It is with this post that I begin my journey of learning about the world around me from a quantum physics perspective. Previously, I had learned to view the world around me through the eyes of a literary critic, a biologist, a linguist, an artist, and even an architect, but to view the world through the eyes of a quantum physicist is an entirely different ordeal. Assigned a reading from Professor Maleki’s website, I immediately completed it when I got back to my dorm. However, soon after, I decided to once again go through it and reread it, so that I would have a better understanding. The opening paragraph discusses the importance of quantitative measurement and how it relates to physics. While it states that most scientific research, specifically physics, is represented quantitatively, it is the quantitative part that is hardest for me to grasp. I am not a mathematics person; thus, I would have much difficulty understand the quantitative representation of quantum physics that we will be studying. I enjoy learning the theories behind the science, but when it comes to learning the math, I would probably be lost. Quite fortunately, this course focuses not on the math, but the theories.
The following paragraph discussed the creation of two separate branches of physics, the theoretical and the experimental. I find the theoretical branch to be far more interesting because I would rather interpret the results of an experiment and come up with a theory than actually perform the experiment.
While learning of the necessary repeatability of the experiment, as well as all other necessary parts of the experiment, I was reminded of a lesson taught to me last year in biology. Because current events dictated its importance, my biology AP teacher spent a week with us examining the controversy surrounding intelligent design. It was during this time that I first learned what truly constitutes science. Science must be able to be proven or disproved through experiments and such an experiment must have repeatability. The results of one test do not prove a scientific theory; rather, only through repeated experimentation can the hypothesis gain acceptance. Intelligent design is not science because it cannot be tested experimentally. There is no experiment that could be designed in order to test it; therefore, the experiment cannot be repeated.
While I may not be able to understand the complex mathematical equations that surround the theories to be discussed in this class, I would still like to learn how they relate to the theories. For example, I have difficulty in understanding how math can be used to explain theories such as string theory. How can math explain the world around us? How can numbers be applied to matter, other than describing it? I have heard that the universe is ruled by numbers and that numbers can explain everything, yet I cannot understand how that is possible. Although I know that we will be keeping away from mathematical equations for most of this class, I would very much like to at least learn some connections between the equations and the theories.
1 comment:
This isgreat. I like the inclusion of pictures very much too. I guess the only way to comment on the use of math in the course is to say that if you can do simple algebra, then you should be able to learn what we'll need to understand the Quantum Difference.
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