19. Physical Sciences and Mathematics. The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition. 2002

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The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition. 2002.

Physical Sciences and Mathematics

The physical sciences include physics, chemistry, and astronomy, along with related branches of engineering. They are the most highly developed of the sciences, and serve as a model for development of other areas of learning. Mathematics, while not a science itself, is the language in which the physical sciences are written, and hence has had a close relation with these sciences throughout history.

Physics is the study of matter and motion. It is divided into two sections: classical physics, which is the science as developed before 1900; and modern physics, which encompasses twentieth-century work. Classical physics is further divided into mechanics, the study of motion; thermodynamics, the study of phenomena related to heat; and the study of electricity and magnetism. The content of each of these fields can be summarized in a few basic laws from which all the rest of the contents can be derived by mathematical reasoning. There are three laws for mechanics (Newton’s laws of motion), three for thermodynamics (known simply as the laws of thermodynamics), and four for electricity and magnetism (Maxwell’s equations). If you add to these Newton’s law of universal gravitation (now known to be a special case of general relativity), you have a handful of laws that explain everything that was studied by scientists to the end of the nineteenth century, from the motion of the moon in its orbit to the flow of blood through an artery.

In the twentieth century, two new fields were added to physics: relativity, which deals with objects moving near the speed of light and which constitutes our modern theory of gravitation; and the study of the atom and the particles that compose it. The latter field occupies the bulk of the attention of modern physicists.

The atom consists of a nucleus and electrons circling around the nucleus; the ways in which atoms come together to form molecules is governed by the behavior of the electrons. When the number of atoms in a molecule is in the thousands or hundreds of thousands, the basic laws of atomic behavior discovered by physicists are of limited use, and the complex interactions of the molecules constitute their own field of study. The infinite variety of possible atomic combinations is the domain of chemistry. In the same way, the new science of materials, in which scientists produce substances with new and hitherto undreamed-of properties, involves procedures for arranging atoms in new ways.

The nucleus of the atom is composed of elementary particles, which are themselves composed of things called quarks, which are still more elementary. The study of the interactions of elementary particles at high energy is the frontier of knowledge in physics today.

We now know that stars, like people and trees, have life cycles—that they are born, live out their lives, and die. The sun and other stars are powered by nuclear reactions in their core and die when the nuclear fuel is consumed.

Cosmology is the branch of astronomy concerned with the universe as a whole, as well as its origin. The universe is expanding and is believed to have originated about fourteen billion years ago, in an event known as the Big Bang. The study of these origins is an important frontier in astronomy.

Mathematics does not involve experimentation or observation of nature and is therefore not a science like physics or chemistry. In mathematics, one may start with assumptions and rules of logic and use deduction to reach conclusions. Plane geometry of the type taught in high school is a good example of how this procedure works. Alternately, as in the study of statistics, one may start with a set of incomplete data and use induction to reach conclusions. Mathematicians provide the tools that physical scientists apply to their studies of the world. Modern mathematics has, however, become extremely abstract and is well beyond the reach of the general public (and even of most scientists). Consequently, only those notions of mathematics that are likely to be encountered in general discussion are included in the following list.

—J.T.

Entries

absolute zero	accelerating universe	acceleration
acid	acute angle	adhesion
adsorption	aerodynamics	alchemy
algebra	algorithm	alkali
alloy	alpha radiation	amplitude
Andromeda galaxy	antimatter	antiparticle
apogee	Archimedes	asteroid
asteroid belt	astronomical unit	astronomy
astrophysics	atom	atomic clock
atomic number	atomic weight	average
axiom	axis	background radiation
Baconian method	base	beta radiation
Big Bang theory	Big Dipper	black hole
blackbody	Bohr atom	Bohr, Niels
boiling point	British thermal unit	Brownian motion
buffer	buoyancy	calculus
Calorie	capillary	carbon
carbon dioxide	carbon 14	carbon monoxide
cardinal numbers	catalyst	cc
Celsius	center of gravity	centigrade
centimeter	centrifugal force	CFC
chain reaction	chaos	charge, electrical
chemical bond	chemical element	chemical equilibrium
chemical reaction	chemistry	chlorine
circumference	closed universe	cobalt 60
cohesion	cold fusion	colloid
combustion	comet	common denominator
compound	condensation point	conduction
constant	constellation	convection
coordinates	Copernicus, Nicolaus	Coriolis effect
cosmic microwave background	cosmology	covalent bond
critical mass	crystal	Curie, Marie
current, electric	cyclotron	dark energy
dark matter	decibel	decimal point
decimals	degree	dehydration
denominator	density	diameter
diffraction	diffusion	distillation
Doppler effect	E = mc²	eclipse
Einstein, Albert	elasticity	electrical field
electricity	electrolysis	electromagnet
electromagnetic induction	electromagnetic radiation	electromagnetic spectrum
electromagnetic waves	electron	electron microscope
element	elementary particles	ellipse
energy	entropy	equation
equilibrium	equinox	escape velocity
ethanol	ethyl alcohol	Euclid
evaporation	exponent	exponential growth
extrapolation	extraterrestrial	Fahrenheit
Fermi, Enrico	fission, nuclear	flash point
flat universe	fluid	fluorescence
fluoride	focal length	force
fractal	fraction	free fall
freezing point	frequency	friction
function	fusion, nuclear	galaxy
Galileo	gamma radiation	gas
geometric progression	geometry	Goddard, Robert H.
gram	Grand Unified Theory	gravitation
gravity	H₂O	half-life
heat	heat capacity	heavy water
Heisenberg, Werner	Heisenberg uncertainty principle	helium
helix	hertz	hexagon
horsepower	Hubble, Edwin	Hubble Space Telescope
hydrocarbons	hydrogen	hyperbola
hypotenuse	hypothesis	Hz
inertia	inflationary universe	infrared radiation
inorganic chemistry	inorganic molecules	integers
interference	ion	ionic bond
ionization or ionizing	irrational number	isomers
isotope	Jupiter	Keck Telescope
Kelvin, Lord	Kelvin scale	Kepler, Johannes
kilogram	kilometer	kilowatt
kinetic energy	Laplace, Marquis de	latent heat
Lavoisier, Antoine	lens	lepton
light	light year	line
liquid	litmus	locus
lowest common denominator	Mach number	magnet
magnetic field	magnetism	Mars
mass	mass spectograph	mathematical induction
mathematics	matter	Maxwell, James Clerk
Maxwell’s equations	mean	mean free path
mechanics	median	melting point
Mendeleev, Dmitri	Mercury	mercury
meson	meter	metric system
microwaves	Milky Way	mode
molecular weight	molecule	momentum
moon	Mount Palomar	nebula
necessary condition	Neptune	neutrino
neutron	neutron star	Newton, Isaac
Newton’s laws of motion	nitrogen	normal distribution curve
North Star	nova	nuclear energy
nuclear reaction	nuclear winter	nucleus
numeral	numerator	obtuse angle
octagon	open universe	Oppenheimer, J. Robert
optics	orbit	order of magnitude
ordinal numbers	organic chemistry	organic molecule
osmosis	oxidation	oxygen
parabola	parameter	particle accelerator
particle physics	Pauling, Linus	pentagon
percent	perigee	periodic table of the elements
pH	phases of matter	photon
physics	pi	Planck, Max
Planck’s constant	plane	plane geometry
planet	plasma	Pluto
plutonium	point	polarization
polygon	polymer	positron
potential energy	power	precipitate
pressure	prime number	prism
probability	proton	Ptolemaic universe
Ptolemy	pulsar	Pythagorean theorem
quanta	quantum leap	quantum mechanics
quarks	quasars	rad
radiation	radiation damage	radical
radio waves	radioactive	radioactivity
radium	radon	ratio
reciprocal	red shift	reduction
reflection	refraction	relativity
rem	right angle	right triangle
Rutherford, Ernest	salt	sample
satellite	Saturn	scale
scientific method	SETI	solar system
solar wind	solid	solstice
solution	space-time	specific gravity
specific heat	spectroscopy	spectrum
speed of light	spontaneous combustion	square
square root	standard deviation	standard model
star	static electricity	statistical significance
statistics	stress	string theory
strong force	subatomic	subatomic particles
sublimation	sufficient condition	sun
sunspots	superconductivity	supernova
surface tension	symmetry	telescope
Teller, Edward	theorem	theory
thermal equilibrium	thermodynamics	thermonuclear reaction
time dilation	titration	tomography
trapezoid	triple point	twin paradox
UFO	ultraviolet radiation	uncertainty principle
unified field theory	uranium	Uranus
Ursa Major	Ursa Minor	vacuum
valence	valence electrons	vapor pressure
vaporization	vector	velocity
Venus	viscosity	volume
watt	wave	wavelength
wave-particle duality	weak force	weight
white dwarf	whole numbers	work
x-ray	zodiac

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition. Edited by E.D. Hirsch, Jr., Joseph F. Kett, and James Trefil. Copyright © 2002 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

CONTENTS · INDEX · GUIDE · BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORD

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