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1
Physics and Sociecy
Physics is the science of the most fundamental aspects of nature. The
realms of physics span distances from the subnuclear world of elemen-
tary particles to the whole of the cosmos, and times from less than a
billionth of a trillionth of a second to the age of the universe. To study
phenomena across these epochal scales, to devise experimental tools
that provide ever more powerful means for viewing nature, and to
create theories that allow us to comprehend what has been seen these
are the goals and the achievements of physics. In deepening our view
of nature, physics has profoundly affected our view of mankind
because the underlying assumption of physics that there is order in
the natural world and that the human mind can understand that order-
permeates modern thought. By generating new technologies and by
contributing to neighboring sciences, physics has helped to transform
our daily lives, permitting a comfort and freedom of action that make
it difficult to comprehend that little more than a century ago, even in
the technically advanced nations, most people devoted most of their
energy to securing food and shelter.
Physics has done much to mold the shape of modern society. The
search to understand elementary phenomena has led to expanded
views of all nature and to miraculous inventions. The path of this
search is unpredictable, but along it the history of physics offers many
examples. To cite one of these, starting in the eighteenth and nine-
teenth centuries, scientists like Cavendish, Franklin, Ampere, and
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PHYSICS AND SOCIETY 7
Faraday carried out painstaking experiments on electrical and mag-
netic phenomena. Their observations provided the foundation for
James Clerk Maxwell's electromagnetic theory. Maxwell discovered
that light is a natural manifestation of familiar electrical and magnetic
forces. To find a connection between light and everyday forces was a
triumph of modern thought. From Maxwell's work we have gained a
deep understanding of electromagnetic phenomena from waves to
plasmas and the answers to questions ranging from why air is trans-
parent to how radiative energy transport determines solar and stellar
equilibrium. Electromagnetic theory underlies the invention of radio,
television, and radar and makes possible the creation of our vast
industrial power networks and modern communications systems. In
fact, it is difficult to cite instances of modern life that have not been
touched in some way by Maxwell's discovery.
The creation of quantum mechanics in the 1920s provides a second
example of the unpredictable path by which new knowledge in physics
can shape society. Based on studies of the properties of matter, the
spectra of atoms, and the motions of charged particles, quantum
mechanics provided an extraordinary new framework for portraying
physical reality. Quantum mechanics revolutionized our most funda-
mental concepts of measurement and paved the way to understanding
the structure of atoms, molecules, and solids. It is now recognized that
quantum mechanics is basic not only to physics but to chemistry,
biology, and many of the other sciences. Beyond this, quantum
mechanics has led to the creation of new industries, such as semicon-
ductors and optical communications, and has opened new paths of
technology through the creation of exotic materials and devices like the
laser.
The discoveries of electromagnetic theory and quantum mechanics
are now part of history, but seminal advances in physics continue. A
few decades ago no one realized that cosmology and astrophysics were
on the threshold of a golden age and that radioastronomy, x-ray
astronomy, and other new techniques were about to yield pictures of
the universe that would make our previous views seem blurred and
shadowy images. A marvelous scenario of the origin of the universe
and its eventual fate is now being constructed from these pictures. The
new theories cannot help but eventually affect our total vision of our
role in nature and deepen our understanding and appreciation of life.
Another advance can be traced to the study of electronic materials
known as semiconductors. The discovery in 1947 by Shockley,
Bardeen, and Brattain of the transistor eject paved the way for the
computer revolution that is taking place around us today. Nobody can
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8 PHYSICS THROUGIl THE 1990s: AN OVERVIEW
know how society will ultimately be transformed by this revolution,
but the advances have been so rapid that the image of a savings bank
with clerks patiently entering transactions by hand, without the benefit
of automatic data processing, seems almost as remote as a candlelit
counting house in a novel by Dickens.
Before World War II, physics was essentially a European activity,
but by the war's end, the center of physics had moved to the United
States. The influx of European physicists, a generation of outstanding
young American physicists, and the heritage of intense cooperation
between science and government that grew out of the nation's efforts
to develop radar and the atomic bomb presented the United States with
a scientific community of unsurpassed quality. Discoveries by this
community since World War II rank among the greatest achievements
of physics. They include the creation of quantum electrodynamics, the
theory of superconductivity, the discovery of remnants from the
primordial explosion at the birth of the universe, and the invention of
the transistor and the laser.
The role of physics in the United States today is complex. Curiosity
and the basic need for understanding remain the intellectual driving
force for physics, but physics also affects society broadly through its
interactions with all the natural sciences, with technology and engi-
neering, and with medicine. To strengthen these, physics provides
conceptual tools, experimental techniques, and new materials. Much
of our advanced technology can be traced directly to basic research in
physics. Optical communications and laser-assisted manufacturing
exemplify technologies that will play a vital role in helping the nation
to retain its industrial competitiveness in the years to comes
Biophysics, molecular biology, and physiology three sciences that
closely underlie medicine all use concepts and experimental tech-
niques from physics. Nuclear medicine, radiation therapy, x-ray to-
mography, and laser surgery are but a few of physics' many contribu-
tions to medical diagnosis and therapy. One of the most recent
diagnostic techniques, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), allows
doctors to peer into the human body as clearly as they can view its
surface (Figure 1.1~. MRI is nonperturbing, noninvasive, and free of
any known side effects. Its role in medical diagnosis is expected to be
revolutionary, comparable in effect to the discovery of x rays. The
creation of MRI required microcomputers whose origin depended on
the invention of the transistor- and superconducting magnets which
were created from research in low-temperature physics. The basic
principles of MRI, however, were discovered in pioneering research by
Purcell and Bloch, who were simply curious about how nuclei magnet-
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PHYSICS AND SOCIETY 9
FIGURE 1.1 Proton magnetic resonance image showing a sagittal slice of cranial
anatomy demonstrating an enlarged pituitary gland. The image was obtained on a
Technicare 1.5-tesla Teslacon magnetic resonance system at the Cleveland Clinic using
a spin-echo pulse technique. The phenomena of nuclear magnetic resonance, solid-state
microelectronics, and superconducting materials for high field magnets, which combine
to make the medical magnetic resonance imager, are all products of physics research of
the past four decades.
ically interact with matter. The benefits now Bowing from their work
illustrate the large returns in human well-being that may come from
basic research by scientists with the freedom and the resources to
pursue the search for fundamental understanding.
Physics has given mankind the power to make life better or to
destroy it. How to use this power wisely has become society's most
urgent challenge. To meet it successfully will require a public educated
in the underlying science and a political leadership well informed about
scientific issues and technical options. Physicists must play an essential
role in advising and counseling.
The United States is a leader in the community of nations. Our
economic vitality and our national security system are visible signs of
our strength, but our authority stems ultimately from the political and
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10 PHYSICS THROUGH THE 1990s: AN OVERVIEW
social ideals that animate us and from our cultural and intellectual
accomplishments. Our achievements in physics are respected by
people everywhere; they help the United States to fulfill its role as a
world leader.
Physics in the United States has become a federal responsibility.
Universities, industry, and private institutions all participate in physics
research, but the federal government has assumed major responsibility
for its support. This assumption reflects the essential role that physics
plays in generating new technologies and in maintaining our national
defense. It also reflects a widespread public interest in science, an
excitement over new discoveries, and a national pride in accomplish-
ment.
Advanced technology, in this age of robotics and the information
explosion, is a major driving force behind economic growth in the
developed countries. Looking to the future, the United States must be
able to meet the challenge of creating the new technology needed to
sustain growth. And the other nations of the world must be able to meet
the challenges posed by the growth of population, the pressure on
nonrenewable resources, and the increasing burden on the environ-
ment. Many nations will look to the United States for help in providing
the new technologies required to solve their problems. If the world is
to live in peace, we must meet these challenges. Basic science is the
driving force of the new technology; the role that physics can play is
critical to the future of mankind.
Representative terms from entire chapter:
experimental techniques
