Philosophy of Physical Science
Science is a methodical process of accumulating and organizing information in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the world.
Science is an information framework that connects living things and their surroundings.
Science has been linked to philosophy since classical antiquity as a sort of knowledge. The terms “science” and “philosophy” were frequently interchanged in the English language during the early modern era.
In modern usage, science is frequently equated with ‘natural and physical science,’ and thus limited to disciplines of study concerned with the phenomena of the material universe and their rules, with the implied exclusion of pure mathematics. This is now the most commonly used sense. ” Based on early examples such as Kepler’s laws, Galileo’s laws, and Newton’s laws of motion, this narrower notion of “science” arose as a separate activity of identifying “laws of nature.” Natural philosophy began to be referred to as “natural science” during this time period. Throughout the nineteenth century, the term “science” came to be associated with the methodical study of the natural world, such as physics, chemistry, geology, and biology.
This created a linguistic limbo in the study of the human mind and society, which was rectified by designating these areas of academic research as social science. Similarly, several other significant disciplines of disciplined study and knowledge, such as formal science and applied science, exist today under the overall umbrella of “science.”
Natural sciences, which examine natural phenomena (including biological life), and social sciences, which explore human behavior and societies, are the two main groupings of scientific fields.
These classifications are empirical sciences, which means that the knowledge must be founded on observable phenomena and able to be tested for validity by other researchers working in similar situations. Engineering and medicine, for example, are linked subjects that are classified as transdisciplinary and applied sciences.
Specialized scientific fields, which may include elements of other scientific disciplines but frequently have their own language and expertise, are included within these categories.
The formal science of mathematics has both similarities and differences with the empirical sciences (the natural and social sciences). It is comparable to empirical sciences in that it entails an objective, meticulous, and methodical investigation of a field of knowledge; yet, it differs in that it relies on a priori rather than empirical methods to verify its findings. The empirical sciences require the formal sciences, which comprise statistics and logic. The empirical sciences have frequently benefited from substantial developments in formal science.
Both discovering and describing how things work (natural sciences) and how people think and act (social sciences), formal sciences are crucial in the formulation of hypotheses, theories, and rules (social sciences).
- Physics is the science that studies matter and energy, as well as their interactions. Gravity, light, and time are all topics studied by physicists. The Theory of Relativity was invented by Albert Einstein, a famous physicist.
- Chemistry is the study of the structure, composition, and characteristics of matter. Pasteurization, for example, is the process of heating liquids like milk and orange juice to kill harmful bacteria. It was invented by the chemist Louis Pasteur.
- Astronomy is the study of the universe beyond the atmosphere of the Earth.
- Geology is the study of the Earth’s origins, history, and structure, as well as the physical, chemical, and biological changes it has gone through or is going through.
- Exploration and study of the ocean is referred to as oceanography.
- Paleontology is the study of living forms that existed in prehistoric or geologic times.
- Meteorology is the study of the atmosphere and its phenomena, such as weather and climate.
- Botany is the scientific study of plants.
- Zoology is the branch of biology that deals with animals and their behavior.
- Genetics is the science of inheritance.
- Medicine is the science of detecting, treating, and preventing disease, injury, and illness.
Here is a list of the major branches of physics, along with a brief description of what each branch studies. Each discipline of physics is further subdivided into sub-branches.
Except for mathematical physics, each of these fields has an experimental and theoretical sub-discipline, as previously stated. These branches of physics are artificially classified, and they overlap to form new specialized fields.
This is the oldest field of physics, and it represents the motion of all macroscopic objects analytically. It explains everything from why huge things such as balls bounce to why pendulums swing to why planets orbit the Sun! Because it cannot explain motion at the atomic level, it describes’mechanics’ of all kinds on a vast scale and in its classical form. Fluid mechanics is a sub-discipline of classical mechanics that deals with the physics of all sorts of fluids.
Physics based on mathematics
This is the discipline of physics that provides analytical tools for theoretical physics. Because mathematics is the language of nature, it is necessary to understand mathematics in order to comprehend nature. Physics benefits from mathematics’ precision. It is a discipline of pure mathematics and physics that combines the two. A physicist’s toolkit includes mathematical physics tools. A physicist must use the appropriate mathematical tools to solve a problem, just as a worker must use the appropriate equipment to complete his job. Every new law uncovered as we delve further into nature can only be described in a new form of mathematics.
Electrodynamics in the Classical Sense
This branch of physics is the most widely used of all. Classical electrodynamics is based on Maxwell’s principles of electromagnetism, which describe electromagnetic processes at all sizes from the atomic to the global. It is the theoretical foundation of optics, telecommunications, and a variety of other industries. Because the ‘Electromagnetic Force’ is all-pervasive and we live in an electromagnetic environment, its dominion includes all of nature.
This branch explains a new type of mechanics that can explain phenomena at the subatomic level that classical mechanics can’t. At the subatomic sizes, it provides the clearest image of nature. Quantum physics is based on the uncertainty principle and predicts all occurrences using probability. It describes a strange subatomic universe that differs dramatically from the macroscopic world. Quantum physics is the theoretical foundation of all fields of physics that describe occurrences on atomic or subatomic scales, and it necessitates a significant amount of mathematical knowledge. ‘Basics of Quantum Mechanics for Dummies‘ is a good resource for more information on this.
Statistical Mechanics and Thermodynamics
One of the basic fields of physics is thermodynamics and statistical physics, which provides a theoretical method to describe the motion and phenomena of multi-particle systems. Quantum mechanics can examine the motion of a single particle, but it cannot describe multi-particle systems analytically because the variables of computation are too numerous. As a result, a statistical technique that describes bulk matter motion is required. Statistical mechanics has its origins in thermodynamics. Quantum statistical mechanics is the result of combining statistical and quantum mechanics.
Physics of Condensed Matter
Condensed Matter Physics is a sub-discipline of quantum physics and statistical mechanics that studies all events that occur in condensed matter. This encompasses all liquids, solids, and gases. The physics of semiconductor devices, which enable today’s age of information technology, is the result of condensed matter physics study. It encompasses all bulk matter properties such as ferromagnetism, superfluidity, and superconductivity.
All processes occurring at the level of the atomic nucleus are described by nuclear physics. Radioactivity, nuclear fission, and nuclear fusion are all discussed and explained in this book. Nuclear physics advancements led to the development of nuclear weapons such as the atom bomb and the hydrogen bomb, as well as the availability of nuclear energy.
Theory of Quantum Fields
This is the physics which deals with the physics of extremely small and rapid particles. Particle physics is another name for it. It is based on the three theoretical foundations of quantum mechanics: special theory of relativity, the concept of fields, and quantum mechanics itself. It describes the physics of fundamental particles of matter and is based on the unification of all three foundations. It’s one of the most challenging fields of physics because it deals with nature’s ultimate building blocks.
This is a branch of classical mechanics that deals with difficulties on macroscopic scales that classical mechanics cannot address. It is a discipline of mathematics that aims to solve non-linear differential equations of motion that aren’t accessible to conventional methods of solution. A large portion of it is also known as ‘Chaos Theory,’ which explores the organized chaos that exists in the macroscopic universe. It is currently the most exciting branch of physics.
Astrophysics and astronomy
Astronomy is the observable study of the cosmos in all of its forms, while astrophysics (a confluence of all areas of physics) is the theoretical foundation that can explain all of these occurrences. It is the most comprehensive of all physics branches, with the single purpose of understanding every thing that occurs in the cosmos.
Cosmology and General Relativity
The proper theory, which describes gravitation on all scales, is the general theory of relativity. Gravity is interpreted as a result of space-time curvature, rather than as a force. Massive objects distort and bend space around them. The bending of space time causes gravity. General relativity interacts with matter by unifying space and time into ‘Spacetime.’ The amount of space that bends is determined by the amount of matter and energy present. ‘Matter tells space how to bend, space tells matter how to move!’ is how general relativity is defined in simple terms. ‘Does the Fourth(4th) Dimension of Time Exist?’ is a good place to start.
The theory of general relativity is so powerful that it gave birth to a new discipline called cosmology, which provides a framework for describing the entire evolution of the Universe! Physics can now answer the question, “How was the Universe Created?” for the first time, owing to cosmology. This was a crash course in all of physics’ major disciplines.
There are many more specialized branches of physics, such as ‘Biophysics,’ which describes the physics involved in living systems (a confluence of biology and physics).
