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Knowledge Corner
History of Science-Modern Era
The Scientific Revolution established science as a source for the growth of knowledge. During the 19th century, the practice of science became professionalized and institutionalized in ways that continued through the 20th century. The Scientific Revolution is a convenient boundary between ancient thought and classical physics. Nicolaus Copernicus revived the heliocentric model of the solar system described by Aristarchus of Samos. This was followed by the first known model of planetary motion given by Kepler in the early 17th century, which proposed that the planets follow elliptical orbits, with the Sun at one focus of the ellipse. Galileo ("Father of Modern Physics") also made use of experiments to validate physical theories, a key element of the scientific method. In 1687, Isaac Newton published the Principia Mathematica, detailing two comprehensive and successful physical theories: Newton's Laws of Motion, which led to classical mechanics; and Newton's Law of Gravitation, which describes the fundamental force of gravity. The behavior of electricity and magnetism was studied by Faraday, Ohm, and others during the early 19th century. These studies led to the unification of the two phenomena into a single theory of electromagnetism, by Maxwell (known as Maxwell's equations). Beginning in 1900, Max Planck, Albert Einstein, Niels Bohr and others developed quantum theories to explain various anomalous experimental results, by introducing discrete energy levels. The theory of general relativity, proposed by Einstein in 1915, showed that the fixed background of spacetime, on which both Newtonian mechanics and special relativity depended, could not exist. In 1925, Werner Heisenberg and Erwin Schrödinger formulated quantum mechanics, which explained the preceding quantum theories. The observation by Edwin Hubble in 1929 that the speed at which galaxies recede positively correlates with their distance, led to the understanding that the universe is expanding, and the formulation of the Big Bang theory by Georges Lemaître. Important step was made by Antoine Lavoisier (Father of Modern Chemistry) through his recognition of oxygen and the law of conservation of mass, which refuted phlogiston theory. The synthesis of urea by Friedrich Wöhler opened a new research field, organic chemistry.Application of the techniques of organic chemistry to living organisms resulted in physiological chemistry, the precursor to biochemistry. The 20th century also saw the integration of physics and chemistry, with chemical properties explained as the result of the electronic structure of the atom. Linus Pauling's book on The Nature of the Chemical Bond used the principles of quantum mechanics to deduce bond angles in ever-more complicated Molecules. Solar System
The solar system consists of the Sun and the astronomical objects moving around the Sun bound by its gravity: 8 planets (in order of distance from the Sun: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune) with their moons, dwarf planets and small solar bodies, eg. asteroids, comets, centaurs, orbiting interstellar dust and ice etc. The Sun, the centre of the system, is a class G-2 yellow star that alone consists about 99.86% of the total mass of the system. The rest of the mass is mostly distributed among the 8 planets. Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars are much smaller, mostly made of stone and metal, known as 'terrestrial planets' and make up the inner solar system. The outer solar system consists of the larger 4 planets- Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune which are mostly made of ice and gas, surrounded by planetary rings and known as 'gas giants'. Except Mercury and Venus (closest planet to Earth often called 'Earth's sister planet') all other 6 planets as well as some dwarf planets have their own orbiting natural satellites or moons. The Earth, only known 'living' planet of the Universe, has only one satellite- the Moon while the 'red planet' Mars has 2- Deimos and Phobos. Jupiter, the largest planet of the system, has 63 known moons so far among which the 4 'Galilean satellites' Io, Europa, Ganymede (the largest solar system moon) and Callisto are most notable. Saturn has 62 known moons and Neptune has 13 so far. Most interestingly, all of the 27 moons of Uranus are named after characters from Shakespear's several works and Alexander Pope's drama 'The Rape of the Lock'. The solar system originated around 4.6 billion years ago due to the collapse of a giant molecular cloud- the presolar nebula. The source of energy of the system is the ongoing thermonuclear fusion reaction of hydrogen to helium at the core of the Sun. As the Sun's hydrogen burn out, it gradually will become a red giant in about 5 billion years, to be followed by the few thousand year long planetary nebula stage until only the core of the star remains glowing as a white dwarf. As the white dwarf loses the last of its heat over a long time, it becomes a black dwarf and disappears from view. Sputnik-1, the first spacecraft to orbit the earth was only the beginning of a long history of expeditions to know the solar world better. Most remarkable of these missions have been the launching of Voyager 1 and 2 by the USA in 1977. These 2 unmanned spacecrafts continue their journey through the outer solar system till now, sending images of the planets and stellar objects they pass, which have been providing scientists with information otherwise unattainable to know the planetary system better. Currently Voyager 1 is the furthest man-made object from the Sun and hopefully both the Voyagers will pass through the heliosphere by the next decade. It's like we're starting to concieve what Neil Armstrong (Apollo-11) said upon stepping on the Moon, 'That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for the mankind'!
The Scientific Revolution established science as a source for the growth of knowledge. During the 19th century, the practice of science became professionalized and institutionalized in ways that continued through the 20th century. The Scientific Revolution is a convenient boundary between ancient thought and classical physics. Nicolaus Copernicus revived the heliocentric model of the solar system described by Aristarchus of Samos. This was followed by the first known model of planetary motion given by Kepler in the early 17th century, which proposed that the planets follow elliptical orbits, with the Sun at one focus of the ellipse. Galileo ("Father of Modern Physics") also made use of experiments to validate physical theories, a key element of the scientific method. In 1687, Isaac Newton published the Principia Mathematica, detailing two comprehensive and successful physical theories: Newton's Laws of Motion, which led to classical mechanics; and Newton's Law of Gravitation, which describes the fundamental force of gravity. The behavior of electricity and magnetism was studied by Faraday, Ohm, and others during the early 19th century. These studies led to the unification of the two phenomena into a single theory of electromagnetism, by Maxwell (known as Maxwell's equations). Beginning in 1900, Max Planck, Albert Einstein, Niels Bohr and others developed quantum theories to explain various anomalous experimental results, by introducing discrete energy levels. The theory of general relativity, proposed by Einstein in 1915, showed that the fixed background of spacetime, on which both Newtonian mechanics and special relativity depended, could not exist. In 1925, Werner Heisenberg and Erwin Schrödinger formulated quantum mechanics, which explained the preceding quantum theories. The observation by Edwin Hubble in 1929 that the speed at which galaxies recede positively correlates with their distance, led to the understanding that the universe is expanding, and the formulation of the Big Bang theory by Georges Lemaître. Important step was made by Antoine Lavoisier (Father of Modern Chemistry) through his recognition of oxygen and the law of conservation of mass, which refuted phlogiston theory. The synthesis of urea by Friedrich Wöhler opened a new research field, organic chemistry.Application of the techniques of organic chemistry to living organisms resulted in physiological chemistry, the precursor to biochemistry. The 20th century also saw the integration of physics and chemistry, with chemical properties explained as the result of the electronic structure of the atom. Linus Pauling's book on The Nature of the Chemical Bond used the principles of quantum mechanics to deduce bond angles in ever-more complicated Molecules. Solar System
The solar system consists of the Sun and the astronomical objects moving around the Sun bound by its gravity: 8 planets (in order of distance from the Sun: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune) with their moons, dwarf planets and small solar bodies, eg. asteroids, comets, centaurs, orbiting interstellar dust and ice etc. The Sun, the centre of the system, is a class G-2 yellow star that alone consists about 99.86% of the total mass of the system. The rest of the mass is mostly distributed among the 8 planets. Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars are much smaller, mostly made of stone and metal, known as 'terrestrial planets' and make up the inner solar system. The outer solar system consists of the larger 4 planets- Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune which are mostly made of ice and gas, surrounded by planetary rings and known as 'gas giants'. Except Mercury and Venus (closest planet to Earth often called 'Earth's sister planet') all other 6 planets as well as some dwarf planets have their own orbiting natural satellites or moons. The Earth, only known 'living' planet of the Universe, has only one satellite- the Moon while the 'red planet' Mars has 2- Deimos and Phobos. Jupiter, the largest planet of the system, has 63 known moons so far among which the 4 'Galilean satellites' Io, Europa, Ganymede (the largest solar system moon) and Callisto are most notable. Saturn has 62 known moons and Neptune has 13 so far. Most interestingly, all of the 27 moons of Uranus are named after characters from Shakespear's several works and Alexander Pope's drama 'The Rape of the Lock'. The solar system originated around 4.6 billion years ago due to the collapse of a giant molecular cloud- the presolar nebula. The source of energy of the system is the ongoing thermonuclear fusion reaction of hydrogen to helium at the core of the Sun. As the Sun's hydrogen burn out, it gradually will become a red giant in about 5 billion years, to be followed by the few thousand year long planetary nebula stage until only the core of the star remains glowing as a white dwarf. As the white dwarf loses the last of its heat over a long time, it becomes a black dwarf and disappears from view. Sputnik-1, the first spacecraft to orbit the earth was only the beginning of a long history of expeditions to know the solar world better. Most remarkable of these missions have been the launching of Voyager 1 and 2 by the USA in 1977. These 2 unmanned spacecrafts continue their journey through the outer solar system till now, sending images of the planets and stellar objects they pass, which have been providing scientists with information otherwise unattainable to know the planetary system better. Currently Voyager 1 is the furthest man-made object from the Sun and hopefully both the Voyagers will pass through the heliosphere by the next decade. It's like we're starting to concieve what Neil Armstrong (Apollo-11) said upon stepping on the Moon, 'That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for the mankind'!
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