                                              MIGHTY PHYSICS      
                                        Historical Introduction



NATURAL PHILOSOPHY--  Old name for Science (Greek for Love of 
                                         Knowledge).

THALES OF MILETUS (600 BC)-- First Natural Philosopher we know of 
       who hypothesized on the makeup of matter.
                 I. Water is the universal element
                         Evidences:  Heating substances ---> water.

             DEMOS: Heat the following in a test tube and 
                         see the water condense upon the glass:
                          Leaf  wood  paper  chalk  minerals (the water of
                              hydration). ( For paper use a piece of an
                              administrative bulletin... theres nothing dryer 
                          When the Heat s On-- You Sweat!

                II. The Water Cycle-- shows how water interacts
                                                  everywhere.
                       evaporation  condensation  precipitation  sublimation 
                            etc.
               III. Concluded:  Nature follows a pattern of laws.


DEMOCRITUS (400 BC)-- First  Atomic Hypothesis.

         Atomos:  Greek for  uncuttable .
              DEMO: Chop up a piece of chalk until you reach the atomos.
                     Use magnifiers knives  razors  and a lot of
                             showmanship.

         Democritus properties of atoms:
                  Indestructible.
                  Changeable  however  into different forms (solid  liquid  
                        gas  corrosion).
         An infinite number of kinds so there are an infinite number of
               elements.
         Hard substances have rough  prickly atoms that stick together.
         Liquids have round  smooth atoms that slide over one another.
         Smell is caused by atoms interacting with the nose-- rough 
               atoms hurt (stink)  etc.
         Sleep is caused by atoms escaping the brain.
         Death--  too many escaped or didnt return.
         The heart is the center of anger.
         The brain is the center of thought.
         The liver is the center of desire ( I love you with all my liver).

           Nothing exists but atoms and space  all else is opinion. 

EMPEDOCLESE (400 BC)--  The Four Element Hypothesis:

                   Primary Matter--      Fire  Water  Earth  Air.
                   The Four Qualities-- Wet  Dry  Warm  Cold.

       There is a diagram here to show how they are related:  
           It is a diamond with a square inside.  
           Place Fire at the top  Water at the bottom  Air at the left  and 
               Earth at the right.  Then  at the corners of the square  Dry 
                    goes between Fire and Earth   
                    Wet between Earth and Water  
                    Cold between Air and Water  and Hot between Fire and
                        Air.

       First ideas of chemical energy:
           The four elements are brought together by LOVE (exothermic)
                 and separated by HATE (endothermic).

        DEMO: Heat a piece of wood in a test tube fitted with a rubber 
                  stopper with a few cm of glass tubing protruding. 
                      At first the Water will condense  
                           then the Air (fumes) will come forth 
                           then ignite the fumes to get the Fire.
                           After cooling  the black Earth remains (charcoal).


             Sample formulas:
                  Human flesh the perfect substance) -- equal quantities 
                       of the Four Elements.
                  Bones-- 1/2 Fire  1/4 Earth  1/4 Water.
  
ARISTOTLE (300 BC)-- (student of Plato  teacher of Alexander The 
                                    Great and many others).

        Known as  The Master of Those Who Know  his influence was 
       so great that it was said that he held back science for 2000 
       years.
       In future generations one could prove an argument by using the 
            Latin statement   IPSE  DIXIT  (He himself said it). 
             (Kinda like kids proving an argument by saying 
               Mommy said so).

     ARISTOTLES BIG ACTIONS--
         Established the worlds greatest library (university) at  
               Alexandria.  It lasted 700 years!
         Used diagrams to illustrate points of explanation.
         Reviewed and criticized the works of others.
         Preserved much knowledge of the ancient world.
         Established the Science of Biology.
         Supported the Four Element Hypothesis.
         Invented a diving bell and took Alex the Great on a tour off
             the harbor bottom.
         Added to the Four Element Hypothesis--  Proposed a fifth  
             element-- The Ether or Heavenly Glow. 
             (The Ether was still being sought in the 19th century as a
                  medium for the transmission of light.
         The heavens are a series of concentric crystalline spheres 
            (we still use his terms)--
                      The Geosphere (earth at center of the universe).
                      The Hydrosphere (the waters of the earth).
                      The Atmosphere (the air above the earth).
                      The Pyrosphere (lightning).
                      The Stellarsphere (all stars are on the same sphere).
                      The Prime Mover or First Cause  (to keep all in 
                          motion).  
                             
        Aristotles  FUNDAMENTAL   OBSERVATIONS  :
                     The Heart is the center of thought (we memorize by 
                          heart).
                     The Brain is a radiator to cool the blood (hot-headed).  
                     A continuous force (like the prime mover) must be 
                           exerted to keep things in motion.
                     A thrown object continues to move because air from in 
                           front moves behind and pushes.
                     Earthquakes are caused by winds blowing within the 
                            earth.
                     Objects fall at accelerations proportional to their 
                           weights.
                     Air is levity (it rises).
                     The moon shines by its own light.
                     Nature abhors a vacuum.
                     Spontaneous Generation of Life (dead meat changes into 
                           living flies. This was still being disputed in the 
                           19th century).
                     It is the nature of things to be the way they are. 
                          (it is the nature of the sun to be hot).
                    Animals on the earth will be the same species at a 
                          given latitude.
              Even today Aristotle is frequently quoted!

ARCHIMEDES (200) BC--
          Calculated the value of pi (between 3 10/71 and 3 1/7).
          Derived laws of the levers and pulleys for catapults and he 
              single-handedly moved a ship onto the beach with pulleys.
          Used levers on the walls of Syracuse to dump Roman ships 
              attacking the walls with battering rams.
          Had soldiers use their shields to reflect sunlight on Roman 
               ships to start fires. (This was recently repeated by the 
               Greek navy and it worked on a rowboat 50 meters off-
                  shore)
           Discovered Archimedes Principle to solve the problem of 
                  the kings gold crown being an alloy.
          The Cartesian diver illustrates the principles of buoyancy 
                  and transmission of pressure and compression of air.
          The Archimedian Screw (for pumping ships).
          Invented an odometer for measuring the distances of Roman 
               roads.
          King Hieros Steam Ball-- first steam and jet engine.
          King Hieros Fountain-- neat siphon action.
          Slain by a Roman soldier while doing geometry in the sand 
          Disturb not my circle.

FRIAR ROGER BACON (1200)-- The Crazy Monk of Oxford University.

          Said   Experimentation in Science is Necessary .
          Developed a formula for gunpowder and used it to stop 
               a student demonstration.

         DEMO:  Place a few grams of gunpowder (from local gun shop)
                    on a brick and with great student demonstration 
                    stopping flurry (and with lots of ancient Oxford 
                    Fee Fie Fo Fums set if off with a burner on a window 
                    opening stick  preferably in the dark of an Oxford night. 
               The students after having been told by the hooded 
                    Franciscan Friar Bacon  still standing on the gate 
                    towers immersed in smoke that they had Offended 
                    the Lord  went quietly back to their
                    books to solve physics problems.
                Predicted:
                     Horseless carriages.
                     Sailless ships.
                     Flying machines.
                     Machines for lifting great weights.

LEONARDO DA VINCI (1400)--
              (Designed and built many of Friar Bacons predictions).

GALILEO (1600)--  Popular Professor of Physics.
              
               Attacked the errors of Aristotle.
               Improved the telescope.
               Discovered the satellites of Jupiter and Galaxies.
               Invented a thermometer.
               Derived the Laws of Acceleration and of the Pendulum.
               Showed that the Earth moves and is not the center of the 
                   Universe.


SIR FRANCIS BACON (1600)-- The Father of Science.

        Wrote the NOVUM  ORGANUM   in which he presents 
           THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD : 
                 1.  Collect Reliable Data (No Ipse  Dixit).
                 2.  Classify the Data.
                 3.  Generalize and experiment.
                 4.  Make Hypothesis or Theory
                 5. Try to prove it by further experimentation.

SIR ISAAC NEWTON (1600)--
       
       Wrote the  PHILOSOPHIAE  NATURALIS  PRINCIPIA  an ultimate 
                     Physics book 
                     Co-invented the Calculus.
                     The Laws of Motion.
                     The Law of Universal Gravitation.
                     Laws of Heat.
                     Laws of Opticks.
                     Many others too!

JOHN DALTON (1800)--  Father of Modern Chemistry.

              The  MODERN ATOMIC THEORY  (compare to Democritus).
                   Elements are composed of atoms.
                   Atoms are indestructible (chemically correct).
                   All atoms of an element are identical (chemically 
                       correct).
                   In orderly fashion the atoms combine to form molecules 
                        (Daltons Law).
                   The atoms are not changed in the process of forming 
                        molecules.

MODERN PHYSICS-- A multitude of people doing new things rapidly!  
                               We shall meet many of them this year!


************************************************

The Boom would appreciate your input and additional contributions 
that you might care to make online or by US Mule.

Preston  The Boom  Boomer
60 Verde Drive
Santa Cruz  CA 95060
408 426-2617
(35th year of roaring in Mighyt Physics

                                        MIGHTY PHYSICS IS FUN!


*******************************************

Heres a plug for 

Shareware from Boomeria Softworks for both Mac & Apple II--


                             ** QUICK SEAT/ QUICK CALL**
                                            for Apple II

                    ** MAC SEATING CHARTS AND MAC DRILL **
                                           for Macintosh
 
SEATING CHARTS  
quickly imports your class rosters right out of your Gradebook Plus 
files (or Grade Machine Files)  (or can be used as a stand alone) and 
adds the students names to your class rooms.
You can arrange your rooms in any format you like.  
The room arrangements and seating charts can be edited by 
dragging with the mouse.  Kids can be exchanged added or deleted.  
Spaces for attendance/tardies may be included. Its fun to use! You 
may have a maximum of 100 seats. 

MAC DRILL or QUICK CALL also reads your class rosters from the 
Gradebook Plus or Grade Machine Files.  It randomly displays in 
large font the students names onto your computer screen.  
This can be used for calling on kids for drills or any other activities 
where fun hi-tech impartial calling is needed. The kids dont argue 
with Lord Apple.
You can also create lists of vocabulary words or short questions that 
can be called upon the screen for the kids to answer as their names 
are called up.

These programs may be downloaded or abtained from or by the Boom.


AND...

                              THE CHEMICAL FORMULA GAME 
            which you also may down-load or obtain from The Boom.


Formula Game & Formula Game Editor Descriptions:

The Chemical Formulas game is an interactive program for 
practicing chemical symbols and formulas with teacher-edited ions 
and comments on student responses.  The computer displays ions or 
formulas based on the teacher-edited list.  The student types his 
answer and receives immediate 
feedback on his answers  including the correct response if his 
answer is incorrect.  The correct answer must be typed before 
proceeding to the next.  Each game consists of ten questions.

The Chemical Formulas Game Editor is the program used by the 
teacher to add  delete  or change the comments or ions used by 
the Chemical Formulas Game.  School or class in-joke comments 
make the game more fun!
The Apple II Chemical Formulas Game must be separately down-
loaded.
The Macintosh version has the Editor on the same disk.

--

                                                   HAVE FUN!

