41706 - History of Physics (1)

Academic Year 2009/2010

  • Docente: Giorgio Dragoni
  • Credits: 5
  • SSD: FIS/08
  • Language: Italian
  • Teaching Mode: Traditional lectures
  • Campus: Bologna
  • Corso: First cycle degree programme (L) in Philosophy (cod. 0342)

Course contents

The History of physics course intends to offer a frame of  the evolution of physics, with special attention to the development of the knowledge, methods, experiments and theories in physics.

First Part: Methodology in history of physics; Hellenistic's physical-astronomical measurements; Galilei's laws and principles; Newton's Principia Mathematica; The inverse square law of the distance (1/r**2) and its deep influence; Mach's critics to Newton; Lorentz and Poincaré pre-relativistic theories.

Secon Part: Maxwell's electromagnetism; Planck; Special teory of relativity and photoelectric theory by Einstein; From the beginning of atomic and nuclear models to the standard model.

Third Part: Short history of the experimental physical measurements, in particular, of the contemporary ones (m, v, tof...) as determined in the pricipals centres of research.  

Teaching methods

Lectures, seminars and lab activities.

Assessment methods

Verbal discussion.Availability for PPT presentation.

Teaching tools

Seminars.

PSSC's movies.

Visits to the museum of physics.

Office hours

See the website of Giorgio Dragoni