PHYSICS AND CONTEMPORARY WORLD

PSIR112

Course Code: PSIR112
Semester: Second Term (Spring)
Theory+Practice: 3 + 0
ECTS: 5

Course Type

Compulsory Course

Course Level

Bachelor's Degree

Year of Study

Semester

Second Term (Spring)

ECTS

Name of Lecturer(s)

Assistant Professor Adil Calap

Learning Outcomes

At the end of this course, the students;

Assess what is science and how it is executed.
Know the historical development of science and the historical background of modern science.
Gain knowledge of the dominant paradigm of modern science and its reflections on systems of thought.

Mode of Delivery

Face to face

Prerequisites

Recommended Optional Programme Components

There is no recommended optional programme component for this course.

Course Description

Today, all the physical entities that we come into contact with and are interested in can be understood in some way through the subject matter of Physics. In today's world, thanks to 'user-friendly' applications, we can make use of hundreds of tools, devices and applications that we have no idea how they work, how they are made and sometimes what they are, and this can lead to the misconception that we have mastered them all. During this course, we will first try to explain to the students how little knowledge we actually have, and in a parallel way, how from the very beginning, humanity has been trying to understand the whole world and how it has progressed. The ultimate goal is for students to have the basic principles and a general sense of the issues that come before them, and to be able to ask the 'right questions' when they are in decision-making positions in the future.

Course Contents

WEEK	TOPICS
1^st Week	Introduction to the course, Sub-branches of physics, What is scientific methodology?
2^nd Week	The relationship between physics and mathematics, The emergence of mathematics (Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia). Was mathematics discovered? Invention debate.
3^rd Week	Ancient discoveries (I): Thales of Miletus: He developed the concept of Natural Philosophy. Anaximander: the idea that the Earth floats in space. Democritus: the concept of the atom through experiments. Aristotle: Aristotelian Physics. Euclid: Euclid Geometry. Archimedes: The principle he named after himself. Aristarchos: Proposition that the sun is at the center.
4^th Week	Ancient discoveries (II): Eratosthenes: Measured the circumference of the Earth. Seleucus: Supported the theory of a heliocentric universe by reasoning. Apollonius of Hipparchus invented the astrolabe. Antikythera mechanism or analog computer calculating the motion of the planets. Hero of Alexandria The principle of the shortest path of light
5^th Week	Medieval Explorations (Scientists in the Arab Empire): Ibn al-Haytham (Alhazen): Optics. Ibn Sina (Avicenna): The concept of force, Al-Biruni: The speed of light is much greater than the speed of sound. Al-aghdadi: Theory of Motion.
6^th Week	16th and 17th century discoveries: Nicolaus Copernicus: Heliocentrism. Kepler's law of planetary motion. Galileo's discovery of the moons of Jupiter. Galileo's principles.
7^th Week	Midterm Exam
8^th Week	17th century discoveries (II): Blaise Pascal's law, Robert Hooke's law, Robert Boyle's law. Otto von Guericke: First manufacturer of electrostatics. Romer's calculation of the speed of light. Christian Huygens. Isaac Newton's law of universal gravitation.
9^th Week	18th century discoveries: Daniel Bernoulli: First model of the kinetic theory of gases Discovery of the Leyden flask. Benjamin Franklin: kite experiment. Joseph-Louis Lagrange: Lagrangian mechanics. Antoine Lavoisier: Conservation of mass. Alessandro Volta: Invention of the Voltaic battery.
10^th Week	19th century ( I): William Herschel: Infrared Light. Johann Wilhelm Ritter: ultraviolet light. John Dalton: Atomic theory of matter. Thomas Young: Kinetic Energy. Andre-Marie Ampere: Electromagnetic interaction. Joseph Fourier: Heat equation. Sadi Carnot: Carnot cycle. Ampere's law of the electric circuit. Georg Ohm: Electric resistance.
11^th Week	19th century (II): Michael Faraday induction law and power lines. Wilhelm Eduard Weber and Friedrich Gauss: Earth's magnetic field. Christian Doppler: Doppler's law. Michael Faraday: Interaction of magnetic field and light. William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin and Rudolf Clausius: The second law of thermodynamics.
12^th Week	19th century (III: James Clerk Maxwell: Statistical mechanics and Maxwell's equations. Rudolf Clausius: Entropy. James Clerk Maxwell: Dynamical theory of electromagnetics and kinetic theory of gases. Ludwig Boltzmann: Boltzmann equation. Heinrich Rudolf Hertz: Electromagnetic waves. Wilhelm Röntgen: X-rays.
13^th Week	19th and 20th century: Radioactivity. Discovery of the electron. Max Planck: Förmül for blackbody radiation. Gamma rays. J.J. Thomson: Model of the atom. Albert Einstein: The Special and General Theories of Relativity. Ernest Rutherford: Discovery of the atomic nucleus.
14^th Week	20th century (II): Niels Bohr model of the atom. Ernest Rutherford: Proof of the existence of the proton. Arthur Eddington: Proof of the bending of light. Alexander Friedman: expanding universe. Edwin Hubble: Discovery of galaxies. Niels Bohr and Max Planck: Quantum Mechanics. Erwin Schrödinger equation. Werner Heisenberg: Uncertainty principle.

Recommended or Required Reading

ALIOTO, Anthony. A History of Western Science, New York: Perentice Hall, 1992.

BOWLER, Peter. Doğanın Öyküsü, (1. Cilt), Çev. Meltem Mater, İstanbul: İzdüşüm Yayınları, 2001, 1-110.

CEVİZCİ, Ahmet. Ortaçağ Felsefesi Tarihi,İstanbul: Asa Yayınları, 1999.

COHEN, Bernard. The Birth of a New Physics, Norton, 1989.

CORBIN, Henry. İslam Felsefesi Tarihi, İstanbul: İletişim Yayınları, 1994.

DUMONT, Jean Paul. Antik Felsefe. Ankara: Dost Yayınları, 2007.
LINDBERG, David C. The Beginnings of Western Science, Chicago: Chicago University Press, 1992.

GRANT, Edward. Physical Science in the Middle Ages, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1977.

HUFF, Toby E. The Rise of Early Modern Science, Cambridge: Cambridge State University Press, 1977.

KOYRE, Alexandre. Bilim Tarihi Yazıları, Çev. Kurtuluş Dinçer, Ankara: Tübitak, 2000.

LANGONE, John, Bruce Stutz, Andrea Gianapoulos. Bilimin 4000 Yıllık Resimli Serüveni. İstanbul: NTV Yayınları, 2008.

ÖZLEM, Doğan. Bilim Felsefesi. İstanbul: İnkılap Kitabevi, 2003.

RONAN, Colin A. Bilim Tarihi: Dünya Kültürlerinde Bilimin Tarihi ve Gelişmesi, Çev. E. İhsanoğlu, F. Günergun, Ankara: Tübitak, 2003.

SHAPIN, Steven. The Scientific Revolution, Chicago: The University of Chicago Pres, 1996.

WESTFALL, Richard S. The Construction of Modern Science, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1977.

Planned Learning Activities and Teaching Methods

Lecture

Assessment Methods and Criteria

	Quantity	Percentage (%)
Mid-term	1	40
Total(%)		40
Contribution of In-term Studies to Overall Grade(%)		40
Contribution of Final Examination to Overall Grade(%)		60
Total(%)		100

ECTS Allocated Based on Student Workload

Activities	Quantity	Duration (Hour)	Total Workload (Hour)
Midterm exam	1	1	1
Preparation for Quiz
Individual or group work	14	2	28
Preparation for Final exam	1	40	40
Course hours	14	3	42
Preparation for Midterm exam	1	40	40
Laboratory (including preparation)
Final exam	1	1.15	1.15
Homework
Total Work Load			152.15
Total Work Load / 30 (h)			5.07
ECTS Credit of the Course			5

Language of Instruction

Turkish

Work Placement(s)

Programme Qualifications / Learning Outcomes

	LO1	LO2	LO3
K1	X
K2
K3
K4
K5
K6
K7
K8		X
K9
K10
K11			X
K12
K13