The Revolution In Physics: Planck, Einstein, And Heisenberg Declare War On Newton

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The Revolution In Physics: Planck, Einstein, And Heisenberg Declare War On Newton

The following page focuses on the Revolution in Physics, specifically the scientific works of Max Planck, Albert Einstein, and Werner Heisenberg, all of which took place in the early twentieth century. In this page I will attempt to answer the following question, "How did the Revolution in Physics transform the way that humans viewed themselves and nature from 1715 to the present day?" To effectively answer this question I will cover three main points. I will start off by briefly describing the scientific beliefs that dominated European society in the years between 1715 and the Revolution in Physics. Next, I am going to explain the epoch making works of Max Planck, Albert Einstein, and Werner Heisenberg that were highly responsible for initiating this new era of scientific thinking. Lastly, I will focus in on how humans viewed themselves and nature differently after the Revolution in Physics.

The ideas of classical physics, which started with Copernicus and ended with Newton’s laws on motion and gravity, were widely accepted by European society in the years leading up to the Revolution in Physics. The beliefs of classical physics rested on five cornerstones. The first cornerstone was the existence of absolute space and the second cornerstone was the existence of absolute time. "In the Newtonian system bits of matter moved in absolute space and time"(Baumer 460). Of these two cornerstones, space was considered to be more important because it was immutable and because every change in the motion of matter indisputably involved a change in space as well. In contrast, change did occur in time, but unlike space, time did not itsel...

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...t that the Revolution had on society. I also feel that even though this page is limited in scope it does a great deal to answer the overall project question focusing on how humans perception of nature has changed from 1715 to the present day. This page does this by directly showing the effects that the Revolution in Physics had on society. Many of these effects can still be readily seen today. Some examples are the decline in society's overall belief in God and people's fear of science technology, which is apparent in issues such as human cloning and genetic engineering.

Work Cited

Baumer, Franklin L. Modern European Thought. New York: Macmillan, 1977.

The American Institute Of Physics, AIP Emilo Segre Visual Archives, http:www.aip.org/history/esva/index.html

Washburn, Phil. Philosophical Dilemmas: Building A World view. New York: Oxford UP, 1997.

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