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Aberration, Astronomical
Wikipedia
Absolute Space
Wikipedia
Aristarcus
Wikipedia
Aristotelian Dynamics
Wikipedia
Wikipedia
A phenomenon whereby
stars appear to be in different locations then they actually are. This is
due to the movement of the earth relative to the position of the stars.
Absolute Space
Wikipedia
The hypothesis that
there is a stable underlying space against which motion can be judged.
If absolute space exists, one can say (without qualification)
that the sun is moving and some other object is not. Although
present in Newtonian Mechanics, this notion has been abandoned since
the acceptance of Relativity.
Aristarcus
Wikipedia
A
3rd century BCE philosopher who is believed to be the first person to
suggest a heliocentric (sun-centered) model of the solar system.
This view was dismissed by his contemporaries because he could not
explain why their is no apparent motion on the Earth.
Aristotelian Dynamics
Wikipedia
A physical theory first postulated by Aristotle (hence the name), which claimed that bodies have a natural place in the universe and that they attempt to return to that natural place.
Atwood's Machine
Wikipedia
A machine used composed of two weights hung on either side of a pulley. Used, by Atwood, to estimate the gravitational constant.
Wikipedia
A machine used composed of two weights hung on either side of a pulley. Used, by Atwood, to estimate the gravitational constant.
Bacon, Francis
Wikipedia, SEP
Bernoulli, Daniel
Wikipedia
Black, Joseph
Wikipedia
Blackbody Radiation
Wikipedia
Bohr, Niels
Wikipedia
Boyle, Robert
Wikipedia, SEP
Boyle's Law
Wikipedia
Wikipedia, SEP
An early proponent of a version of
the scientific method. One important part of this method is to
list all of the examples of a particular phenomenon. This method
led Bacon to some strange conclusions, since, for example, many
different things are called "hot" (like heat from food, heat from the
sun, and heat from anger).
Bernoulli, Daniel
Wikipedia
An 18th century physicist and mathematican, who is well known for his work in hydrodynamics. In addition, he developed an early kinetic theory of gases.
Black, Joseph
Wikipedia
An
18th century Scottish chemist who discovered carbon dioxide, which he
called fixed air. Along with others his work lead to the
abandonment of the phlogiston theory.
Blackbody Radiation
Wikipedia
A phenomenon whereby entirely
black objects release radiation. This provided a problem for Newtonian
Mechanics, and eventually led to the development of Quantum Mechanics.
Bohr, Niels
Wikipedia
A physicist who was instrumental
in developing Quantum Mechanics. He developed the (incorrect)
"solar system" model of the atom that is taught in elementary school.
Boyle, Robert
Wikipedia, SEP
A physicist and chemist who was instrumental in discovering the elements which made up compounds.
Boyle's Law
Wikipedia
A law that relates the pressure
and volume of a gas. Specifically, it claims the product of the
pressure and the volume of a gas is constant given a constant
temperature.
Brahe, Tycho
Wikipedia
Wikipedia
A 16th century astronomer who
made incredibly accurate observations. Although he maintained
that the geocentric (earth centered) model was correct, his primary
assistant, Kepler, led the development of the heliocentric (sun centered) model.
A chamber filled with a translucent liquid, so that when charged
particles pass through the liquid they leave bubbles behind.
These bubbles leave trails that allow scientists to observe the
trajectory of particles.
Calendar Reform
Wikipedia
Caloric Theory
Wikipedia
Cathode Ray
Wikipedia
Cavendish's Calculation of G
Wikipedia
Celestial Mechanics
Wikipedia
Circularity (argumentative)
Wikipedia
Wikipedia
The Julian calendar
was based on the motion of moon, but contained errors resulting in
substantial discord between the calendar and the moon by the 16th
century. In addition, the catholic church was concerned with the
celebration of Easter. These led to pressure to reform the
calendar. This pressure, claims Kuhn, lead to the development of
the Copernican system.
Caloric Theory
Wikipedia
An abandoned scientific theory that claimed there existed a fluid (called caloric), which was responsible for heat.
Cathode Ray
Wikipedia
A stream of electrons passing
through a vacuum tube. Open their discovery scientist realized
that these rays where the carriers of electricity.
Cavendish's Calculation of G
Wikipedia
Using large spheres of lead,
Cavendish estimated the gravitation attraction exerted on two small
metal balls. This allowed him to estimate the gravitational
constant, and later estimate, with surprising accuracy, the weight of
the earth.
Celestial Mechanics
Wikipedia
The study of the motions of the planets and the stars.
Circularity (argumentative)
Wikipedia
A fallacy whereby one appeals to the claim one is trying to prove.
Arguing that God exists because of his occurance in the bible, and the
bible is authoritative because it is the word of God, is a circular
argument.
If a subject is shown two similar
(but not identical)
images with some interference in between (e.g. a blank screen), the
subject may be unable to notice that the differences between the two
images. This can occur even for relatively large differences.
A method of separating mixtures into their component parts relying on
the differential speeds at which different molecules will pass through
a device.
Conditionalization, Principle of
An epistemic principle that dictates how to
assign degrees of belief after learning new evidence. Specifically,
the new degree of belief of a sentence after learning a piece of
evidence should be set to the old degree of belief of that statement
conditioned on the evidence. Symbolically:
New Pr(H) = Old Pr(H | E). This conditional
probability is determined via Bayes' theorem; because of this, the
principle is sometimes called Bayesian Conditionalization (Jeffrey
Conditionalization is a more general form of Bayesian
Conditionalization).
Cognitive dissonance
A theory
of how beliefs are formed in humans. It relies on the notion of
conflict in people's beliefs and postulates that people form beliefs
which reduce that conflict, irrespective of whether they have good
reason to believe those beliefs.
Copernicus, Nicolaus
Wikipedia, SEP
Corpuscular Theory of Light
Wikipedia
Wikipedia, SEP
Copernicus was a major proponent
of the heliocentric (or sun-centered) universe. Although he was
not the first to suggest this, he is generally credited with the
heliocentric model becoming accepted by the scientific community and
developing into the view of this solar system we know believe.
This change brought about what is called the Copernican
Revolution.
Corpuscular Theory of Light
Wikipedia
A
rejected theory of light famously advocated by Isaac Newton.
Advocates claimed that light consisted of particles. It was
disprove when a bright spot was observed at the center of the shadow
of a dark disk.
The belief that all physical objects are made up of tiny indivisible
parts and that all phenomenon can be explained by the motion of these
parts. Descartes was one notable advocate of this position. He
attempted to explain many phenomenon, including magnetism, in terms of
the motion of tiny atoms.
Coulomb, Charles-Augustin de
Wikipedia
Coulomb's Law
Wikipedia
Wikipedia
An important 18th century scientist who developed parts of electrical theory and mechanical theory.
Coulomb's Law
Wikipedia
A law relating the charge and and distance between two objects and the force they exert on each other.
Custom, Principle of
The principle of custom (sometimes called the principle of habit) is
Hume's response to the problem of induction. Hume recognizes that we
have no good reason to believe the conclusions of inductive
arguments, but we do it anyways. He claims that it is a
psychological fact that humans infer according to the principles of
induction: we are compelled psychologically to believe that the
future will resemble the past and to reason accordingly. This
psychological fact is the principle of custom.
Dalton, John
Wikipedia
A 18th and 19th century chemist who is credited with using the hypothesis of atomism to explain the law of definite proportions.
Darwin, Charles
Wikipedia, SEP
The 19th century biologist
famous for his theory of natural selection. This theory removed
much of the previous "goal driven" explanations present in previous
biological theories.
de Broglie, Louis
Wikipedia
A french physicist that was instrumental in developing Quantum Mechanics, particularly in developing the view that matter was both particles and waves.
Descartes, Rene
Wikipedia
A French philosopher and mathematician of the 17th century
who, at least for our purposes, is important for his skeptical
arguments and his rationalist epistemic foundationalism. Descartes
revived skeptical worries with his dream argument, and attempted to
answer those worries by trying to discover indubitable beliefs such
as "I think, therefore I am" using pure reason. Most
epistemology since Descartes can be viewed as a reaction to his
skeptical arguments.
Definite Proportions, Law of
Wikipedia
A law in chemistry that states
that a pure compound will be composed of a definite proportion of each
element. The discovery of this law was influential in causing the
postulation of atoms.
De-phlogisticated Air
Air which contains a small amount or no phlogiston. This is what we would now call oxygen.
Diachronic Coherence
Wikipedia
Wikipedia
This is a notion of probabilistic coherence over time: if an agent
updates their degrees of belief via Bayesian conditionalization, then
they are said to be diachronically coherent. Like synchronic
coherence, diachronic coherence is enforced by a Dutch book argument:
updating degrees of belief with a method other than
conditionalization exposes the agent to a Dutch book.
Dream Argument
The dream argument appears in Rene Descartes'
Meditations on First Philosophy
wherein he attempts to secure, by reason alone, a foundation for all
knowledge. Descartes believes that knowledge must be certain and
indubitable, so he uses the dream argument to introduce doubt about
his beliefs and their sources. Anything that can survive that doubt
is genuine knowledge. The argument states that it is impossible to
know whether or not one is dreaming, since waking and dreaming
experiences are indistinguishable, and thus it is impossible to know
anything about the world based on experience since we can't know if
such experiences correspond to the world at all. The dream argument
thus induces a form of radical skepticism.
Dutch Book
Wikipedia
Wikipedia
A Dutch book
is a bet (or series of bets) which look fair to the gambler, but no
matter the outcome of the bet, the gambler will always lose money.
Such a situation is possible if and only if the gambler is
(synchronically or diachronically) incoherent.
Electron Microscope
Wikipedia
A device that uses electrons to
trace the contors of an object, and in so doing allows one to see
details that could not be observed with standard light microscopes.
Electron Scattering
Wikipedia
An electron passing through a
solid object may either pass directly through the material, may
"bounce" off the solid, or may be deflected slightly from a straight
path. This phenomenon is taken as evidence that much of even
solid objects is empty space (although Rutherford scattering was the
first example of this).
Empiricism
Wikipedia, SEP
Empiricism is a style of epistemology that claims that the source of
all knowledge is experience. It is a type of epistemic
foundationalism placing experience as the indubitable foundation of
knowledge and claiming that all other bits of knowledge have their
source (or justification) in experience. It is usually contrasted
with rationalism.
Energy Conservation
Wikipedia
Wikipedia
A widely used law of physics that states energy cannot be created or destroyed.
Ether
Wikipedia
Once
it was generally accepted that light must be a wave, scientists
believed that space between the stars and planets could not be empty
since light travels through it and all waves must be propagated through
some medium. This medium was called the ether (also spelled,
aether or æther). Several experiments were designed to
measure facts about the ether, and all failed. These failures led
to the eventual rejection of the ether.
Field Theory
Wikipedia
A type of physical theory that postulated the existence of things called "fields"
in addition to particles and forces. General Relativity is a type
of field theory, as are certain versions of Quantum Mechanics.
Fluid Theory of Electricity
A theory of
electricity that postulated a fluid which was responsible for most
electric phenomenon. It was believed that this theory was
confirmed by the discovery of the Leyden jar which "held" the electric
fluid.
Foucault's Apparatus
Wikipedia
An apparatus developed
to measure the speed of light. Using a rotating mirror,
they deflected light and measured the angle of deflection to
calculate the speed of light.
Foundationalism, Epistemic
Wikipedia, SEP
Foundationalism is a type of response to the persistent
skeptic. It proposes that there are certain beliefs that cannot be
doubted; these beliefs form the foundation for all other justified
beliefs. That is, any justified belief is either one of these
foundational beliefs or can be traced back to the foundations by a
chain of justifying inferences.
Wikipedia
Benjamin Franklin held one version of the Fluid Theory of Electricity, which differed from other theories at the time.
Fresnel, Augustin-Jean
Wikipedia
Wikipedia
A french physicist who
extensively studied light. He performed an experiment where a
bright spot was observed in the center of the shadow of an opaque disk,
which confirmed the wave theory of light.
Galileo Galilei
Wikipedia, SEP
A
17th century astronomer and physics that aided the development of
modern physics and astronomy. He was the first to put the
telescope to wide use and he developed laws of motion that were later
taken up by Newton. These laws of motion were a substantial
departure from the earlier theory of motion developed by Aristotle.
Wikipedia, SEP
Galileo
discovered that an object's acceleration does not vary according to its
mass, but that it increasing as a square of the time it is in free
fall. This law was later take up by Newton as part of his physics.
Wikipedia
The currently held theory
regarding relativity that was suggested by Albert Einstein. It
holds that massive objects deform space, which is responsible for what
we call gravity.
A shift in the way things are seen, similar to the shifts we saw with
Hoffman's visual illusions. This notion was used by the Gestalt
Psychologists to illustrate their view of the mind.
Heisenberg, Werner
Wikipedia
A physicist instrumental in developing Quantum Mechanics. Famous for the "Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle."
Helmholtz, Hermann von
Wikipedia
A
19th century physicist and physician. He developed the law of
conservation of energy. In addition, he founded experimental
psychology, especially the study of sensation. In his psychology
he focused on studying the physical aspects of human sensation.
Herschel, William
Wikipedia
The astronomer who "discovered" Uranus, or at least the astronomer who first recognized it was a planet.
Hume, David
Wikipedia, SEP
A
Scottish philosopher of the 18th century. Particularly
relevant for this class is his work in epistemology, his empiricism,
his naturalism, and his problem of induction.
Hydrodynamics
Wikipedia
Study of the motion of water. Hydrodynamics is a special part of the general study of fluid motion called fluid dynamics.
Icon Metaphor
Hoffman uses his icon metaphor to distinguish between
what you see phenomenally and what you see relationally. What we see
phenomenally is akin to the user friendly interface of programs
running on a computer; what we see relationally is akin to the
complicated inner workings of that computer as it shuffles bits
around. The user friendly icons have little or no structural
similarities to what's really going on inside the computer. Perhaps
the same is true of vision, Hoffman suggests; what we see
phenomenally may be quite different from what is actually in the
world. Nevertheless, our visual intelligence gives us a
user-friendly way to navigate the complex world.
Wikipedia
An abandoned theory of
inertia that preceded Galileo and Newton. Although it was seen as a
correction to Aristotle's theory of motion, it seems very much like
Newton's law of inertia.
Impressions and Ideas
Hume divided human thought into two categories:
impressions and ideas. Impressions are things like sense experience:
sights, sounds, tastes, and textures, and moral sentiments: feelings
of rage, love, or sadness. These are forcible and vivid thoughts.
The other species of thought are ideas, these are the less lively
recollections of past impressions. Hume claims that every (simple)
idea is a copy of a prior (simple) impression.
Induction, Problem of
Wikipedia
The problem of induction is Hume's skeptical argument about
our knowledge of the external world. Hume argues that all knowledge
of matters of fact are based on inductive reasoning: reasoning from
past experiences with the assumption that the future will be like the
past. The problem of induction is that this method of reasoning has
no non-circular justification, so we have no reason at all to believe
in the conclusions of inductive inferences (i.e. matters of fact
about the external world).
Introspection
Wikipedia
The process by which people form
beliefs about themselves by "looking" into themselves. Common
examples of introspection are thinking about why you did something or
why you want to do something.
Joule's Formula
Wikipedia
A law which relates the amount of electrical current and the heat generated by that current.
Justification
Wikipedia
One component in the general
theory of propositional knowledge. This component is usually the most
interesting and is the subject of much debate.
Kepler's Laws
Wikipedia
Three laws that govern the motion of the planets. These laws later inspired some of Newton's laws.
Knowledge
Wikipedia, SEP
The subject of study of epistemology. Defined by Plato in the Theaetatus as justified, true belief.
Kuhn, Thomas
Wikipedia, SEP
The author of The Structure of Scientific Revolutions.
He was originally trained as a physicist, but upon going to
Harvard began a research program on the history of science, which later
developed into the book
Lavoisier, Antoine-Laurent de
Wikipedia
An 18th century chemist who effectively disproved the phlogiston chemistry and named oxygen.
Leyden Jar
Wikipedia
A precursor to the modern day
capacitor, it is a glass jar coated on both the inside and the outside
with electricity. By charging the interior with one charge and
the exterior with another, electrical charge can be maintained in the
jar for some time. Early electrical theorist believed that the
Leyden Jar was capable of holding "electrical fluid."
Logical Positivism
Wikipedia
Wikipedia
A philosophical view that placed
science in very high esteem. Kuhn believes that they are largely
responsible for the received view of science.
Malus, Etienne-Louis
Wikipedia
An 18th and 19th century physicist who discovered the polarization of light by reflection.
Maxwell's Equations
Wikipedia
Four equations used to explain the behavior of both electric and magnetic fields (including the behavior of light).
Memory Implantation
Wikipedia
A process described by
Elizabeth Loftus whereby individuals have false memories inserted into
their minds by some external source.
Memory Inflation
A process described by
Elizabeth Loftus whereby individuals have either: (1) false details
added to an already existing memory or (2) true details are made more
salient or stronger in already existing memories.
Mercury
Wikipedia
Wikipedia
The closest planet to
the sun. The ellipse traced by Mercury's orbit changes slightly
with each orbit (known as the advance of the parahelion of Mercury).
This advance could not be easily explained by Newtonian
mechanics. This anomaly encouraged many solutions, including the
postulation of an additional unobserved planet, Vulcan.
Ultimately, this advance was explained by General Relativity
(although this fact was not known by Einstein during his development
of General Relativity).
An experiment designed to measure
the speed of the ether. The experiment was a failure (the ether
appeared to not be moving in any direction). Although it is
unclear if Einstein was aware of these results when he developed his
General Theory of Relativity, this experiment is responsible for the
shift away from the Newtonian paradigm.
Naturalized Epistemology
Wikipedia, SEP
Naturalized epistemology is a particular method of
doing epistemology that relies on results in the natural sciences
(e.g. psychology) to answer traditional epistemological
claims. This is in contrast to traditional epistemology which looks
for a philosophical, a priori account of knowledge. Descartes was a
traditional epistemologist, believing that reason alone could secure
a foundation for all knowledge, while the post-Humean epistemology
developed in this class uses results in the sciences to understand
knowledge.
Neutrino
Wikipedia
An
elementary particle postulated to explain a certain type of radioactive
decay. Several years after their initial suggestion they were
observed. Until recently they were believed to be mass-less.
Newton, Isaac
Wikipedia, SEP
An 17th century physicist that
developed a physical theory which held sway until it was replaced in
the 20th century by Quantum Mechanics and General Relativity.
This is the physics that you learned in high school and
introductory college physics courses.
Newton's First Law
Wikipedia
Wikipedia
The law that states without
any intervening force objects will continue to move in a straight line
at their current velocity.
The famous law that states force equals mass times acceleration (F=ma).
Since this law also functions as a definition of force, it is
sometimes argued that this should not be considered a "law" at all.
Since we cannot observe the force exerted on an object by any means
other than observing an objects mass and its acceleration, we can never
find an example where force does not equal ma. In this way,
Newton's law is sometimes called unverifiable or irrefutable.
Newton's Third Law
Wikipedia
Wikipedia
Is the law that states for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.
Newton observed that different colors have different "refractability",
that is that they bend differently when passed through a prism.
Since he was unable to change the refractability of light without
changing its color, he concludes that these two must be the same
property of light particles.
Ohm's Law
Wikipedia
Wikipedia
An electrical law that relates voltage drop, current and temperature in a electrical circuit.
Paradigm
Wikipedia
A term used by Thomas Kuhn in The Structure of Scientific Revolutions to identify a large collection of beliefs held by scientists. The term is notoriously hard to nail down.
Generally this is an apparent change in an object which is caused, not
by the object moving, but by the observer moving. Planets often
appeared to move strangely in the sky, due to parallax, since the earth
is also moving.
Parity Non-conservation
Wikipedia
Pauli, Wolfgang
Wikipedia
Wikipedia
A
surprising result from Quantum Mechanics that suggests that particles
violate something which was previously believed to be a fundamental law
of nature.
Pauli, Wolfgang
Wikipedia
A physicist who was instrumental in the development of Quantum Mechanics.
Phlogiston
Wikipedia
Photoelectric effect
Wikipedia
Planck, Max
Wikipedia
Planck's Law
Wikipedia
Pliny
Wikipedia
Popper, Karl
Wikipedia, SEP
Principia, The
Wikipedia
Wikipedia
A rejected
theory of combustion. Advocates believed that there was an
element "phlogiston" that was released when objects burn. This view was
replaced by the oxygen chemistry, which is now widely held today.
Photoelectric effect
Wikipedia
An effect whereby electrical
current is produced in a metal by shinning a light on it. This
was taken to be both evidence for the existence of electrons in atoms
and also was a serious problem for Newtonian Mechanics and eventually
led to the development of Quantum Mechanics.
Planck, Max
Wikipedia
An influential physicist who was instrumental in the initial development of Quantum Mechanics.
Planck's Law
Wikipedia
Pliny
Wikipedia
A first century philosopher who,
among other things, developed an extensive encyclopedia collecting
almost all the beleifs held up until that point.
Popper, Karl
Wikipedia, SEP
A philosopher of science who
focused on "falsifiability" as the primary characteristic of scientific
theories and the primary aim of science. He is critisized by Kuhn
as being absorbed in a false image of science.
Principia, The
Wikipedia
The seminal work by Isaac Newton. In this book, Newton sets out
his famous three laws of motion. It is considered the founding
work of the, aptly named, Newtonian paradigm.
A phlogiston chemist, who is often credited with the
discovery of Oxygen. However, Priestly called the substance he
discovered "de-phlogisticated air" believing that it was not an element
but rather normal air with the phlogiston removed.
Proliferation of Gasses, The
Wikipedia
Wikipedia
A phrase used by Kuhn
to describe the discovery that air is, in fact, made up of many
different elements. This began with Cavendish's discovery of
Hydrogen.
The astronomical system that held sway for over one thousand years.
This system placed the earth at the center of the solar system
(in fact, at the center of the universe as well). In order to
conform to observations a complex system of orbits were created to
account for retrograde motion. It was replaced by the Copernican
system.
One of the contemporary paradigms in
modern physics. These theories are remarkable because they
postulate that sub-atomic particles behave both
like waves and like particles, that there is inherent randomness in the
world, and that we are incapable of ever knowing certain things about
the sub-atomic world.
Rationalism
Wikipedia, SEP
Wikipedia, SEP
Rationalism is a style of epistemology that claims that the source of
all knowledge is pure reason. It claims that humans have an innate
faculty of reason that allows us, upon reflection, to discover
necessary truths about the world, thereby producing knowledge of
those truths. It, like it's rival empiricism, is also a type of
epistemic foundationalism, placing these necessary truths (arrived at
by the application of pure reason) as the foundation of knowledge.
All other knowledge is acquired by reasoning from these truths.
Reflection, Problem of
The problem of reflection, in general, applies to theories that don't
stand up by their own lights. For example, if a theory stated that
such-and-such are the only sources of knowledge, and that theory was
supported by something other than such-and-such, then the theory
fails to be knowledge by it's own criterion of knowledge. Such a
theory has fallen victim to the problem of reflection.
Relations of Ideas and Matters of Fact
Wikipedia
Wikipedia
Hume divides human knowledge into
these two categories. Relations of ideas are about, not
surprisingly, ideas we have in our minds; they are justified by the
law of contradiction. Matters of fact are about things in the
external world over and above our experiences and ideas about the
world. Their source is inductive reasoning on the basis of
experience.
Wikipedia
An early proponent of the atomic theory in chemistry, using the law of definite proportions to argue that atoms exist.
Schrödinger's Equation
Wikipedia
A wave equation used widely in Quantum Mechanics to explain the change in the wave-function of a particle.
Scintillation Counter
Wikipedia
A device used to measure a certain type of radiation (known as ionizing radiation).
Skeptic
SEP
Radical skepticism is the belief that we cannot know anything at all
about the external world. It usually involves arguing that we have
no justification to believe anything outside of our own heads, and
without justification we cannot have knowledge. Descartes' dream
argument and Hume's problem of induction both give rise to radical
skepticism.
Social Sciences
Wikipedia
A
collection of sciences dedicated to understanding the function of human
beings and human social organization. Common social sciences
include: psychology, sociology, economics, anthropology, and political
science.
Solid State Physics
Wikipedia
Specific Heat
Wikipedia
The amount of energy required to
raise the temperature of a substance. Specific heat also measures
the ability of a substance to retain heat.
Synchronic Coherence
Wikipedia
At
any given time, an agents assignment of degrees of belief should be
in accord with the rules of the probability calculus. This condition
is called synchronic coherence, and it is enforced by the Dutch book
arguments: any violation of the probability rules exposes the agent
to a Dutch book.
Thermodynamics
Wikipedia
The scientific study of heat, heat transfer, and related phenomena.
Wikipedia
Elements with atomic numbers
higher than 92, thus being beyond Uranium on the periodic chart.
All these elements where first "discovered" not by finding the
elements, but rather by creating them in a laboratory.
Uranus
Wikipedia
The seventh planet from the sun.
Although it was observed many different times by many different
astronomers, it was not identified until it was observed by Herschel.
Herschel even thought it was a comet at first.
Wikipedia
A view advocated by contemporary
physicists which claims that atoms behave in some ways like particles
and some ways like waves. Important experiments, like the two
slit experiment have demonstrated this effect.
Wittgenstein, Ludwig
Wikipedia, SEP
A philosopher of the mid 20th
century who claimed that nothing ties together members of many
linguistic categories. Rather the members are held together by
family resemblances. One object is similar to another in one way,
a third is similar in a different way, etc.
X-Ray
Wikipedia
A type of electromagnetic
radiation widely used in medicine. Its discovery caused a
controversy since it was a type of radiation that could not be easily
characterized. We now believe X-Rays to be of the same type of
radiation as visible light.
Wikipedia
An 18th and 19th century physicist
who was influential in developing the Wave Theory of light. He
undertook an experiment called the Two-Slit experiment which
demonstrated that light behaved like a wave. This same experiment
would be performed many years later to demonstrate that electrons also
behave like waves.