Thinking About Physics.
ROGER G. NEWTON
Newton, a physicist, challenges his peers to enhance their abilities to solve problems by spending more time thinking about them. He acknowledges the importance of experimentation but argues that the world would be better served if physicists would more thoroughly scrutinize scru·ti·nize
tr.v. scru·ti·nized, scru·ti·niz·ing, scru·ti·niz·es
To examine or observe with great care; inspect critically.
scru their work from philosophical and metaphysical perspectives. With this premise, he surveys the field and explains some of its tenets, such as symmetries, the arrow of time “Time's arrow” redirects here. For other uses, see Time's Arrow.
- This article is an overview of the subject. For a more technical discussion and for information related to current research, see Entropy (arrow of time).
, causality causality, in philosophy, the relationship between cause and effect. A distinction is often made between a cause that produces something new (e.g., a moth from a caterpillar) and one that produces a change in an existing substance (e.g. and probability, and the field concept. All this analysis stems from his idea that the fundamental entity in quantum theory quantum theory, modern physical theory concerned with the emission and absorption of energy by matter and with the motion of material particles; the quantum theory and the theory of relativity together form the theoretical basis of modern physics. is the field, rather than the particle. Originally published in hardcover in 2000. Princeton U Press, 2000, 198 pages, paperback, $16.95.
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