The Poetry of Physics and The Physics of Poetry 7657 tp.indd 1 5/11/10 9:44:31 AM TThhiiss ppaaggee iinntteennttiioonnaallllyy lleefftt bbllaannkk The Poetry of Physics and The Physics of Poetry Robert K Logan Department of Physics University of Toronto, Canada and Strategic Innovation Lab (sLab) Ontario College of Art and Design World Scientific NEW JERSEY • LONDON • SINGAPORE • BEIJING • SHANGHAI • HONG KONG • TAIPEI • CHENNAI 7657 tp.indd 2 5/11/10 9:44:31 AM Published by World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd. 5 Toh Tuck Link, Singapore 596224 USA office: 27 Warren Street, Suite 401-402, Hackensack, NJ 07601 UK office: 57 Shelton Street, Covent Garden, London WC2H 9HE British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. THE POETRY OF PHYSICS AND THE PHYSICS OF POETRY Copyright © 2010 by World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd. All rights reserved. This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any information storage and retrieval system now known or to be invented, without written permission from the Publisher. For photocopying of material in this volume, please pay a copying fee through the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, USA. In this case permission to photocopy is not required from the publisher. ISBN-13 978-981-4295-92-5 ISBN-10 981-4295-92-2 ISBN-13 978-981-4295-93-2 (pbk) ISBN-10 981-4295-93-0 (pbk) Printed in Singapore. Alvin - The Peotry of Phys and the Phys.pmd 1 4/29/2010, 10:34 AM This book is dedicated to my students, past and present, of the Poetry of Physics as well as Rebecca F., Haviva, Jacob, Joshua, Rebecca L., Natalie, David, Renee, John, Paul and Mana. v TThhiiss ppaaggee iinntteennttiioonnaallllyy lleefftt bbllaannkk Contents Chapter 1 To My Readers 1 Chapter 2 The Origin of Physics 5 Chapter 3 Ancient Science of Mesopotamia, Egypt and China 11 Chapter 4 Physics of the Ancient Greek Era 23 Chapter 5 The Roots of the Scientific Revolution 37 Chapter 6 Mechanics, Planetary Motion and the Modern 45 Science Revolution Chapter 7 Poetry Influenced by the Scientific Revolution 67 Chapter 8 The Concept of the Atom, the Atomic Structure 77 of Matter and the Origin of Chemistry Chapter 9 The Concept of Energy 83 Chapter 10 Thermodynamics and the Atomic and Molecular 89 Structure of Matter Chapter 11 Electricity and Magnetism 97 Chapter 12 Electromagnetic Radiation and Wave Behaviour 105 Chapter 13 Prelude to Relativity 113 Chapter 14 The Special Theory of Relativity 121 vii viii Contents Chapter 15 The General Theory of Relativity 139 Chapter 16 Kuhn’s Structure of Scientific Revolutions and 151 the Impact of the Theory of Relativity Chapter 17 The Structure of the Atom 157 Chapter 18 The Quantization of Energy 169 Chapter 19 Bohr’s Atom 177 Chapter 20 Wave Mechanics 189 Chapter 21 Philosophical Implications of Quantum 205 Mechanics Chapter 22 Quantum Electrodynamics 211 Chapter 23 The Nucleus and the Strong Interaction 225 Chapter 24 Elementary Particles, Quarks and Quantum 239 Chromodynamics Chapter 25 Cosmology and the Universe: The Big Bang, 255 Dark Matter and Dark Energy Chapter 26 Clusters, Galaxies, Black Holes and Stars 275 Chapter 27 The Solar System and the Planet Earth 293 Chapter 28 Non-Linear Systems, Chaos, Complexity 317 and Emergence Chapter 29 Classroom Discussions, Activities and 325 Assignments Bibliography 329 Chapter 1 To My Readers Poets say science takes away from the beauty of the stars — mere globs of gas atoms. I, too, can see the stars on a desert night, and feel them. But do I see less or more? – Richard Feynman There is poetry in physics and physics in poetry. This book is the product of a course I taught at the University of Toronto starting in 1971 and which I am still teaching at the date of this publication. The course was entitled the Poetry of Physics and the Physics of Poetry. The course was first taught at University College of the University of Toronto and then switched to New College where I also organized a series of seminars on future studies known as the Club of Gnu. After a short recess the course then became a Department of Physics course and was offered as a seminar course for first year students. The purpose of the course that I have now taught for the past 38 years was to introduce the ideas of physics to humanities and arts student who would not otherwise be exposed to these ideas and to try to address the alienation to science that so many of the lay public feel, which is a characteristic of our times. By studying physics without math you, the reader, will encounter the poetry of physics. We will also examine some of the impacts of physics on the humanities and the arts. This is the physics of poetry. The alienation represented by the gap between the sciences and the humanities is frequently referred to as the two cultures. There are two factors contributing to this alienation; one is the basic lack of understanding of the actual subject matter of science and the other a misunderstanding of the role science plays in our society. Although the fear of science is quite pervasive I believe there are many people interested in leaning about physics. The word “physics’’ is derived from the Greek word phusis, which means nature. Those that are curious about 1