Newton and Modern Physics

Peter Rowlands

• Publisher: WSPC (EUROPE)
• Year: 2017
• ISBN:
  9781786343321
• Topic: Physical Sciences
• Subtopic: Physics
• Index: Physics

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This book looks at how Newton's theories can be linked to modern day problems and solutions in physics. Newton created an abstract system of theorizing which has been applied to all aspects of the physical world, however he had difficulties in persuading his contemporaries of its unique merits. A detailed study of Newton's writings, published and unpublished, suggests that he had an almost archetypally powerful mode of thinking guaranteed to produce 'correct' results even in areas of physics where systematic study only began long after his time. Newton and Modern Physics investigates this phenomenon, looking at examples of where Newton's principles have relevance to modern day thinking — the study of Newton's work in both seventeenth century and present-day contexts helps to enhance our understanding of both.

This unique book is published as the first of a three-part set for Newtonian scholars, historians of science, philosophers of science and others interested in Newtonian physics.

All Titles:

1. Newton and Modern Physics
2. Newton and the Great World System
3. Newton — Innovation and Controversy
--> Contents:

• Aspects of the Newtonian Methodology
• Newton the Man
• Waves
• The Velocity of Light
• Mass-Energy
• Quantum Theory
• The Electric Force
• Wave-Particle Duality and the Unified Field

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--> Readership: Newtonian scholars, historians of science, philosophers of science and others interested in Newtonian physics. -->
Keywords:Newton;Newtonian Physics;Velocity of Light;Quantum Theory;Wave-Particle;Mass-EnergyReview:0

Contents

Preface

About the Author

Chapter 1Aspects of the Newtonian Methodology

1.1.The Modern Connection

1.2.Newton’s Special Significance

1.3.The Power of Recursion

1.4.The Newtonian Methodology

Chapter 2Newton the Man

2.1.The Early Career

2.2.The Later Career

2.3.Newton’s Character

Chapter 3Waves

3.1.The Theory of Wave Motion

3.2.Interference and Diffraction

3.3.Periodicity and Newton’s Rings

3.4.Wave Theory and Light

3.5.Wave Theory and the Aether

3.6.Double Refraction

3.7.Interference and Diffraction and Light

Chapter 4The Velocity of Light

4.1.The Velocity of Light

4.2.The Velocity of Light and Refraction

4.3.The Velocity of Light and Dispersion

4.4.The Inversion of Velocities

4.5.Relativistic Mass and Refraction

4.6.Phase Velocity and the Superluminal

Chapter 5Mass–Energy

5.1.E = mc² and Classical Potential Energy

5.2.Newtonian Insights

5.3.The Gravitational Deflection of Light

5.4.Calculation of the Refraction Force

5.5.The Mass of a Light Corpuscle

5.6.The Interconvertibility of Light and Matter

5.7.The Newtonian Aspect of E = mc²

Chapter 6Quantum Theory

6.1.Periodicity as a Quantum Phenomenon

6.2.Polarisation and Diffraction

6.3.Aethereal Effects and Quantum Phenomena

6.4.Planck’s Constant

6.5.Quantum Gravity

6.6.Quantum Mechanics and Newtonian Physics

Chapter 7The Electric Force

7.1.The Electric Force and Aethereal Currents

7.2.A Unified View of the Electric Force

7.3.Magnetism and Other Effects

7.4.Chemistry and the Life Force

7.5.The Laws of Electric and Magnetic Attraction

Chapter 8Wave-particle Duality and the Unified Field

8.1.Conservation and Colour

8.2.Particles with Periodicity

8.3.A Dualistic Theory

8.4.The Early Unified Theory

8.5.Gravity and the Aether

8.6.A New Unification

8.7.Conclusion

Bibliography

Index

Chapter 1

Aspects of the Newtonian Methodology

1.1.The Modern Connection

Why do we want to write about Newton and modern physics? The immediate answer is that modern physics is not an achieved subject. It is still a work in progress. We have yet to uncover the true foundations, and there are many things about even the ‘simplest’ physical concepts, such as space and time, gravity and inertia, that continue to defy our comprehension. This means also that we haven’t completely settled our account with the past. We don’t know for sure that our present conceptions have completely replaced all the previous ones. The works of the past still exist in creative tension with those of the present. Though history of science is often written as though a succession of ‘correct’ ideas emerges to replace previously accepted ‘false’ ones in a series of ‘revolutionary’ developments, the history of physics isn’t really like this. We have to only look at the history of wave and particle theories of light and material particles, the concept of the aether, ideas of absolute and relative motion, and even views of space and time held at different periods, to realise that the history of the subject is not purely one of monotonic development, and, if we insist on treating it this way, we will create barriers in our attempts at setting up an open-ended enquiry into a deeper understanding of the foundations.¹

As a physicist interested, above all, in the foundations of the subject,² with many excursions also in the last 25 years into the separate disciplines of pure history of science, philosophy, and Newtonian studies,³ I have come to believe that Newton and the Newtonian method are of especial importance to my own research programme, and are worthy of a treatment that cuts across all rigid demarkations of genre as Newton frequently did himself. So, while Newton and Modern Physics makes use of the vast literature on Newton, written from historical, philosophical, scientific and mathematical perspectives, the reader should not expect a pure example of any of these approaches. The interdisciplinary perspective is deliberate because no other is adequate for the purpose. Both contexts important to the history of science, the contemporary or ‘historical’ one, and the more timeless, though still not absolutely established, ‘scientific’ one, will be important, with perhaps more emphasis on the latter. Newton is first and foremost an important historical figure, but, as I hope to show, he is also still an active participant in debates on fundamental questions. Nothing is included that I don’t believe to be historically true, but, where judgements are based on conjecture, whether mine or that of another author, this is clearly stated. The most significant of these is a method of thinking, which I believe Newton used for many significant results. This is stated in Section 1.3, and is based directly on my own experience. I am aware that it is not particularly common, and the reader is free to disagree with my conjecture, but I believe that several of Newton’s writings show signs of its direct application, and that, if accepted, it would explain many of the peculiarities of Newton’s thought.

So, why is Newton particularly important to a study which also involves modern physics? The answer is that he comes right at the beginning of the methodology that we now regularly employ without considering how strange and counter-intuitive it is, where fundamental physical laws are generalised statements about abstract concepts which have no direct relationship to the things we observe in experiments, which are themselves understood only as special cases operating under particular conditions. It would now be unthinkable to employ any other method, but Newton’s work is the first that is recognisably modern in this sense, and there is a very large amount of it in this vein in his writings. In addition, a study of his work, even in the most obscure areas, suggests that Newton had a capacity to hit on the ‘right’ fundamental concepts, to such an extent that one cannot avoid noticing a remarkable tendency for modern developments to revert to ideas in some way close to his.

Now, classical optics, electromagnetic theory, thermodynamics, special and general relativity, quantum mechanics and the modern theory of matter are all clearly post-Newtonian theories — no one would claim that he anticipated them or even imagined that they would exist. But all of these theories incorporate ideas which are close to ones that he put forward and, where the ideas are close, Newton’s are correct and correctly reasoned. The resemblances to modern developments are neither coincidental nor approximate. Also, though no one would claim that he anticipated the main ideas of his immediate successors, such as Maupertuis, Euler, Lagrange and Laplace, various authorities have already pointed out that there are ideas in his work which can be considered as special cases of these later developments. In addition, all the successful post-Newtonian theories have invariably been constructed on a Newtonian template. Even quantum mechanics, often presented as a significant break with the past, could equally be considered as an example of Newtonianism taken to a further extreme. The important thing from our perspective is that Newton’s way of arriving at ideas which closely resemble aspects of later ones is often very different from those connected with the later developments, and yet it is still valid from its own point of view. This suggests that the resemblances are not due to Newton’s ‘prescience’ but due to his use of concepts which are based on more fundamental truths than the ones we currently recognise. In effect, Newton gives us a 350-year baseline for tackling fundamental problems. His work gives us an indication of what kinds of ideas are significant in our own and what kinds of strategy we should use for reaching to even deeper levels of understanding beyond the superficial connections.

We should, therefore, be prepared to examine those aspects of modern physics where the foundational ideas are problematic, for example, the well-known incompatibility between general relativity and quantum mechanics, using whatever clues can be derived from a close study of developments across our extended time period. This means that we have to look at the history of physics in a way that goes beyond the linear revolutionary development model. As Newton’s work tells us, there is often more than one approach to fundamental truths, while a closer examination based on the precise meaning of the relevant texts suggests that modern developments are not necessarily in conflict with older ideas, though they may extend them.⁴ Of course, this is not the only reason for studying Newton’s work. His creation of such a powerful method has significant intrinsic interest for both history and philosophy of science, while an extensive investigation of his writings in relation to a novel modern perspective can be expected to ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Halftitle
• Title
• Copyright
• Preface
• About the Author
• Contents