Historical stories about physics

Newton

Known as the founder of modern science, Newton made great contributions to science. His three major achievements - the analysis of light, the law of universal gravitation and calculus - laid the foundation for the development of modern science.

Why was Newton able to achieve great achievements in science? How did he become a great scientist from an ordinary person? To answer these questions, we can't help but think of several stories about his hard study and hard work.

"I must surpass him!"

When it comes to Newton, people may think that he must have been a "child prodigy" or "genius" with extraordinary intelligence when he was a child. In fact, this was not the case. Newton was thin in body and not very bright in his childhood. When I was studying in my hometown, I didn't study very hard, and my academic performance in the class was second-rate. But his interests are wide-ranging, and his game skills are higher than those of ordinary children. He usually likes to make mechanical models, such as windmills, waterwheels, sundials, etc. The water clock he carefully made was more accurate in timing and was praised by people. Sometimes, the way he plays is also very strange. One day, he made a lantern and hung it on the tail of the kite. When night falls, the lit lanterns rise into the sky with the help of kites. Glowing lanterns flowed in the sky, and people were startled, thinking that a comet had appeared. Despite this, he was often discriminated against because of his poor academic performance.

At that time, the British feudal society had a very serious hierarchical system. Students who studied well in primary and secondary schools could discriminate against students who did not study well. There was a recess game, when everyone was having fun, a student who was studying well kicked Newton on the pretext and called him a fool. Newton's mind was so stimulated that he was extremely angry. He thought, we are both students, why should I be bullied by him? I must surpass him! From then on, Newton made up his mind to study hard. He gets up early and goes to bed late, seizes every moment, studies and thinks hard.

After hard study, Newton's academic performance continued to improve, and soon he surpassed the classmate who had bullied him and ranked at the top of the class.

Fun under the fence

There are many famous scientists in the world who come from poor families. They have all fought tenaciously against difficult circumstances on their way to success. Newton's situation in his boyhood is also very sympathetic.

Newton was born in the family of an ordinary farmer in England in 1642. Shortly before Newton was born, his father died. His mother remarried when he was two years old. When Newton was fourteen years old, his stepfather unfortunately passed away and his mother returned to his hometown. Newton was forced to drop out of school and go home to help his mother farm. His mother wanted to train him to make an independent living and asked him to engage in the business of agricultural products.

How reluctant a diligent and studious child is to leave his beloved school! He cried sadly several times, but his mother never changed her mind. In the end, he had to study business according to his mother's wishes. Every morning, he and an old servant went to a big town more than ten miles away to do business. Newton didn't like doing business very much. He entrusted all matters to his old servants, while he secretly went to a place to study.

As time went by, Newton became more and more disgusted with doing business, and all he liked in his heart was reading. Later, Newton simply stopped going to the town to do business and only asked the old servant to go alone. Afraid that his family would find out, he went out with his old servant every day, stopping halfway and reading under a fence. Whenever the old servant comes back in the afternoon, we go home together.

In this way, day after day, the reading life under the fence is endlessly enjoyable. One day, he was reading happily under the fence when he happened to be seen by his uncle who was passing by. When his uncle saw this scene, he was very angry and scolded him loudly for not doing his job properly. He snatched Newton's book away. When his uncle saw that what he was reading was a mathematics book with various marks drawn on it, he was deeply moved. The uncle hugged Newton and said excitedly: "Son, just develop according to your ambition. Your right path should be to study."

After returning home, the uncle tried his best to persuade Newton's mother to let Newton Newton gave up business and went to school. With the help of his uncle, Newton returned to school as he wished.

Studying and calculating wind power in storms

Time treats people equally and gives people the same amount, but people use time differently and the knowledge gained is also very different. Same.

When Newton was sixteen years old, his mathematical knowledge was very superficial, and he did not even understand advanced mathematical knowledge. "Knowledge lies in accumulation, and wisdom comes from learning."

Newton was determined to reach the peak of mathematics through his own efforts. Under the unfavorable conditions of poor foundation, Newton was able to understand himself correctly and advance despite difficulties. He started over from basic knowledge and basic formulas, and advanced step by step. After studying Euclidean geometry, he then studied Descartes geometry. In comparison, he felt that Euclidean geometry was superficial, so he studied Descartes' geometry carefully until he mastered the essentials and understood them thoroughly. Then he invented the algebraic binomial theorem. The legendary story of Newton "calculating the force of the wind in a big storm" can be evidence of Newton's body mechanics. One day, there was a big storm. The wind is howling in the wild, the dust is flying, and it is so confusing that it is difficult to open one's eyes. Newton saw this as an opportunity to accurately study and calculate the force of the wind. So, he took the tools and ran back and forth alone in the storm. He stumbled and measured with difficulty. Several times the sand and dust blinded his eyes, several times the wind blew away the calculation paper, and several times the wind forced him to suspend his work, but they did not shake his desire for knowledge. He repeated it again and again, and finally obtained the correct data. He was so happy that he hurried home and continued his research. Where there's a will, there's a way. Through diligent study, Newton laid a solid foundation for his scientific tower. Soon, Newton's mathematical tower was built.

He invented differential calculus at the age of 22 and integral calculus at the age of 23, making great contributions to human science.

The secret of gravity and light

When Newton was twenty-three years old, the plague was prevalent in London. In order to prevent students from being infected, the University of Cambridge notified students to suspend classes and go home to avoid the epidemic, and the school was temporarily closed. Newton returned to his native Lincolnshire countryside. During his vacation days in the countryside, he never stopped studying and researching. The basic work of inventions such as gravity, calculus, and light analysis were all completed during this period. At that time, children in the countryside often used the sling to throw the stone far away after a few rounds. They can also forcefully turn a bucket of milk over their heads without the milk falling out.

These facts made him doubt: "What force keeps the stones in the sling and the milk in the bucket from falling? For this question, he once thought of the thoughts of Kepler and Galileo. He started from The vast universe, the endlessly moving planets, the vast and cold moon, and the huge earth, and then thought of the interaction of forces between these behemoths. At this time, Newton plunged into the calculation and verification of "gravity". Newton planned to use this principle to verify the motion patterns of the planets in the solar system. He first calculated the distance between the moon and the earth. Due to incorrect data, the calculated results were wrong because the centripetal acceleration of the moon revolving around the earth was calculated logically. It should be sixteen feet, but it was estimated that it was only thirteen point nine feet. In the dilemma of failure, Newton did not lose heart and was discouraged. Instead, he worked hard with greater efforts. After seven springs and autumns, he arrived. At the age of thirty, he finally fully proved the world-famous "law of universal gravitation", laying the foundation for theoretical astronomy and celestial mechanics.

During this period, Newton also conducted research on optics and discovered the origin of color. Once, when he was observing celestial objects with his homemade telescope, the point of view was always unclear no matter how he adjusted the lens. He thought that this might be related to the refraction of light, so he started to experiment by leaving a small round hole in the darkroom window. To transmit light, put a prism behind the indoor window, and hang a white screen behind the prism to receive the light refracted through the prism. As a result, unexpectedly, Newton was surprised to see that the refracted light received by the white screen was elliptical. , colorful colors appeared at both ends. Newton thought deeply about this strange phenomenon and learned that after light is refracted, the white light of the sun is dispersed into seven colors: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. Color. Therefore, white light (sunlight) is composed of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and purple light. When the sky clears after rain, the sunlight is refracted and reflected by the remaining raindrops in the sky, forming colorful colors. Hauni, this is exactly the reason. After further research, Newton pointed out that the reason why everything in the world has color is not that the sun shines on everything. Each object only absorbs the colors it accepts and reflects the colors it cannot accept. . This reflected color is the color of various objects that people see. This theory accurately explains the origin of color, and various color theories that have appeared in the world since ancient times have been overturned by it.

The reason why Newton was able to achieve such great achievements was that the profound mathematical foundation laid by his hard study in his early years played an important role.

Enter the realm of selflessness

On a rugged mountain road, a gray-haired old man was leading a horse slowly climbing the mountain. The man walked slowly in front, the horse followed step by step behind, and the monotonous sound of horse hooves resounded in the valley. Walking, walking, the horse suddenly broke away and ran away. The old man was so immersed in his extreme thoughts that he didn't notice it. The old man still climbed the mountain without fear of difficulties, still holding the horse's rein in his hand. When he climbed to a flatter place and wanted to ride a horse, he pulled the reins and found only a rope in front of him. When he looked back, he saw that the horse was gone.

Except for taking a small amount of time to exercise every day, Newton spent most of his time in his study. Once, in his study, he was boiling eggs while thinking about the problem. Thinking hard made him crazy. Suddenly, the water in the pot boiled. He quickly lifted the pot and took a look. "Ah!" he exclaimed, but what was boiling in the pot was a pocket watch. It turned out that when he was thinking about the problem, he absent-mindedly put the pocket watch into the pot like an egg.

Another time, Newton invited a friend to his home for lunch. He was so fascinated by science that he forgot about it. As usual, his servant only prepared lunch for Newton to eat alone. Near noon, guests were invited. The guest saw Newton immersed in calculation problems. There were manuscript papers and books on the table and bed. Seeing this situation, the guest did not disturb Newton. When he saw the food on the table, he thought it was prepared for him, so he sat down and started eating. After eating, he left quietly. When Newton finished the calculation and walked to the dining table to have lunch, he saw the chicken bones on the plate and suddenly said, "I thought I didn't eat, but I still ate."

Whether these stories are true or false is not important, but they show how meditative, slovenly, and humble a person Newton was. He was extremely dedicated to science, always thinking about the rotation of the stars and the changes in the universe. And entered the state of selflessness.

Modest, prudent, and meticulous style of study

"A broad river is calm, and a knowledgeable person is humble." All great figures who have made great contributions to human development have the virtue of humility. Whenever Newton achieved great achievements in science, he was never complacent. He thought he was great and hurriedly published works to become famous in the world.

When Newton worked hard to calculate the "law of universal gravitation", he was not in a hurry to publish it. Instead, he continued to ponder and study tirelessly for several years, immersed himself in numerical calculations, and never said a word to anyone. Later, Newton's friend, the great astronomer Halley (the discoverer of comets), encountered difficulties in proving a law about planetary orbits, and made a special trip to Newton to consult him. Newton gave Halley his manuscript on the calculation of "gravity". After reading it, Halley realized that the problem he wanted to ask for advice was exactly the problem that Newton had already solved and calculated long ago, and he was filled with envy.

One day in November 1684, Halley visited Newton's apartment again. When talking about academic issues related to astronomy, Newton took out the paper he had written on demonstrating "gravity" and asked Halley for his opinions. After reading it, Harley was very surprised by this masterpiece. He happily said to Newton: "This is really a great argument and a great work!" He repeatedly advised Newton to publish this great work as soon as possible to benefit mankind. But Newton did not listen to his friend's well-intentioned advice and published his work easily. But after a long period of meticulous and repeated verification and calculation, and after confirming its accuracy, "Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy" was published to the world in July 1687.

Newton was a very humble man and never arrogant. Someone once asked Newton: "What is the secret of your success?" Newton replied: "If I have a little success, there is no other secret but diligence." He added: "If I look further, That’s because I stand on the shoulders of giants.” How meaningful these words are! It vividly tells the mystery of Newton's great achievements.

Story One: Simple Life

In 1895, when Madame Curie and Pierre Curie got married, in the new house There were only two chairs, one for each of them. Pierre Curie felt that there were too few chairs and suggested adding a few more to avoid having no place to sit when guests came. However, Madame Curie said: "It is good to have chairs, but guests will not leave after they sit down. In order to have more If you have time to do research, forget it.”

Since 1913, Madame Curie’s annual salary has increased to 40,000 francs, but she is still “stingy”.

Every time she comes back from abroad, she always brings back some menus from the banquet, because these menus are made of very thick and fine paper, and it is very convenient to write on the back. No wonder some people said that Madame Curie was "like a poor woman in a hurry" until her death.

Once, an American reporter was looking for Madame Curie. He walked to the door of a fisherman's house in the village and asked a woman sitting barefoot on the stone slab at the door where Madame Curie lived. When the woman raised her head, the reporter was shocked: it turned out to be Marie Curie.

Story 2: Indifferent to fame and fortune

Mrs. Curie is famous all over the world, but she neither seeks fame nor fortune. She won 10 bonuses, 16 medals, and 107 honorary titles in her lifetime, but she didn't care at all. One day, a friend of hers came to her home and suddenly saw her little daughter playing with the gold medal that the Royal Society had just awarded her. He was surprised and said, "Mrs. Curie, you got a medal from the Royal Society." , is a very high honor, how can you give it to your children to play with?" Madame Curie smiled and said: "I want my children to know from an early age that honors are like toys, they can only be played with, and they must not be taken too seriously. Otherwise, nothing will be accomplished.”

Story No. 3: “Teaching Daughters in a Proper Way”

Mrs. Curie had two daughters. "Seizing the age advantage of intellectual development" is Marie Curie's important "know-how" for developing children's intelligence. As early as when her daughter was less than one year old, Madame Curie guided her children to engage in intellectual gymnastics training for young children, guide them to have extensive contact with strangers, go to the zoo to watch animals, let them learn to swim, and appreciate the beauty of nature. When the children are a little older, she teaches them a kind of artistic intellectual gymnastics, sings children's songs, and tells them fairy tales. When they get older, let the children undergo intellectual training, teach them to read, play the piano, do handicrafts, etc., and also teach them to ride bicycles and ride horses. After Madame Curie and her husband won the Nobel Prize, two pairs of descendants trained by Madame Curie also won the Nobel Prize: the eldest daughter Irene, a nuclear physicist, and she and her husband Joliot discovered that Artificial radioactive substances and jointly won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. The second daughter, Eve, is a musician and biographer. Her husband won the 1956 Nobel Peace Prize as the Director-General of the United Nations Children's Fund.

Galileo Galilei (1564-1642), Italian physicist, astronomer and philosopher, pioneer of modern experimental science.

In 1590, Galileo did the famous experiment of "two iron balls falling to the ground at the same time" on the Leaning Tower of Pisa, which overturned Aristotle's theory that "the falling speed of an object is proportional to its weight" and corrected it. This erroneous conclusion lasted for 1900 years.

In 1609, Galileo created an astronomical telescope (later known as the Galilean Telescope) and used it to observe celestial bodies. He discovered the unevenness of the moon's surface and drew the first map of the moon's surface. On January 7, 1610, Galileo discovered the four satellites of Jupiter and found conclusive evidence for the Copernican theory, marking the beginning of the victory of the Copernican theory. With the help of the telescope, Galileo also discovered the rings of Saturn, sunspots, the rotation of the sun, the phases of Venus and Mercury, the diurnal and lunar motion of the moon, and that the Milky Way is composed of countless stars, etc. These discoveries ushered in a new era of astronomy.

Galileo is the author of "The Star Messenger", "Letters on Sunspots", "Dialogues on the Two World Systems of Ptolemy and Copernicus" and "Dialogues on the Two New Sciences and Mathematics" prove".

In order to commemorate Galileo's achievements, people named Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto as Galilean satellites.

People rushed to praise: "Columbus discovered the New World, and Galileo discovered the new universe."

In the 19th century, with a series of great discoveries in physics, many scientists claimed that the building of physics had been basically completed, leaving only supplements and improvements to future generations. However, at the beginning of the 20th century, a young physicist brought this edifice of classical physics to collapse almost single-handedly. He was the great theoretical physicist Albert Einstein, the founder of the theory of relativity.

Einstein was born on March 14, 1879, in Ulm, Baden-Württemberg, Germany, to a Jewish family. The following year, the family moved to Munich. Einstein did not show extraordinary talent as a child. He first attended high school in Munich, dropped out before graduating, and then transferred to a state high school in Aarau, Switzerland.

In 1896, Einstein entered the Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, Switzerland, to study mathematics and physics, and became a teacher after graduation. Einstein loved teaching and educating people, but becoming a physicist was a dream he could not give up.

In 1902, Einstein became a patent office examiner in Bern, the capital of Switzerland. The ease of working in the patent office allowed Einstein to continue his scientific research. In 1905, Einstein, who was only 26 years old, published three papers and made historic achievements in three different fields of physics. In particular, the special theory of relativity revolutionized human understanding of space, time and material movement. Revolutionary changes mark the arrival of a new era in physics.

In 1914, Einstein returned to Germany and entered the Prussian Institute of Science to engage in scientific research and concurrently served as a professor at the University of Berlin. In 1915, Einstein published his general theory of relativity. This is another major achievement of modern science after the special theory of relativity. In 1919, British astronomer Eddington's observations of a total solar eclipse confirmed Einstein's prediction that light would bend when passing through the gravitational field of the sun. Einstein became famous and the theory of relativity became a household term.

In 1921, Einstein was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for his research on the photoelectric effect. In 1933, due to the anti-Semitic craze in Nazi Germany, Einstein was forced to immigrate to the United States and obtained American citizenship in 1940. On April 18, 1955, Einstein died in Princeton, USA.

In addition to Einstein’s world-famous outstanding contributions in the photoelectric effect and the theory of relativity, his research results on Brownian motion have become the most popular today due to his grasp of the regularity of a large number of disorder factors. The basis of financial mathematics; the concept of laser stimulated emission he proposed has been widely used today decades later; the EPR paradox he proposed in the debate with Bohr is still a key factor in theoretical physics and A topic that is constantly discussed in the philosophy of science...

Einstein was not only a great scientist, but also a pacifist. He witnessed the destruction of human civilization during the two world wars and believed that peace was the primary issue for mankind. In April 1955, on his deathbed, Einstein signed the Russell-Einstein Declaration, calling on people to unite to prevent the outbreak of a new world war.