental results, considerable attention is paid to the analysis of the methods and principles underlying them. The publication is intended for specialist physicists, as well as graduate students and senior students in physical specialties.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Download
Kudryavtsev P.S. History of physics. djvu.
Volume 1 - From antiquity to Mendeleev. 1956 566 pages 18.4 Mb.
Volume 2 - From Mendeleev to the discovery of the quantum. 1956 490 pages 10.9 Mb.
Volume 3 - From the discovery of quantum to quantum mechanics. 1971 426 pages 11.3 Mb.
With a dogmatic presentation of physical laws, understanding of the deep ideological orientation of physics is lost. To help the reader to feel this direction, to feel the ideological nature of physical science - this was the main goal of the author, to which everything else was subordinated ...
The main attention of the author was drawn to the process of formation of basic physical views, and the role of this or that figure was evaluated by how much he was able to break the old and create the new. And it may be that in one place or another the distribution of material will seem disproportionate to the reader (as, for example, the chapter on Galileo), but it entirely follows from the tasks set by the author. Concentrating attention on the process of formation of physical views, the author sought to convey the thoughts of the founders of physical science in their purity and immediacy.