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Further Thoughts
on Physics Physics is a unifying story line that describes the physical universe. Physics is the most basic discipline of the natural sciences, and its language is mathematics. Its domains include the study of the fundamental particles of matter--quanta and quarks, strings and superstrings, baryons and leptons, nucleons and atoms--as well as stars and galaxies and the largest aggregations of galaxies in the universe, and the universe itself, in space and time. The universe is composed of particles with well-defined properties and the interactions among the particles. Fundamental interactions are distinct but few, and are described by fields. Fields are generally time dependent and propagate as waves with finite velocities. Insights into the natural world, the laws that govern motion and particles and waves and energy, the study of fields and space and gravitation--all are within the purview of physics. Physics is a study of forces in nature--those that arise from gravity, electromagnetic interactions, nuclear and short range interactions. Physics is a study of symmetry and conservation principles--those of momentum, mass-energy, electrical charge, spin, parity and charm. Students who study physics gain insight into the world around them. The deepest understanding and the most elegant expressions of physics are communicated symbolically through mathematics. But the concepts and ideas of physics have a beauty that even those who don't have advanced preparation in math can appreciate. |
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