Physics (nonfiction)

Physics (from Ancient Greek: φυσική (ἐπιστήμη) phusikḗ (epistḗmē) "knowledge of nature", from φύσις phúsis "nature") is the natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through space and time, along with related concepts such as energy and force.

More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.

Physics is one of the oldest academic disciplines, perhaps the oldest through its inclusion of astronomy.

Over the last two millennia, physics was a part of natural philosophy along with chemistry, certain branches of mathematics, and biology, but during the scientific revolution in the 17th century, the natural sciences emerged as unique research programs in their own right.

According to Eugene Wigner:

Physics doesn't describe nature. Physics describes regularities among events and only regularities among events.

In the News

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  Maxwell's demon not so bad once you get to know the math, says Brillouin.

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  The Dark Side of the Moon is "the best rock album ever", according to new computational model of Sir Isaac Newton.

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  Galileo, imprisoned on trumped-up charges, uses nail to scratch the equation E pur si muove on dungeon wall, cuts his way to freedom.

Fiction cross-reference

• Crimes against physical constants
• Gray light
• Gnomon algorithm
• Gnomon Chronicles
• High-energy literature
• Mathematician
• Mathematics

Nonfiction cross-reference

• Mathematics (nonfiction)
• Light (nonfiction)
• Mathematician (nonfiction)
• Mathematics (nonfiction)
• Physicist (nonfiction)

External links:

• Physics @ Wikipedia