January 1, 1985
This preview introduces revolutionary ideas and heroes from Copernicus to Newton, and links the physics of the heavens and the earth.
January 1, 1970
Galileo's imaginative experiments proved that all bodies fall with the same constant acceleration.
January 1, 1970
The function of mathematics in physical science and the derivative as a practical tool.
January 1, 1970
Galileo risks his favored status to answer the questions of the universe with his law of inertia.
January 1, 1970
Physics must explain not only why and how much, but also where and which way.
January 1, 1970
Newton lays down the laws of force, mass, and acceleration.
January 1, 1970
Newton and Leibniz arrive at the conclusion that differentiation and integration are inverse processes.
January 1, 1970
The first real steps toward space travel are made as Newton discovers that gravity describes the force between any two particles in the universe.
January 1, 1970
A look at the Platonic theory of uniform circular motion.
January 1, 1970
All physical phenomena of nature are explained by four forces: two nuclear forces, gravity, and electricity.
January 1, 1970
Shedding light on the mathematical form of the gravitational, electric, and magnetic forces.
January 1, 1970
A dramatic recreation of Millikan's classic oil-drop experiment to determine the charge of a single electron.
January 1, 1970
According to one of the major laws of physics, energy is neither created nor destroyed.
January 1, 1970
Potential energy provides a powerful model for understanding why the world has worked the same way since the beginning of time.
January 1, 1970
What keeps the universe ticking away until the end of time?
January 1, 1970
The music and mathematics of periodic motion.
January 1, 1970
Why a swaying bridge collapses with a high wind, and why a wine glass shatters with a higher octave.
January 1, 1970
With an analysis of simple harmonic motion and a stroke of genius, Newton extended mechanics to the propagation of sound.
January 1, 1970
An old momentum with a new twist.
January 1, 1970
From spinning tops to the precession of the equinoxes.
January 1, 1970
The discovery of elliptical orbits helps describe the motion of heavenly bodies with unprecedented accuracy.
January 1, 1970
The deduction of Kepler's laws from Newton's universal law of gravitation is one of the crowning achievements of Western thought.
January 1, 1970
The precise orbit of a heavenly body — a planet, asteroid, or comet — is fixed by the laws of conservation of energy and angular momentum.
January 1, 1970
Voyages to other planets use the same laws that guide planets around the solar system.
January 1, 1970
From Kepler's laws and the theory of tides, to Einstein's general theory of relativity, into black holes, and beyond.
January 1, 1970
A last lingering look back at mechanics to see new connections between old discoveries.
January 1, 1970
The world of electricity and magnetism, and 20th-century discoveries of relativity and quantum mechanics.
January 1, 1970
Eighteenth-century electricians knew how to spark the interest of an audience with the principles of static electricity.
January 1, 1970
Faraday's vision of lines of constant force in space laid the foundation for the modern force field theory.
January 1, 1970
Franklin proposes a successful theory of the Leyden jar and invents the parallel plate capacitor.
January 1, 1970
When is electricity dangerous or benign, spectacular or useful?
January 1, 1970
Volta invents the electric battery using the internal properties of different metals.
January 1, 1970
The work of Wheatstone, Ohm, and Kirchhoff leads to the design and analysis of how current flows.
January 1, 1970
Gilbert discovered that the earth behaves like a giant magnet. Modern scientists have learned even more.
January 1, 1970
The law of Biot and Sarvart, the force between electric currents, and Ampère's law.
January 1, 1970
Force fields have definite properties of their own suitable for scientific study.
January 1, 1970
The discovery of electromagnetic induction in 1831 creates an important technological breakthrough in the generation of electric power.
January 1, 1970
Electromagnetic induction makes it easy to generate alternating current while transformers make it practical to distribute it over long distances.
January 1, 1970
Maxwell discovers that displacement current produces electromagnetic waves or light.
January 1, 1970
Many properties of light are properties of waves, including reflection, refraction, and diffraction.
January 1, 1970
In 1887, an exquisitely designed measurement of the earth's motion through the ether results in the most brilliant failure in scientific history.
January 1, 1970
If the speed of light is to be the same for all observers, then the length of a meter stick, or the rate of a ticking clock, depen...Read more
January 1, 1970
Einstein is motivated to perfect the central ideas of physics, resulting in a new understanding of the meaning of space and time.
January 1, 1970
The new meaning of space and time make it necessary to formulate a new mechanics.
January 1, 1970
Hot discoveries about the behavior of gases make the connection between temperature and heat.
January 1, 1970
The Carnot engine, part one, beginning with simple steam engines.
January 1, 1970
The Carnot engine, part two, with profound implications for the behavior of matter and the flow of time through the universe.
January 1, 1970
With the quest for low temperatures came the discovery that all elements can exist in each of the basic states of matter.
January 1, 1970
A history of the atom, from the ancient Greeks to the early 20th century, and a new challenge for the world of physics.
January 1, 1970
Evidence that light can sometimes act like a particle leads to quantum mechanics, the new physics.
January 1, 1970
Electron waves attracted to the nucleus of an atom help account for the periodic table of the elements and ultimately lead to the search for quarks.
January 1, 1970
A last look at where we've been and a peek into the future.