History of Physics and EPISTEMOLOGY

The course aims to provide the student with the basic elements to evaluate the historical and epistemological path of the Physics discipline and the methods used in scientific investigation with particular reference to the developments of the twentieth century.

Knowledge and understanding.

Mastery of the scientific method, and understanding of the nature and procedures of research in Physics.

Ability to apply knowledge and understanding

Ability to identify the essential elements of a scientific work distinguishing between empiricism and rationalism. Critical skills in historically determined approaches also in reference to the conceptual change from classical (Newtonian) physics to relativist and quantum mechanics.

Making judgments

Ability to argue on the interpretations of some fundamental physical phenomena in modern physics (Michelson and Morley experiment, quantization, etc.)

Communication skills.

Ability to communicate in Italian and English in the advanced sectors of the history of Physics.

Learning skills.

Ability to acquire adequate cognitive tools for the continuous updating of knowledge and to access specialized literature in the field of the history of physics

The teaching will be carried out through lectures, also with the aid of slides and audio-visual tools. A critical reading of some selected scienti fi c passages relating to the program carried out may be added. 

If the teaching is given in a mixed or remote mode, the necessary changes with respect to what was previously stated may be introduced, in order to comply with the program envisaged and reported in the syllabus.

Some invited lectures will be delivered by Prof. Francesco Brancato, professor of Anthropology and Epistemology at Studio Teologico S.Paolo of Catania.

Good knowledge of the essential elements of the scientific method based on the process of measuring a physical quantity.

1. Notion of physics of the Presocratics

2. Democritus from Abdera and atomism

3. From Archimedes to Leonardo: traces of pre-Galilean science

4. Galileo: the birth of modern science

5. The trial of Galileo: a historical quarrel between philosophy, theology and science

6. Newton: alchemy, universal gravitation, mechanism and determinism

7. Blaise Pascal, Pavel Florenskij, Georges Lemaitre beyond reductionism for interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary research

8. Maxwell: the concept of field

9. Boltzmann: from thermodynamics to statistical mechanics

10. Poincarè: from the problem of the three bodies to the birth of the theory of chaos

11. Einstein: crisis of classical mechanics and relativity

12. Planck, Bohr, Heisenberg: birth and development of quantum mechanics

13. Ethics of scientific work: the case of physics.

14. Fermi: from via Panisperna to the Manhattan project

15. Majorana: the strange story of a misunderstood genius

16. The Void: an enigma between physics and metaphysics

17. Popper, Kuhn, Feyerabend: the epistemology of the natural sciences between general issues and recent theories of knowledge; understanding of the structures and general criteria of scientificity

18. Bohm: realistic interpretations of quantum mechanics

19. From chaos to complexity: fractals, synchronization, self-organized criticality, complex networks and generalized statistical mechanics

20. Artificial Intelligence: challenges for ethics and anthropological perspectives

21. The "Goldilocks" enigma: because we live in a universe favorable to life

General essays:

E.Bellone, "Storia della Fisica", Utet, 1990

L.Russo, "La rivoluzione dimenticata. Il pensiero scientifico greco e la scienza moderna", Universale Economica Feltrinelli 2013

R.Maiocchi, "Storia della scienza in Occidente", La Nuova Italia, 2000

J.L.Heilbron, "Alle origini della fisica moderna", Il Mulino, 1984 

P.Rossi, "La nascita della scienza moderna in Europa", Laterza, 1997

G.Gismondi, "Critica ed etica nella ricerca scientifica", Marietti, Torino 1978 

J.Jacobelli, "Scienza ed etica. Quali limiti?", Laterza Bari 1990

J.Ladyman, "Filosofia della scienza. Un'introduzione", Carocci editore, 2014  

Further readings:

T.S.Kuhn, "La rivoluzione copernicana", Einaudi, 2000

A.Pais, "Sottile è il Signore...", Bollati Boringhieri, 1986

W.Heinsenberg, "Fisica e filosofia", Mondadori, 1998

M.Planck, "La conoscenza del mondo fisico", Bollati Boringhieri, 1988.

C.Tarsitani, "Il dilemma onda-corpuscolo da Maxwell a Planck ed Einstein", Loescher, 1983

D.Bohm, B.J.Hiley, "The undivided: an ontological interpretation of quantum theory", London Routledge, 1993

J.Gleick, "Caos. La nascita di una nuova scienza", Rizzoli, 2018 

D.Schwartz, "Enrico Fermi. L'ultimo uomo che sapeva tutto", Ed.Solferino 2020 

E.Recami, "Il caso Majorana: lettere, testimonianze, documenti", Di Renzo, 1987 

A.Pluchino, "La firma della complessità. Una passeggiata al margine del caos", Malcor D'Edizione, 2015

M.Consoli, A.Pluchino, "Il vuoto. Un enigma tra fisica e metafisica", Aracne Ed., 2015

Verification of learning is given to a final oral exam and, as a rule, to the drafting of an in-depth essay on one of the topics covered. Through questions relating to qualifying points of the various parts of the program, we tend to ascertain the overall level of knowledge acquired by the candidate, his ability to critically approach the topics studied and to correlate the various parts of the program. Students will be able to begin the exam with the presentation of a topic of their choice, typically the one discussed in the essay, then they will proceed with further questions on the rest of the program. It aims at evaluating the ability to understand historical relationships and mastering the ideas introduced.

Verification of learning can also be carried out electronically, should the conditions require it.

The questions below are not an exhaustive list but are just a few examples:

The origins of classical determinism: Italic school and Ionic school in the pre-Socratic period

Galileo's hypotheses

Paradoxes of the second law of thermodynamics

Crisis of classical mechanics and origin of relativity

Need for quantization

Difference between chaos and complexity

Necessity of reductionism in physics

Role of scientific paradigms