Recent Posts
•
Einstein’s Invention of Cosmology
•
It still staggers the mind: 5 papers in 6 months that would unlock some of the mystery of the universe and change our lives forever.
•
Einstein pal 'knew human side'
•
'Light of Einstein' to Illuminate Dokdo
•
Was Einstein a Space Alien?
•
Einstein on CD
•
Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity
•
Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity
•
Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity
•
Albert Einstein's Year of Miracles: Light Theory
Archives
June 2004
September 2004
October 2004
November 2004
December 2004
January 2005
February 2005
March 2005
April 2005
July 2006
   |
Blog: Einstein in the News
How Einstein explored the light fantasticSaturday, April 02, 2005 I showed last week how Isaac Newton developed laws of motion that allowed a materialist picture of the universe to emerge. This materialism was of a mechanical kind — with matter interacting like parts in a giant clockwork mechanism set into motion by god.
This view of nature began to break down from the late 18th century. A number of important discoveries — from Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution to new theories about the origin of the solar system — showed that nature had a history and had evolved.
And, as the industrial revolution got into full swing, new technologies, especially the steam engine, required a new understanding of physics.
Scientists saw how heat energy could be transformed into motion in the piston of a steam engine, giving a more fluid picture of nature than Newton’s vision.
They began to develop the idea that gases, and all matter, could be collections of tiny particles — and that the temperature of matter reflects the motion of these particles.
Full story from Socialist Worker Online. posted by Einstein A to Z
