2 posts tagged “science”
This book is a useful introductory conceptual explanation of major principles/theories/laws in physics. It also expounds on physics' relationship to other sciences, which is very interesting. The amazing hallmark of this book is its clarity in concepts.
For example, even though I had taken AP Biology I had very little understanding of what an enzyme actually is [ie. how one substance is an "enzyme" and another is not]. All I could glean from the rather obtuse descriptions/explanations/examples of them that I was given, is that an enzyme is a large molecule which is involved someway in most organic reactions. How they were involved specifically eluded me. While not terribly important, it was still a bit of a puzzle until Feynman clarified that an enzyme is molecule which catalyzes, but doesn't react in, organic reactions by physically manipulating the reactants into reactable positions. And he does so by starting from physics and the nature of atoms.
In short, if you're starting a study in most any scientific field, this is a good and quick [only took me 2 days to read casually] place to establish a context and clarify some of the concepts you will use.
My biggest misunderstanding of physics:
If a photon and a graviton have no mass or charge [and by the way what does it mean for a particle to have no mass?] then what is the philosophical difference between either one of those "particles" carrying electromagnetic/gravitational force and nothing carrying it [ie. action at a distance]? If nothing can be detected to occur between particles interacting, then why is it necessary to say that there is something? What makes physicists think there is anything there?
