Knowra History of physics History of physics The study of how physical ideas, methods, institutions, and technologies developed over time. It traces changing explanations of nature alongside the practices and tools used to investigate it.
Scientific Revolution : A period of major change in European science during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Its new mathematical and experimental approaches established patterns later central to physics.
Scientific method : A set of practices for developing and testing claims through observation, experiment, and reasoning. Changing expectations for reliable evidence shaped which physical claims gained acceptance.
Aristotle : An ancient Greek philosopher whose writings shaped natural philosophy for centuries. His account of motion and matter dominated European thought before early modern physics.
Ancient Greek philosophy : A diverse tradition of philosophical inquiry that developed in the Greek-speaking world from the sixth century BCE onward. Its natural philosophers framed questions about matter, motion, and the cosmos inherited by later physics.
Industrial Revolution : A period of economic and technological transformation beginning in Britain in the eighteenth century. Mechanical and thermodynamic knowledge both supported and responded to industrial change.
Newtonian mechanics : The framework of motion and gravitation developed by Isaac Newton and expressed in his laws. It unified terrestrial and celestial motion under a single mathematical account.
Mathematical physics : The use of mathematical structures to formulate, analyze, and predict physical phenomena. Its growing role made quantitative laws a defining feature of modern physics.
Galileo Galilei : An Italian astronomer and natural philosopher who advanced mathematical and experimental studies of motion. His investigations helped establish experiment and mathematics as tools for studying motion.
Natural philosophy : The historical study of nature before physics became a distinct modern scientific discipline. Physics emerged from this broader inquiry into causes, matter, motion, and the heavens.
Thermodynamics : The study of heat, work, temperature, and energy transfer in physical systems. Its concepts grew from practical problems in engines and became foundational physical laws.
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