Physics of Experimental Method (Science Paperbacks) - Softcover

H J J Braddick

Softcover

ISBN 10: 041220150X ISBN 13: 9780412201509

Publisher: science paperbacks Chapman & hall, 1966

Synopsis

Within the field of physics, experimental physics is the category of disciplines and sub-disciplines concerned with the observation of physical phenomena in order to gather data about the universe. Methods vary from discipline to discipline, from simple experiments and observations, such as the Cavendish experiment, to more complicated ones, such as the Large Hadron Collider.Experimental physics regroup all the disciplines of physics that are concerned with data-acquisition, data-acquisition methods, and the detailed conceptualization and realization of laboratory experiments. It is often put in contrast with theoretical physics, which is more concerned with predicting and explaining the physical behaviour of nature than the acquisition of knowledge about it. Although experimental and theoretical physics are concerned with different aspects of nature, they both share the same goal of understanding it and have a symbiotic relation. The former provides data about the universe, which can then be analyzed in order to be understood, while the latter provides explanations for the data and thus offers insight on how to better acquire data and on how to set up experiments. Theoretical physics can also offer insight on what data is needed in order to gain a better understanding of the universe, and on what experiments to devise in order to obtain it.Experimental physics had its roots in the Middle Ages, particularly in Iraq and Egypt, in the work of the Muslim physicist, Ibn al-Haytham, known in the West as Alhazen, who is considered the "father of modern optics" and one of the most important physicists of the Middle Ages, for having developed the earliest experimental scientific method in his Book of Optics. Some of his most famous experiments include his development and use of the camera obscura and pinhole camera to prove that light travels in straight lines.Another medieval Muslim physicist who contributed towards experimental physics was Abū Rayhān al-Bīrūnī

Edition details

• Publisher: science paperbacks Chapman & hall
• Publication date: 1966
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 041220150X
• ISBN 13: 9780412201509
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 504