In the beginning was the Word...We all know this line from the Bible, but it has a deep significance in science and physics specifically. The first true science book was Euclids Elements. For some 2,000 years it was like Forrest Gump. It was present at every major milestone in science. It was there when Copernicus applied an axiomatic system to his work on the revolutions of the celestial orbs. It was there in Leonardo Divincis work. It was there when Kepler established his 3 laws of planetary motion. It was there when Newton published his Principia. So stunning was Newtons work that Antoine Lavoisier was inspired to understand the unusual effectiveness at mathematics as a way to understand the natural world. Not long afterwards came the first law of conservation of mass (and later energy). This supposed law that the universe is a closed system - a One that is Many - is a brash and audacious assumption for anyone to make, especially in the 18th century, but it was necessary if there is to be any connection at all between a rigorous system of variables, constants and operators and the natural world. In the beginning was the Word...Indeed.
Posted on: Tue, 24 Jun 2014 15:07:01 +0000
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