All Physics
Overview
hysics,
indisputably can be considered the Mother of all Natural
Sciences as its ultimate aim is to discover the laws of
Nature at their foundation, and thus any other Natural
Science (Astronomy, Biology, and Chemistry, along with
all the borderline and derivative sciences accompanying
them) must build their theories upon the foundation
provided by Physics.
This
unique role of Physics, within the realm of Natural
Sciences, gives Physics an added form of responsibility
as it affects, in a most profound way, the theoretical
development of all other Natural Sciences. Because of
this paramount importance that Physics plays, we shall
devote special attention to all issues involving Physics
from the foundational theoretical issues to the methods
currently employed in reaching those results, to the
burden placed on Society in acquiring those results, to
the benefits that Natural Sciences can gain from those
results, and finally, to the worthiness of those results
as perceived by Society at large.
Our
eleven (11) subject-sections plus The Hall of Fame
section, which can be accessed through the above
Navigational Bar located in the page's heading, are
designed to provide a comprehensive reference to the many
facets and ways of studying and investigating the
subjects of Physics. Aside from the two (2) Index
sections --one by Subject, the other by Author, and
three (3) Forum sections --The RealDeal®
Forum Letters, The RealDeal® Forum Chat
Rooms, and The RealDeal® Forum Workshops,
which are perhaps self-explanatory, the other remaining
six (6) sections need a further introduction as
follows.
A
special section entitled The RealDeal® List
(and Auxiliary List) of Most Wanted Solutions was
designed to list and emphasize what is not known or
understood from the realm of Natural Sciences in a way so
as to attract both the attention and the interest in
further studying the topics involved.
As far
as Physics is taught today, there is little or no
emphasis today in classes and textbooks of Physics with
respect to what is not known. The great majority of
courses and textbooks of Classical Physics (such as
Optics, Magnetism, Electricity, Heat Theory,
Thermodynamics, Electrodynamics, Electromagnetism,
Radiation Theory, and so on) treat its various subjects
as being complete sets, with all things known in those
subjects and nothing left or needed for further discovery
or research. You would be hard pressed to find anywhere a
mention, much less an emphasis, on what is not known in
these fields with a notable exception, that of the
courses and classes of the late Professor Richard P.
Feynman of the California Institute of Technology. A
similar lack of emphasis towards what is not known can be
found in the new, modern Physics covering the fields of
Nuclear, Atomic, Subatomic, and Particle Physics,
although in these fields there is far more openness
towards matters perceived as unsettled.
Our
section entitled The RealDeal® List (and
Auxiliary List) of Most Wanted Solutions is designed to
fill this gap whose importance cannot be emphasized
enough . There is no incentive for a student to pursue a
career in Physics if every subject in Physics that he or
she learns about appears to have been exhausted to the
limit. This emphasis of what we do not know or understand
in a particular subject must continuously be stated with
considerable degree of clarity and prominence, in a way
in which to attract the most talented young minds into
pursuing a career in Physics. The road of knowledge and
understanding of the various laws of Physics (both those
discovered and those to be discovered) is far from
complete or certain. In fact, all of the subjects of
Physics contain many potholes, both large and small,
which badly need to be filled.
Topics
like the origin of Gravity or, say, why the Electron or
the Proton are interacting in the way in which they do
--are two of the many samples of the issues to be posted
in the List. Derivative issues or topics of the unknown,
such as why alpha-particles and no other formation are
the most stable combination of particles in the Universe,
shall be placed in The Auxiliary List of Most Wanted
Solutions.
The
remaining five (5) sections
1.
The RealDeal® Foundational
Inquiries;
2. The
RealDeal® Theoretical
Studies;
3. The
RealDeal® Discovery Reports;
4. The
RealDeal® Focus Line; and
5. The
RealDeal® Historical Scrutinies;
which
form the so-called Core sections of our publication are
designed to cover a wide range of issues involving
Natural Sciences and Philosophy, and a brief description
of those sections related to Physics is described below.
[Additional information is provided in the HomePage
of each section (which you can reach from our Science's
FrontPage site by clicking on the corresponding
Icon-Button of each section located at the left side of
the respective title) as well as in the Physics part of
each section (which can be accessed from the
corresponding Navigational Bar of the respective section
located also in our Science's FrontPage.)]
1. The
new, modern Physics of the 20th century has departed
dramatically from the course and foundations of Classical
Physics. And now that the 20th century is about to close,
it is perhaps fitting to take a hard, close look and
re-examine this new course and foundation on which 20th
century Physics has embarked. We have to be absolutely
sure that this new road taken by Physics, on which we
have invested so much (both financially and
intellectually), is a road worthy of being continued and
pursued, and that it is not a road that will ultimately
tangle us into a maze of such complexity and
contradictions that it will lead us to nowhere. Our
RealDeal® Foundational Inquiries section for
Physics is geared towards this foundational
re-examination of 20th century Physics.
2. The
next Core section in line is The RealDeal®
Theoretical Studies section. Here, we shall present
theoretical studies of a variety of fundamental subjects
of Physics within the guidelines set in our Publication
Policy.
As noted
in the Publication Policy page (which can be accessed
from our FrontPage science site), these studies need to
be written in a way so as to attract the largest possible
audience interested in the subject at hand, in a
non-technical language with an "eye" towards freshmen
students, having one, and only one, goal in mind:
to
lure and attract as many young students as possible
into pursuing a career in Physics.
This is
not an easy task to accomplish. In fact, even the attempt
to reduce the advanced theoretical studies of Physics to
a non-technical language may appear to be an
insurmountable task. But this task must be accomplished
if we hope to attract the brightest freshmen students to
carry on the torch of Physics, a torch which should never
be allowed to be extinguished or diminished of its
strength.
To
accomplish all this, the style and form of presentation
here will be quite different from anything else ever
written on the subject at hand because these studies,
regardless of the complexity of the subject involved,
will need to be provocative --to provoke first and
foremost the interest in the subject itself. And second,
you, the reader, must be introduced not only to the
beauty and complexity of the subject involved, but also,
and most importantly, to the shortcomings of the theory
or subject described. These shortcomings, if properly
implanted, will spring into fresh ideas and approaches to
the subject at hand.
3.
Notable discoveries in Physics will be reported in our
Discovery Reports section, through a process involving
four (4) phases, as follows,
i)
[?] The
Status Phase
Immediately,
upon learning of a discovery in Physics that appears to
be significant (in the sense that the said discovery
appears to confirm or upset a theory currently in use),
we shall report such a discovery in the following
manner:
a) If
the discovery is theoretical in nature, we shall first
attempt to get a non-technical version of it from the
author(s). If that attempt fails, we may still try to get
a non-technical version from other sources. If that
attempt fails as well, we will place it into a special
category of reports entitled The Unattainable
Discovery Reports. If on the other hand, the said
theoretical discovery can be presented in a non-technical
language, it shall be placed into a different category
entitled The Probable Discovery
Reports.
b) If
the discovery is experimental or observational in nature,
we shall first attempt to get the details about the
experiment in a non-technical language together with the
results that it claims to prove from the author(s). If
that attempt fails, we may still try to get a
non-technical version from other sources. If that attempt
fails as well, we will place it into a special category
of reports entitled, as noted above, The Unattainable
Discovery Reports. If on the other hand, the
said experimental discovery can be presented into a
non-technical language, it shall be placed into the
category entitled, as noted above, The Probable
Discovery Reports. Also if an experimental discovery
reported cannot be duplicated elsewhere, and credible
reports on this become available, the said discovery
reported will be placed at once under the stated category
of The Unattainable Discovery
Reports.
Only
discoveries from The Probable Discovery Reports
will continue to receive our attention. The
Unattainable discovery reports, at any time, may
be converted into the Probable category if the
stated conditions are met, but if this conversion does
not take place within one (1) year, they will be
permanently removed from our site.
ii)
[!] The
Scrutiny Phase
The
discoveries from The Probable Discovery Reports
will enter, after a 30-day period, into a second phase of
their existence, known as The Scrutiny Phase. This phase
which shall last one (1) year, and upon good reason
can be extended, will be the phase in which the veracity
of a reported discovery shall be meticulously
investigated and examined. If the challenges posed and
accumulated appears to be lethal or formidable to
overcome, for a particular reported discovery, the said
discovery will be placed into the Unattainable
category (as discussed above). If no serious challenges
were able to be mounted against the discovery in
question, at the end of one (1) year, the said
discovery will get a RealDeal Pass and will be
placed into The RealDeal Interim Discovery
Reports section.
iii)
[=]
The Defining Phase
The
Interim discoveries, after a 30-day period, will enter,
for 60 days, into what is called the Defining Phase. As a
result of the challenges received during the Scrutiny
Phase, the author(s) of the discovery may want to
redefine and perhaps further clarify their discovery,
defining thus even better the discovery in question.
iv)
[/\] The
Disposition Phase
With the
Defining Phase over, a reported discovery, will
permanently enter into the RealDeal "Hall Of
Fame". A "Hall of Fame" discovery shall always stay and
be posted in our site.
To
unseat a "Hall of Fame" discovery, the process will
involve the accumulation of compelling evidence pointing
away from the discovery in question, as follows:
-For
experimental results, a proof "beyond a reasonable doubt"
must exist to establish the existence of fraud and/or
misrepresentation of data in support of a particular
research. Upon such proof, the said discovery reported
shall be removed from the "Hall of Fame" page and, shall
be placed permanently into The RealDeal "Hall Of
Shame" page.
-For
theoretical discoveries to be unseated, a theoretical
proof which annihilates and/or eliminates the old
result(s) must exist, or alternatively, a fundamental
logical error in the proof of the theory must be found to
exist. In such a situation, the said theoretical result
will be removed from our site, with no trace or reference
to be found, as if it were never
published.
Finally,
when an experiment contradicts an established theoretical
result, this, in itself, will not be able to unseat the
said contradicted theoretical result, but a warning will
be posted for the apparent conflict and placed into a new
category entitled The Unresolved "Hall Of Fame"
Discoveries. In all probability, the apparent
scientific conflict created will be posted in our List
(or Auxiliary List) of Most Wanted Solutions
section.
4.
Science, as anything else in life, to be able to flourish
in a given Society and Culture must be able to have the
necessary support. But what is actually "necessary" is
not as simple to answer as perhaps it may seem. Issues of
this sort affecting the complex relationships between
Physics (with its various Research Programs and Projects)
and Society will be explored from different viewpoints in
our section entitled The RealDeal Focus Line.
Also there, issues involving the antagonism, real or
imaginary, between Physics and Religion will be presented
from various perspectives and points of
view.
5.
Looking into Physics' past will undoubtedly help us steer
the course for the future. But to be true to ourselves,
and most importantly, true to the history of Physics, we
need to have the fortitude to separate facts from
fiction, and fiction from myths.
History
of Science as it is taught and presented today does not
come even close to providing us with the same level of
scrutiny and abundance as is found in the General History
of Mankind and, in fact, it is almost completely silent
on critical views with very few exceptions. Why does this
silence exist? It is as if a historian of science would
be crucified if he or she were to "dig" into historic
facts which could lead to a different, uncomplimentary
portrayal of a famous scientist. It is as if the greater
the fame, the greater the protection is from historic
scrutiny towards such a scientist. And this apparent
protectionism from legitimate historic scrutiny is
bothersome if the History of Science is to become at
parity with the study of the General History of Mankind.
It is imperative that the search for the Historic Truth
be made the core of all research and studies of the
History of Science, if this branch of learning is to be
credible, respectable, and independent.
This
climate in which the History of Science has not gained
its proper independent status within the realm of
academic studies is troublesome. The History of Science
needs to be elevated as a stand alone discipline and not
merely as an auxiliary or extension to Science
disciplines. Its methods and standards on historic
scrutiny should be on parity with the ones employed by
the general historians studying mankind. Only then,
through unbiased historical filters, can Sciences be set
free from biased representations of its members. Our
Historic Scrutinies section will attempt to do just that,
although we recognize the tremendous opposition with
which we may be faced.
With
respect to our two (2) Forum sections mentioned at
the beginning of this overview presentation, which are
listed in our FrontPage science site as the last
two (2) sections, we may want to mention here the
following:
·
In The
RealDeal® Forum Letters, we will present
selected letters received from our readers with respect
to the variety of issues that are being covered. Issues
which do not pertain to the subjects covered herein will
not be considered for publication in any form or fashion,
although we will read all mail received and, when
appropriate, we may respond in kind.
·
Finally, in
The RealDeal® Forum Chat Rooms we shall
organize science events from a variety of topics and
issues for debates.
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