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Through the Past Lightly

© Linda Bond

Once upon a time, before there were scientists, there were philosophers. And before that, thinkers. And before that, well, who knows...? My point is that long before "physics" existed as a scientific discipline, it existed as fuel for contemplation. And since this is my history of physics, we'll start where I want to start.

It was a dark and stormy night (it always is). Sid was sitting in front of a small fire feeling the warmth on his legs. Since the rest of his body was still cold, he wondered if he could get a little warmer by moving closer. Inching his way toward the flames, he soon discovered that his knees and upper legs were feeling a bit warmer, too. Excited and encouraged, he jumped up and threw himself onto the burning wood pile.

Two weeks later, recovered from the results of the Great Experiment, Sid had developed his Law of Proximity to Flames:

"The closer you get to your fire, the more likely you are to get burned!"

This law would have gone down in the annals of history had Sid known how to write.

Unfortunately, this is not the only bit of physics history we are missing. For example, there's Camu's Three Laws of Heavy Objects:

• First Law: Heavy Objects are hard to carry uphill.
• Second Law: Heavy objects hurt when they land on you.
• Third Law (related to the Second): The heavier the object that lands on you, the flatter you get squashed.

I could go on, and on, and on, but then I'd never get this article finished, so let's move on to some of the history we actually do have on record.

The Natural Philosophy

Back before the scientific method was agreed upon and became popular, our great thinkers in the West were considered philosophers, or lovers of wisdom. One line of thought was about ethics, motivations and human behavior in general. This eventually became politics and psychology. If their thoughts turned outward to investigate the universe, however, they were natural philosophers. This evolved into "physics" somewhere along the line, but our scientists still receive degrees as Doctors of Philosophy (Ph.D.) to reflect their real background.

In the West, when the volume of scientific information grew to such a point that specialization became necessary, bits and pieces of physics began to be siphoned off into special areas of study. Isaac Asimov describes this process in The History of Physics (Walker & Company, New York: 1966):

"...mathematics...astronomy...geology...biology..." were removed. Physics got the leftovers, including "...such phenomena as motion, heat, light, sound, electricity, and magnetism...", all forms of energy.

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