After tens of thousands of years of hard work, human civilization finally embarked on the path of science hundreds of years ago. The advent of science also puts flying wings on mankind, allowing us to stand at a higher position and observe the nature of the world and the nature of everything.
On the road of science, there are many scientific laws and scientific theories. What mankind has to do is to dig out these scientific theories and let them serve mankind. In the palace of science, physics is undoubtedly very important, and it is also a key for us to uncover the truth of the world. On the road of physics exploration, a scientist first pointed out the direction of exploration for us, and he was Newton.
Newton’s achievements on the road of science are great. He pioneered classical physics and put forward the theory of classical mechanics, which laid the foundation for subsequent scientific exploration and pointed out the direction. His outstanding contributions to mankind made him a great scientist, and his classical mechanics theory also ruled for more than two centuries. It was not until the emergence of Einstein that he had a new direction.
Newton’s law of universal gravitation is an important natural law in our study of everything and the universe. In Newton’s view, although we discovered that gravity dominates the motion of celestial bodies, we don’t know how celestial bodies move in the first place, and behind all this there must be a pair of invisible doubles pushing them. At that time, people called it “God”.
After Newton, some great physicists appeared. They inherited Newton’s classical physics, continued along this path, and made a lot of contributions to mankind. These physicists perfected classical physics. Learn, build a magnificent physics building. At that time, people thought that the development of physics may have come to an end, and the work that followed was just some repairs.
But the path of scientific exploration is so magical. When people think that physics has reached its end, a greater scientist appears, and he is Einstein. Einstein put forward the great theory of relativity, which broke the absolute space-time view established by Newton for more than 200 years.
Newton’s classical physics is not omnipotent. It has a range of adaptation, that is, under the conditions of low velocity and weak gravitational field. Because it is difficult for us to truly achieve sub-light speed under normal circumstances, we feel that classical physics is completely applicable, and it seems to have reached a limit.
However, with the continuous development of science, some scientists have begun to doubt classical physics, and some experimental phenomena have indeed violated classical physics. Therefore, Einstein proposed an epoch-making theory of relativity based on some research and discoveries. The theory of relativity naturally also includes classical physics, but it has a wider scope of application.
Under the premise of low velocity and weak gravitational field, classical physics can describe the application very well, but under the premise of adjusting the strong and weak force field, classical physics will fail. At this time, only the theory of relativity can describe this.
Through these understandings, we can also see that the nature of the universe is far less simple than we imagined. Human beings are only the tip of the iceberg, and there are more mysteries that we don’t know. Especially with the emergence of quantum mechanics, it has subverted our understanding of the universe.
The truth of this world can be divided into macroscopic and microscopic. We can use classical physics and the theory of relativity to explain the laws of nature at the macroscopic level. However, in the microscopic world, classical physics has basically lost its effect, and even the theory of relativity is difficult to truly be true. Used to describe and explain some phenomena in quantum mechanics.
Einstein called quantum mechanics “ghosts”, and many phenomena cannot be explained by the scientific system of macroscopic theory. In quantum mechanics, there are many counter-intuitions and ghost phenomena that subvert macroscopic theory. Among them, a very famous simple experiment better illustrates this phenomenon of subverting cognition. This experiment is the electronic double-slit experiment we did in high school.
For the electronic double stitch experiment, I believe many friends know that when we were in high school, the teacher did it for us. In the experiment, we let a large number of electrons pass through the two slits. At this time, the screen behind will not get the pattern corresponding to the two slits, but get some light and dark interference fringes.
We can’t explain this phenomenon with Newton’s classical physics. The experiment tells us that electrons also have the characteristics of waves and will interfere when they pass through double slits. Even if we let electrons pass through the slits one by one individually, interference fringes will also appear in the back, which shows that electrons can interfere with themselves.
This result is not a phenomenon that makes scientists feel subversive. What really surprised scientists is the subsequent experiment. In order to better observe and record the situation of electrons passing through the double slit, the scientist placed a monitor next to the double slit. But the result is that the interference fringes disappeared, leaving only the pattern corresponding to the two slits.
Such a miraculous phenomenon has surprised scientists. Our active observation of electrons has changed their behavior. Electrons seem to be conscious, knowing that they have been observed. Later, a more complicated Wheeler delayed choice experiment was carried out, and two results were obtained. It can be seen that the behavior of the observer can in turn determine what happened in the past, which seriously violates the law of causation as we know it.
The magical phenomenon of quantum mechanics also makes many people think: Is the end of science theology? As for theology, everyone knows that it has ruled for a long time in the history of human civilization. Even after entering the industrial revolution and starting the scientific road for a long time, theology still dominates.
I believe many of my friends know that Newton went to study theology in his later years and found nothing. Many people may not understand: Why would such a great scientist study theology? Some people say that it was Newton who discovered the truth of this world, but in fact, Newton’s study of theology in his later years was completely influenced by the time and background.
We must know that the 17th and 18th centuries when living in Newton was the era when the church was dominant. At that time, scientists studied the mysteries of the universe in order to verify the existence of God. In this context, Newton was also unavoidable, and also joined the theological research team in his later years.
As for Einstein’s study of theology, it is completely different from Newton. Einstein is a pure atheist, he only believes in the real universe, and does not believe in the illusory and ethereal God. The theology that Einstein studied in his later years was not the theology we imagined, but a kind of cosmic law, the law of the universe.
In Einstein’s view, the universe is so orderly, there must be a pair of invisible hands behind it, and these invisible hands are actually a kind of supreme law of the universe, a kind of supreme physical law. Only by finding this physical law, may we be able to truly understand the nature of the universe.
So to a certain extent, God does not exist. What exists is only the laws of the universe and the laws of science. As long as we unearth these scientific laws one by one, then mankind will fully understand the universe and become the supreme civilization of the universe.