The history of the emergence of physics. Abstract "accidental discoveries in physics"

“We are incredibly lucky that we live in an age when discoveries can still be made. It's like the discovery of America, which is discovered once and for all. The century in which we live is the century of the discovery of the basic laws of nature, and this time will never be repeated. This is an amazing time, a time of excitement and delight, but this will come to an end. Of course, in the future interests will be completely different. Then they will be interested in the relationships between phenomena at different levels - biological, etc., or, if we are talking about discoveries, in the study of other planets, but still this will not be the same as what we are doing now.”

Richard Feynman, The Nature of Physical Laws, M., “Science”, 1987, p. 158.

“Now I want to tell you about the art of guessing the laws of nature. This is truly art. How is this done? To try to answer this question, you can, for example, turn to the history of science and see how others did it. That's why we'll take up history.

During his experiments, Galileo discovered that heavy objects fall faster than light ones due to less air resistance: air interferes with a light object more than a heavy one.

Galileo's decision to test Aristotle's law was a turning point in science; it marked the beginning of experimental testing of all generally accepted laws. Galileo's experiments with falling bodies led to our initial understanding of acceleration due to gravity.

Universal gravity

They say that one day Newton was sitting under an apple tree in the garden and resting. Suddenly he saw an apple fall from a branch. This simple incident made him wonder why the apple fell down while the moon remained in the sky all the time. It was at this moment that a discovery occurred in the brain of young Newton: he realized that a single force of gravity acts on the apple and the moon.

Newton imagined that the entire orchard was subject to a force that attracted branches and apples. More importantly, he extended this power all the way to the moon. Newton realized that the force of gravity is everywhere, no one had thought of this before.

According to this law, gravity affects all bodies in the universe, including apples, moons and planets. The gravitational force of a large body like the Moon can cause phenomena such as the ebb and flow of the oceans on Earth.

Water in that part of the ocean that is closer to the Moon experiences greater attraction, so the Moon can be said to pull water from one part of the ocean to another. And since the Earth rotates in the opposite direction, this water retained by the Moon ends up further than its usual shores.

Newton's understanding that every object has its own force of attraction was a great scientific discovery. However, his work was not yet completed.

Laws of motion

Let's take hockey for example. You hit the puck with your stick and it slides across the ice. This is the first law: under the influence of a force, an object moves. If there were no friction with the ice, the puck would slide indefinitely. When you hit the puck with your stick, you give it acceleration.

The second law states that acceleration is directly proportional to the applied force and inversely proportional to the mass of the body.

And according to the third law, when hit, the puck acts on the stick with the same force as the stick on the puck, i.e. The action force is equal to the reaction force.

Newton's laws of motion were a bold decision to explain the mechanics of the functioning of the Universe, they became the basis of classical physics.

Second law of thermodynamics

The science of thermodynamics is the science of heat being converted into mechanical energy. All technology depended on it during the Industrial Revolution.

Thermal energy can be converted into motion energy, for example, by rotating a crankshaft or turbine. The most important thing is to get as much work done as possible using as little fuel as possible. This is the most cost-effective, so people began to study the principles of operation of steam engines.

Among those who studied this issue was a German scientist. In 1865, he formulated the Second Law of Thermodynamics. According to this law, during any energy exchange, for example, when heating water in a steam boiler, part of the energy is lost. Clausius coined the word entropy to explain the limited efficiency of steam engines. Some of the thermal energy is lost during conversion to mechanical energy.

This statement changed our understanding of how energy functions. There is no heat engine that is 100% efficient. When you drive a car, only 20% of the gasoline's energy is actually spent moving. Where does the rest go? For heating air, asphalt and tires. The cylinders in the engine block heat up and wear out, and parts rust. It's sad to think about how wasteful such mechanisms are.

Although the Second Law of Thermodynamics was the basis of the Industrial Revolution, the next great discovery brought the world into its new, modern state.

Electromagnetism

Scientists have learned to create a magnetic force using electricity by passing current through a curled wire. The result was an electromagnet. As soon as current is applied, a magnetic field is created. No voltage - no field.

An electric generator in its simplest form is a coil of wire between the poles of a magnet. Michael Faraday discovered that when a magnet and a wire are in close proximity, a current flows through the wire. All electric generators operate on this principle.

Faraday kept notes about his experiments, but encrypted them. However, they were appreciated by the physicist James Clerk Maxwell, who used them to further understand the principles electromagnetism. Maxwell allowed humanity to understand how electricity is distributed over the surface of a conductor.

If you want to know what the world would be like without the discoveries of Faraday and Maxwell, then imagine that electricity did not exist: there would be no radio, television, mobile phones, satellites, computers and all means of communication. Imagine that you are in the 19th century, because without electricity that is where you would be.

While making their discoveries, Faraday and Maxwell could not know that their work inspired one young man to uncover the secrets of light and search for its connection with the greatest power of the Universe. This young man was Albert Einstein.

Theory of relativity

Einstein once said that all theories must be explained to children. If they do not understand the explanation, then the theory is meaningless. As a child, Einstein once read a children's book about electricity, when it was just emerging, and a simple telegraph seemed like a miracle. This book was written by a certain Bernstein, in which he invited the reader to imagine himself riding inside a wire along with a signal. We can say that it was then that his revolutionary theory was born in Einstein’s head.

As a youth, inspired by his impressions of that book, Einstein imagined himself moving with a beam of light. He pondered this idea for 10 years, including the concepts of light, time and space in his thoughts.

In the world that Newton described, time and space were separated from each other: when it was 10 o’clock in the morning on Earth, then the same time was on Venus, and on Jupiter, and throughout the Universe. Time was something that never deviated or stopped. But Einstein perceived time differently.

Time is a river that meanders around the stars, slowing down and speeding up. And if space and time can change, then our ideas about atoms, bodies and the Universe in general change!

Einstein demonstrated his theory using so-called thought experiments. The most famous of them is the “twin paradox”. So, we have two twins, one of whom flies into space on a rocket. Since she flies almost at the speed of light, time slows down inside her. After this twin returns to Earth, it turns out that he is younger than the one who remained on the planet. So, time moves differently in different parts of the Universe. It depends on speed: the faster you move, the slower time passes for you.

This experiment is, to some extent, carried out with astronauts in orbit. If a person is in outer space, then time passes slower for him. Time moves slower on a space station. This phenomenon also affects satellites. Take GPS satellites, for example: they show your position on the planet with an accuracy of a few meters. Satellites move around the Earth at a speed of 29,000 km/h, so the postulates of the theory of relativity apply to them. This must be taken into account, because if the clock runs slower in space, then synchronization with earth time will be lost and the GPS system will not work.

E=mc 2

This is probably the most famous formula in the world. In the theory of relativity, Einstein proved that when the speed of light is reached, the conditions for a body change in an unimaginable way: time slows down, space contracts, and mass increases. The higher the speed, the greater the body mass. Just think, the energy of movement makes you heavier. Mass depends on speed and energy. Einstein imagined a flashlight emitting a beam of light. It is known exactly how much energy comes out of the flashlight. At the same time, he showed that the flashlight had become lighter, i.e. it became lighter as it began to emit light. This means E - the energy of the flashlight depends on m - the mass in a proportion equal to c 2. It's simple.

This formula also showed that a small object can contain enormous energy. Imagine that a baseball is thrown to you and you catch it. The harder he is thrown, the more energy he will have.

Now regarding the state of rest. When Einstein derived his formulas, he discovered that even at rest a body has energy. By calculating this value using the formula, you will see that the energy is truly enormous.

Einstein's discovery was a huge scientific leap. This was the first look at the power of the atom. Before scientists had time to fully comprehend this discovery, the next thing happened, which again shocked everyone.

Quantum theory

A quantum leap is the smallest possible leap in nature, yet its discovery was the greatest breakthrough in scientific thought.

Subatomic particles, such as electrons, can move from one point to another without occupying the space between them. In our macrocosm this is impossible, but at the atomic level this is the law.

Quantum theory appeared at the very beginning of the 20th century, when there was a crisis in classical physics. Many phenomena were discovered that contradicted Newton's laws. Madame Curie, for example, discovered radium, which itself glows in the dark; energy was taken from nowhere, which contradicted the law of conservation of energy. In 1900, people believed that energy was continuous, and that electricity and magnetism could be divided into absolutely any parts indefinitely. And the great physicist Max Planck boldly declared that energy exists in certain volumes - quanta.

If we imagine that light exists only in these volumes, then many phenomena even at the atomic level become clear. Energy is released sequentially and in a certain amount, this is called quantum effect and means that the energy is wave-like.

Then they thought that the Universe was created in a completely different way. The atom was imagined as something resembling a bowling ball. How can a ball have wave properties?

In 1925, an Austrian physicist finally came up with a wave equation that described the movement of electrons. Suddenly it became possible to look inside the atom. It turns out that atoms are both waves and particles, but at the same time impermanent.

Is it possible to calculate the possibility of a person splitting into atoms and then materializing on the other side of the wall? It sounds absurd. How can you wake up in the morning and find yourself on Mars? How can you go to sleep and wake up on Jupiter? This is impossible, but the probability of this is quite possible to calculate. This probability is very low. For this to happen, a person would need to survive the Universe, but for electrons this happens all the time.

All modern “miracles” like laser beams and microchips work on the basis that an electron can be in two places at once. How is this possible? You don't know where exactly the object is. This became such a difficult obstacle that even Einstein quit studying quantum theory, he said that he did not believe that God plays dice in the Universe.

Despite all the strangeness and uncertainty, quantum theory remains our best understanding of the subatomic world so far.

Nature of light

The ancients wondered: what does the Universe consist of? They believed that it consisted of earth, water, fire and air. But if this is so, then what is light? It cannot be placed in a vessel, it cannot be touched, it cannot be felt, it is formless, but is present everywhere around us. He is everywhere and nowhere at the same time. Everyone saw the light, but did not know what it was.

Physicists have been trying to answer this question for thousands of years. The greatest minds, starting with Isaac Newton, have worked on the search for the nature of light. Newton himself used sunlight divided by a prism to show all the colors of the rainbow in one beam. This meant that white light consists of rays of all the colors of the rainbow.

Newton showed that the colors red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet could be combined into white light. This led him to the idea that light was divided into particles, which he called corpuscles. This is how the first one appeared light theory– corpuscular.

Imagine sea waves: anyone knows that when one of the waves collides with another at a certain angle, both waves mix. Jung did the same with light. He made sure that the light from the two sources intersected, and the intersection was clearly visible.

So, then there were all two theories of light: Newton’s corpuscular theory and Young’s wave theory. And then Einstein got down to business and said that perhaps both theories made sense. Newton showed that light has particle properties, and Young showed that light can have wave properties. All these are two sides of the same thing. Take an elephant for example: if you grab it by the trunk you will think it is a snake, and if you grab its leg you will think it is a tree, but in fact the elephant has qualities of both. Einstein introduced the concept dualism of light, i.e. light has properties of both particles and waves.

It took the work of three geniuses over three centuries to see the world as we know it today. Without their discoveries, we might still be living in the early Middle Ages.

Neutron

An atom is so small that it is difficult to imagine. One grain of sand contains 72 quintillion atoms. The discovery of the atom led to another discovery.

People knew about the existence of the atom 100 years ago. They thought that electrons and protons were evenly distributed in it. This was called the "raisin pudding" model because the electrons were thought to be distributed within the atom like raisins inside a pudding.

At the beginning of the 20th century, he conducted an experiment in order to better investigate the structure of the atom. He directed radioactive alpha particles at the gold foil. He wanted to know what would happen when alpha particles hit gold. The scientist did not expect anything special, since he thought that most alpha particles would pass through the gold without being reflected or changing direction.

However, the result was unexpected. According to him, it was the same as firing a 380-mm shell at a piece of matter, and the shell would bounce off it. Some alpha particles immediately bounced off the gold foil. This could only happen if there was a small amount of dense matter inside the atom, not distributed like raisins in a pudding. Rutherford called this small amount of substance core.

Chadwick conducted an experiment that showed that the nucleus consists of protons and neutrons. To do this, he used a very clever recognition method. To intercept the particles that came out of the radioactive process, Chadwick used solid paraffin.

Superconductors

Fermilab has one of the world's largest particle accelerators. This is a 7 km underground ring in which subatomic particles are accelerated to almost the speed of light and then collide. This became possible only after the advent of superconductors.

Superconductors were discovered around 1909. A Dutch physicist by name was the first to figure out how to turn helium from a gas into a liquid. After this, he could use helium as a freezing liquid, but he wanted to study the properties of materials at very low temperatures. At that time, people were interested in how the electrical resistance of a metal depends on temperature - whether it rises or falls.

He used mercury for experiments, which he knew how to purify well. He placed it in a special apparatus, dripping it into liquid helium in the freezer, lowering the temperature and measuring the resistance. He found that the lower the temperature, the lower the resistance, and when the temperature reached minus 268 °C, the resistance dropped to zero. At this temperature, mercury would conduct electricity without any loss or disruption of flow. This is called superconductivity.

Superconductors allow electric current to move without any loss of energy. At Fermilab they are used to create a strong magnetic field. Magnets are needed so that protons and antiprotons can move in the phasotron and the huge ring. Their speed is almost equal to the speed of light.

The particle accelerator at Fermilab requires incredibly powerful power. Every month, it costs a million dollars in electricity to cool superconductors to minus 270°C, when the resistance becomes zero.

Now the main task is to find superconductors that would operate at higher temperatures and would require less cost.

In the early 1980s, a group of researchers at the Swiss branch of IBM discovered a new type of superconductor that had zero resistance at temperatures 100 °C higher than usual. Of course, 100 degrees above absolute zero is not the same temperature as your freezer. We need to find a material that would be a superconductor at ordinary room temperature. This would be the greatest breakthrough that would become a revolution in the world of science. Everything that now runs on electric current would become much more efficient. With the development of accelerators that could smash subatomic particles together at the speed of light, man became aware of the existence of dozens of other particles into which atoms were broken. Physicists began to call all this a “zoo of particles.”

American physicist Murray Gell-Man noticed a pattern in a number of newly discovered “zoo” particles. He divided particles into groups according to common characteristics. Along the way, he isolated the smallest components of the atomic nucleus that make up the protons and neutrons themselves.

Gell-Mann's discovery of quarks was to subatomic particles what the periodic table was to chemical elements. For his discovery in 1969, Murray Gell-Mann was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics. His classification of the smallest material particles put their entire “zoo” in order.

Although Gell-Manom ​​was confident in the existence of quarks, he did not think that anyone would actually be able to detect them. The first confirmation of the correctness of his theories were the successful experiments of his colleagues conducted at the Stanford linear accelerator. In it, electrons were separated from protons, and a macro photograph of the proton was taken. It turned out that it contained three quarks.

Nuclear forces

Our desire to find answers to all questions about the Universe has led man both inside atoms and quarks and beyond the galaxy. This discovery is the result of the work of many people over centuries.

After the discoveries of Isaac Newton and Michael Faraday, scientists believed that nature has two main forces: gravity and electromagnetism. But in the 20th century, two more forces were discovered, united by one concept - atomic energy. Thus, the natural forces became four.

Each force operates within a specific spectrum. Gravity prevents us from flying into space at a speed of 1500 km/h. Then we have electromagnetic forces - light, radio, television, etc. In addition, there are two more forces, the field of action of which is very limited: there is nuclear attraction, which does not allow the nucleus to disintegrate, and there is nuclear energy, which emits radioactivity and infects everything, and also, by the way, heats the center of the Earth, it is thanks to it that the center of our The planet has not cooled down for several billion years - this is the effect of passive radiation, which turns into heat.

How to detect passive radiation? This is possible thanks to Geiger counters. The particles that are released when an atom is split travel into other atoms, creating a small electrical discharge that can be measured. When it is detected, the Geiger counter clicks.

How to measure nuclear attraction? Here the situation is more difficult, because it is this force that prevents the atom from disintegrating. Here we need an atom splitter. You literally need to break an atom into fragments, someone compared this process to throwing a piano down a flight of stairs in order to understand the principles of its operation by listening to the sounds that the piano makes when it hits the steps.(weak force, weak interaction) and nuclear energy (strong force, strong interaction). The last two are called quantum forces, and their descriptions can be combined into something called the standard model. This may be the ugliest theory in the history of science, but it is indeed possible at the subatomic level. The theory of the standard model claims to be the highest, but this does not stop it from being ugly. On the other hand, we have gravity - a magnificent, wonderful system, it is beautiful to the point of tears - physicists literally cry when they see Einstein’s formulas. They strive to unite all the forces of nature into one theory and call it the “theory of everything.” She would combine all four powers into one superpower that has existed since the beginning of time.

It is unknown whether we will ever be able to discover a superpower that would include all four basic forces of Nature and whether we will be able to create a physical theory of Everything. But one thing is for sure: every discovery leads to new research, and humans - the most curious species on the planet - will never stop striving to understand, search and discover.

Physics is one of the most important sciences studied by man. Its presence is noticeable in all areas of life, sometimes discoveries even change the course of history. This is why great physicists are so interesting and significant for people: their work is relevant even many centuries after their death. Which scientists should you know first?

Andre-Marie Ampère

The French physicist was born into the family of a businessman from Lyon. The parents' library was full of works by leading scientists, writers and philosophers. Since childhood, Andre was fond of reading, which helped him gain deep knowledge. By the age of twelve, the boy had already studied the basics of higher mathematics, and the following year he presented his work to the Lyon Academy. He soon began giving private lessons, and from 1802 he worked as a teacher of physics and chemistry, first in Lyon and then at the Ecole Polytechnique of Paris. Ten years later he was elected a member of the Academy of Sciences. The names of great physicists are often associated with concepts to which they devoted their lives to study, and Ampere is no exception. He worked on problems of electrodynamics. The unit of electric current is measured in amperes. In addition, it was the scientist who introduced many of the terms still used today. For example, these are the definitions of “galvanometer”, “voltage”, “electric current” and many others.

Robert Boyle

Many great physicists carried out their work at a time when technology and science were practically in their infancy, and, despite this, achieved success. For example, a native of Ireland. He was engaged in a variety of physical and chemical experiments, developing the atomic theory. In 1660, he managed to discover the law of changes in the volume of gases depending on pressure. Many of the greats of his time had no idea about atoms, but Boyle was not only convinced of their existence, but also formed several concepts related to them, such as “elements” or “primary corpuscles.” In 1663 he managed to invent litmus, and in 1680 he was the first to propose a method for obtaining phosphorus from bones. Boyle was a member of the Royal Society of London and left behind many scientific works.

Niels Bohr

Often great physicists turned out to be significant scientists in other fields. For example, Niels Bohr was also a chemist. A member of the Royal Danish Society of Sciences and a leading scientist of the twentieth century, Niels Bohr was born in Copenhagen, where he received his higher education. For some time he collaborated with the English physicists Thomson and Rutherford. Bohr's scientific work became the basis for the creation of quantum theory. Many great physicists subsequently worked in the directions originally created by Niels, for example, in some areas of theoretical physics and chemistry. Few people know, but he was also the first scientist to lay the foundations of the periodic system of elements. In the 1930s made many important discoveries in atomic theory. For his achievements he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics.

Max Born

Many great physicists came from Germany. For example, Max Born was born in Breslau, the son of a professor and a pianist. Since childhood, he was interested in physics and mathematics and entered the University of Göttingen to study them. In 1907, Max Born defended his dissertation on the stability of elastic bodies. Like other great physicists of the time, such as Niels Bohr, Max collaborated with Cambridge specialists, namely Thomson. Born was also inspired by Einstein's ideas. Max studied crystals and developed several analytical theories. In addition, Born created the mathematical basis of quantum theory. Like other physicists, the anti-militarist Born categorically did not want the Great Patriotic War, and during the years of battle he had to emigrate. Subsequently, he will denounce the development of nuclear weapons. For all his achievements, Max Born received the Nobel Prize and was also accepted into many scientific academies.

Galileo Galilei

Some great physicists and their discoveries are associated with the field of astronomy and natural science. For example, Galileo, the Italian scientist. While studying medicine at the University of Pisa, he became familiar with Aristotle's physics and began reading ancient mathematicians. Fascinated by these sciences, he dropped out of school and began writing “Little Scales” - a work that helped determine the mass of metal alloys and described the centers of gravity of figures. Galileo became famous among Italian mathematicians and received a position at the department in Pisa. After some time, he became the court philosopher of the Duke of Medici. In his works, he studied the principles of equilibrium, dynamics, fall and movement of bodies, as well as the strength of materials. In 1609, he built the first telescope with a three-fold magnification, and then with a thirty-two-fold magnification. His observations provided information about the surface of the Moon and the sizes of stars. Galileo discovered the moons of Jupiter. His discoveries created a sensation in the scientific field. The great physicist Galileo was not very approved by the church, and this determined the attitude towards him in society. Nevertheless, he continued his work, which became the reason for denunciation to the Inquisition. He had to give up his teachings. But still, a few years later, treatises on the rotation of the Earth around the Sun, created on the basis of the ideas of Copernicus, were published: with the explanation that this is only a hypothesis. Thus, the scientist’s most important contribution was preserved for society.

Isaac Newton

The inventions and statements of great physicists often become a kind of metaphors, but the legend about the apple and the law of gravity is the most famous of all. Everyone is familiar with the hero of this story, according to which he discovered the law of gravity. In addition, the scientist developed integral and differential calculus, became the inventor of the reflecting telescope, and wrote many fundamental works on optics. Modern physicists consider him the creator of classical science. Newton was born into a poor family, studied at a simple school, and then at Cambridge, while working as a servant to pay for his studies. Already in his early years, ideas came to him that in the future would become the basis for the invention of calculus systems and the discovery of the law of gravity. In 1669 he became a lecturer in the department, and in 1672 - a member of the Royal Society of London. In 1687, the most important work called “Principles” was published. For his invaluable achievements, Newton was given nobility in 1705.

Christiaan Huygens

Like many other great people, physicists were often talented in various fields. For example, Christiaan Huygens, a native of The Hague. His father was a diplomat, scientist and writer; his son received an excellent education in the legal field, but became interested in mathematics. In addition, Christian spoke excellent Latin, knew how to dance and ride a horse, and played music on the lute and harpsichord. Even as a child, he managed to build himself and worked on it. During his university years, Huygens corresponded with the Parisian mathematician Mersenne, which greatly influenced the young man. Already in 1651 he published a work on the squaring of the circle, ellipse and hyperbola. His work allowed him to gain a reputation as an excellent mathematician. Then he became interested in physics and wrote several works on colliding bodies, which seriously influenced the ideas of his contemporaries. In addition, he made contributions to optics, designed a telescope, and even wrote a paper on gambling calculations related to probability theory. All this makes him an outstanding figure in the history of science.

James Maxwell

Great physicists and their discoveries deserve every interest. Thus, James Clerk Maxwell achieved impressive results that everyone should familiarize themselves with. He became the founder of the theories of electrodynamics. The scientist was born into a noble family and was educated at the universities of Edinburgh and Cambridge. For his achievements he was admitted to the Royal Society of London. Maxwell opened the Cavendish Laboratory, which was equipped with the latest technology for conducting physical experiments. During his work, Maxwell studied electromagnetism, the kinetic theory of gases, issues of color vision and optics. He also proved himself as an astronomer: it was he who established that they are stable and consist of unbound particles. He also studied dynamics and electricity, having a serious influence on Faraday. Comprehensive treatises on many physical phenomena are still considered relevant and in demand in the scientific community, making Maxwell one of the greatest specialists in this field.

Albert Einstein

The future scientist was born in Germany. Since childhood, Einstein loved mathematics, philosophy, and was fond of reading popular science books. For his education, Albert went to the Institute of Technology, where he studied his favorite science. In 1902 he became an employee of the patent office. During his years of work there, he would publish several successful scientific papers. His first works were related to thermodynamics and interactions between molecules. In 1905, one of the works was accepted as a dissertation, and Einstein became a Doctor of Science. Albert had many revolutionary ideas about electron energy, the nature of light and the photoelectric effect. The theory of relativity became the most important. Einstein's findings transformed humanity's understanding of time and space. Absolutely deservedly he was awarded the Nobel Prize and recognized throughout the scientific world.

The most outstanding discoveries of mankind in the field of physics

1. The law of falling bodies (1604)

Galileo Galilei disproved the nearly 2,000-year-old Aristotelian belief that heavy bodies fall faster than light ones by proving that all bodies fall at the same speed.

2. The law of universal gravitation (1666)

Isaac Newton comes to the conclusion that all objects in the Universe, from apples to planets, exert gravitational attraction (impact) on each other.

3. Laws of motion (1687)

Isaac Newton changes our understanding of the Universe by formulating three laws to describe the motion of objects.

1. A moving object remains in motion if an external force acts on it.
2. The relationship between the mass of an object (m), acceleration (a) and applied force (F) F = ma.
3. For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction (reaction).

4. Second law of thermodynamics (1824 - 1850)

Scientists working to improve the efficiency of steam engines have developed a theory of understanding the conversion of heat into work. They proved that the flow of heat from higher to lower temperatures causes a locomotive (or other mechanism) to move, likening the process to the flow of water that turns a mill wheel.
Their work leads to three principles: heat flows are irreversible from a hot to a cold body, heat cannot be completely converted into other forms of energy, and systems become increasingly disorganized over time.

5. Electromagnetism (1807 - 1873)

Hans Christian Ested

Pioneering experiments revealed the connection between electricity and magnetism and codified them into a system of equations that expressed their fundamental laws.
In 1820, Danish physicist Hans Christian Oersted tells students about the possibility that electricity and magnetism are related. During the lecture, an experiment shows the truth of his theory in front of the whole class.

6. Special theory of relativity (1905)

Albert Einstein rejects basic assumptions about time and space, describing how clocks run slower and distance becomes distorted as speed approaches the speed of light.

7. E = MC 2 (1905)

Or energy is equal to mass times the square of the speed of light. Albert Einstein's famous formula proves that mass and energy are different manifestations of the same thing, and that a very small amount of mass can be converted into a very large amount of energy. The deepest meaning of this discovery is that no object with any mass other than 0 can ever travel faster than the speed of light.

8. The Law of the Quantum Leap (1900 - 1935)

The law to describe the behavior of subatomic particles was described by Max Planck, Albert Einstein, Werner Heisenberg and Erwin Schrödinger. A quantum leap is defined as the change of an electron in an atom from one energy state to another. This change happens all at once, not gradually.

9. The nature of light (1704 - 1905)

The results of experiments by Isaac Newton, Thomas Young and Albert Einstein lead to an understanding of what light is, how it behaves, and how it is transmitted. Newton used a prism to separate white light into its component colors, and another prism mixed colored light into white, proving that colored light mixed to form white light. It was discovered that light is a wave, and that wavelength determines color. Finally, Einstein recognizes that light always moves at a constant speed, regardless of the speed of the meter.

10. Discovery of the neutron (1935)

James Chadwick discovered neutrons, which together with protons and electrons make up the atom of matter. This discovery significantly changed the model of the atom and accelerated a number of other discoveries in atomic physics.

11. Discovery of superconductors (1911 - 1986)

The unexpected discovery that some materials had no resistance to electric current at low temperatures promised a revolution in industry and technology. Superconductivity occurs in a wide variety of materials at low temperatures, including simple elements such as tin and aluminum, various metal alloys, and some ceramic compounds.

12. Discovery of quarks (1962)

Murray Gell-Mann proposed the existence of elementary particles that combine to form composite objects such as protons and neutrons. A quark has its own charge. Protons and neutrons contain three quarks.

13. Discovery of nuclear forces (1666 - 1957)

The discovery of the fundamental force operating at the subatomic level led to the understanding that all interactions in the Universe are the result of the four fundamental forces of nature - the strong and weak nuclear forces, electromagnetic forces and gravity.

All these discoveries were made by scientists who devoted their lives to science. At that time, it was impossible to hand over a custom MBA diploma for someone to write; only systematic work, perseverance, and enjoyment of their aspirations allowed them to become famous.

Natalya Ladchenko, 10th grade, MAOU Secondary School No. 11, Kaliningrad, 2013

Abstract on physics

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Abstract "Accidental discovery."
Nomination “The Amazing is Nearby”.

10 “A” class MAOU secondary school No. 11

In this essay, we have broadly covered the topic affecting laws and discoveries, in particular accidental discoveries in physics, and their connection with the future of man. This topic seemed very interesting to us, because the accidents that led to the great discoveries of scientists happen to us every day.
We have shown that laws, including the laws of physics, play an extremely important role in nature. And they highlighted the important thing that the laws of nature make our Universe knowable, subject to the power of the human mind.

They also talked about what a discovery is and tried to more specifically describe the classification of physics discoveries.

Then, they described all the discoveries with examples.

Having dwelled on random discoveries, we spoke more specifically about their significance in the life of mankind, about their history and authors.
To give you a more complete picture of how unexpected discoveries happened and what they mean now, we turned to legends, refutations of discoveries, poetry and biographies of authors.

Today, when studying physics, this topic is relevant and interesting for research. In the course of studying the accidents of discoveries, it became clear that sometimes we owe a breakthrough in science to an error that has crept into calculations and scientific experiments, or to not the most pleasant character traits of scientists, for example, negligence and carelessness. So or not, you can judge after reading the work.

Municipal autonomous educational institution of the city of Kaliningrad, secondary school No. 11.

Abstract on physics:

"Accidental discoveries in physics"

In the “Amazing Nearby” category

Students of class 10 "A".
Head: Bibikova I.N.

year 2012

Introduction………………………………………………………....3 pp.

Classification of discoveries………………………………….....3 pages.

Accidental discoveries………………………………………………………..... 5 pp.

The law of universal gravitation………………………………… 5 pages.

Law of buoyancy of bodies…………………………………………..11 p.

Animal electricity……………………………………...15 p.

Brownian motion……………………………………………………17 p.

Radioactivity…………………………………………………………….18 p.

Unforeseen discoveries in everyday life………20 pp.

Microwave oven……………………………………………22 pages.

Appendix………………………………………………………24 pages.

List of references……………………………25 pages.

Nature laws - the skeleton of the universe. They serve as support for it, give it shape, and tie it together. All together they embody a breathtaking and majestic picture of our world. However, perhaps most importantly, the laws of nature make our Universe knowable, subject to the power of the human mind. In an era when we stop believing in our ability to control the things around us, they remind us that even the most complex systems obey simple laws that the average person can understand.
The range of objects in the universe is incredibly wide - from stars thirty times the mass of the sun to microorganisms that cannot be seen with the naked eye. These objects and their interactions constitute what we call the material world. In principle, each object could exist according to its own set of laws, but such a Universe would be chaotic and difficult to understand, although logically it is possible. And the fact that we do not live in such a chaotic universe was largely a consequence of the existence of the laws of nature.

But how do laws come about? What leads a person to realize a new pattern, to create a new invention, to discover something completely unfamiliar, etc.? It's definitely a revelation. A discovery can be made in the process of observing nature - the first step towards science, during an experiment, experience, calculations, or even... by accident! We'll start with what discovery is.

Discovery and establishment of previously unknown objectively existing patterns, properties and phenomena of the material world, introducing fundamental changes in the level of cognition. A discovery is a scientific proposition that represents a solution to a cognitive problem and is novel on a global scale. Scientific guesses and hypotheses should be distinguished from discovery. The establishment of a single fact (also sometimes called a discovery), including geographical, archaeological, paleontological, mineral deposits, as well as a situation in the field of social sciences, is not recognized as a discovery.

Classification of scientific discoveries.
There are discoveries:

Repeated (including simultaneous).

Predicted.

Unforeseen (random).

Premature.

Lagging ones.

Unfortunately, this classification does not include one very important section - errors that became discoveries.

There is a certain category foreseen discoveries. Their appearance is associated with the high predictive power of the new paradigm, which was used for their forecasts by those who made them. Foreseen discoveries include the discovery of the satellites of Uranus, the discovery of noble gases, based on the predictions of the periodic table of elements developed by Mendeleev, he predicted them based on the periodic law. The discovery of Pluto, the discovery of radio waves based on Maxwell's prediction of the existence of another wave, also falls into this category.

On the other hand, there are very interestingunforeseen, or as they are also called random discoveries. Their description came as a complete surprise to the scientific community. This is the discovery of X-rays, electric current, electron... The discovery of radioactivity by A. Becquerel in 1896 could not have been foreseen, because... the immutable truth about the indivisibility of the atom dominated.

Finally, there are the so-called lagging discoveries, they were not implemented for a random reason, although the scientific community was ready to do so. The reason may be a delay in theoretical justification. Telescopes were used already in the 13th century, but it took 4 centuries to use 4 pairs of glasses instead of one pair of glasses and thus create a telescope.
The delay is associated with the nature of the technical property. Thus, the first laser started working only in 1960, although theoretically lasers could have been created immediately after the appearance of Einstein’s work on the quantum theory of stimulated emission.
Brownian motion is a very late discovery. It was made using a magnifying glass, although 200 years have passed since the microscope was invented in 1608.

In addition to the above discoveries, there are discoveries repeated. In the history of science, most of the fundamental discoveries related to the solution of fundamental problems were made by several scientists who, working in different countries, came to the same results. In science, repeated discoveries are studied. R. Merton and E. Barber. They analyzed 264 historically recorded cases of reopening. Most of the 179 are binary, 51 are ternary, 17 are quaternary, 6 are quinary, 8 are hexenary.

Of particular interest are casessimultaneous discoveries,that is, those cases when the discoverers were literally hours apart. These include the Theory of Natural Selection by Charles Darwin and Wallace.

Premature discoveries.Such discoveries occur when the scientific community is unprepared to accept a given discovery and denies it or does not notice it. Without understanding of the discovery by the scientific community, it cannot be used in applied research and then in technology. These include oxygen, Mendel's theory.

Random discoveries.

From historical data it becomes clear: some discoveries and inventions are the result of painstaking work by several scientists at once, other scientific discoveries were made completely by accident, or, on the contrary, the hypotheses of the discoveries were kept for many years.
If we talk about random discoveries, it is enough to recall the well-known apple that fell on Newton’s bright head, after which he discovered universal gravitation. Archimedes' bath prompted him to discover the law regarding the buoyant force of bodies immersed in a liquid. And Alexander Fleming, who accidentally came across mold, developed penicillin. It also happens that we owe a breakthrough in science to an error that has crept into calculations and scientific experiments, or to not the most pleasant character traits of scientists, for example, negligence and carelessness.

There are many coincidences in people's lives, which they take advantage of, receive a certain pleasure and do not even imagine that they need to thank His Majesty chance for this joy.

Let us dwell on a topic affecting random discoveries in the field of physics. We did a little research on discoveries that have changed our lives to some extent, such as Archimedes' principle, microwave oven, radioactivity, x-rays, and many others. Let us not forget that these discoveries were not planned. There are a huge number of such random discoveries. How does such a discovery occur? What skills and knowledge do you need to have? Or are attention to detail and curiosity the keys to success? To answer these questions, we decided to look at the history of accidental discoveries. They turned out to be exciting and educational.

Let's start with the most famous unexpected discovery.

Law of Gravity.
When we hear the phrase “accidental discovery,” most of us come to the same thought. Of course, we remember the well-knownNewton's apple.
More precisely, the famous story is that one day, while walking in the garden, Newton saw an apple fall from a branch (or an apple fell on the scientist’s head) and this prompted him to discover the law of universal gravitation.

This story has an interesting history. It is not surprising that many historians of science and scientists have tried to determine whether it is true. After all, for many it seems just a myth. Even today, with all the latest technologies and abilities in the field of science, it is difficult to judge the degree of authenticity of this story. Let's try to reason that in this accident there is still room for the scientist's thoughts to be prepared.
It is not difficult to assume that even before Newton, apples fell on the heads of a huge number of people, and from this they only got bumps. After all, none of them thought about why apples fall to the ground and are attracted to it. Or I thought about it, but did not bring my thoughts to a logical conclusion. In my opinion, Newton discovered an important law, firstly, because he was Newton, and secondly, because he constantly thought about what forces make celestial bodies move and at the same time be in balance.
One of Newton's predecessors in the field of physics and mathematics, Blaise Pascal, expressed the idea that only prepared people make accidental discoveries. It is safe to say that a person whose head is not occupied with solving any task or problem is unlikely to make an accidental discovery about it. Perhaps Isaac Newton, if he had been a simple farmer and family man, would not have pondered why the apple fell, but only witnessed this very undiscovered law of gravity, like many others before that. Perhaps if he were an artist, he would take a brush and paint a picture. But he was a physicist, and was looking for answers to his questions. Therefore, he discovered the law. Dwelling on this, we can conclude that chance, which is also called luck or fortune, comes only to those who look for it and who are constantly ready to make the most of the chance given to them.

Let us pay attention to the proof of this case and the supporters of this idea.

S.I. Vavilov, in his excellent biography of Newton, writes that this story is apparently reliable and is not a legend. In his reasoning, he refers to the testimony of Stuckley, a close acquaintance of Newton.
This is what his friend William Steckley, who visited Newton on April 15, 1725 in London, says in “Memoirs of the Life of Isaac Newton”: “Since it was hot, we drank afternoon tea in the garden, in the shade of spreading apple trees. It was just the two of us. Between Among other things, he (Newton) told me that in exactly the same situation the idea of ​​gravity first occurred to him. It was caused by the fall of an apple while he was sitting, lost in thought. Why does the apple always fall vertically, he thought to himself, why not to the side, and always towards the center of the Earth. There must be an attractive force in matter, concentrated in the center of the Earth. If matter pulls other matter in this way, then there must exist

proportionality to its quantity. Therefore, the apple attracts the Earth just as the Earth attracts the apple. There must, therefore, be a force similar to that which we call gravity, extending throughout the entire universe.”

Obviously, these reflections on gravity date back to 1665 or 1666, when, due to an outbreak of plague in London, Newton was forced to live in the countryside. The following entry was found in Newton’s papers regarding the “plague years”: “... at this time I was at the height of my inventive powers and thought about mathematics and philosophy more than ever since.”

Stucklay's testimony was little known (Stackley's memoirs were published only in 1936), but the famous French writer Voltaire, in a book published in 1738 and dedicated to the first popular presentation of Newton's ideas, gives a similar story. At the same time, he refers to the testimony of Katharina Barton, Newton’s niece and companion, who lived next to him for 30 years. Her husband, John Conduit, who worked as an assistant to Newton, wrote in his memoirs, based on the story of the scientist himself: “In 1666, Newton was forced to return from Cambridge to his estate Woolsthorpe for some time, since there was a plague epidemic in London. When he Once he was resting in the garden, when he saw a falling apple, the idea occurred to him that the force of gravity is not limited to the surface of the Earth, but extends much further. Why not to the Moon? Only 20 years later (in 1687) were published " Mathematical principles of natural philosophy", where Newton proved that the Moon is held in its orbit by the same gravitational force under the influence of which bodies fall to the surface of the Earth.

This story quickly gained popularity, but raised doubts among many.

The great Russian teacher K.D. Ushinsky, on the contrary, saw a deep meaning in the story of the apple. Contrasting Newton with so-called secular people, he wrote:

“It took the genius of Newton to suddenly be surprised that an apple fell to the ground. All-knowing people of the world are not surprised by such “vulgarities”. They even consider surprise at such ordinary events a sign of a petty, childish, not yet formed practical mind, although at the same time they themselves are often surprised at actual vulgarities.”
In the journal "Modern Physics" (English "Contemporary Physics") for 1998, the Englishman Keesing, a teacher at the University of York, who is interested in the history and philosophy of science, published an article "The History of Newton's Apple Tree." Keesing is of the opinion that the legendary apple tree was the only one in Newton’s garden, and provides stories and drawings with its images. The legendary tree outlived Newton by almost a hundred years and died in 1820 during a severe thunderstorm. A chair made from it is kept in England, in a private collection. This discovery, perhaps truly an accident, has served as a muse for some poets.

The Soviet poet Kaisyn Kuliev conveyed his thoughts in poetic form. He wrote a small, wise poem “Living in Wonder”:
"Great creations are born

Is it because sometimes somewhere

Ordinary phenomena are surprising

Scientists, artists, poets."

Let me give you a few more examples of how the story of the apple was reflected in fiction.

Newton's compatriot, the great English poet Byron, in his poem Don Juan, begins canto ten with the following two stanzas:
“It happened that the apple fell and broke

Newton's deep thoughts

And they say (I won’t answer

For the sages' guesses and teachings),

He found in this a way to prove

The force of gravity is very clear.

With the fall, therefore, only he is the apple

Was able to cope with Adam's times.

* * *

We fell from apples, but this fruit

He raised up the wretched human race again

(If the given episode is true).

Newton's road

Suffering was relieved by heavy oppression;

Since then, many discoveries have been made,

And, sure enough, we will go to the moon someday,

(Thanks to the couples *), let us guide the way.”

Translation by I. Kozlov. In the original "steam engine".

Vladimir Alekseevich Soloukhin, a prominent representative of village prose, somewhat unexpectedly wrote on the same topic in the poem “Apple”:

"I am convinced that Isaac Newton

The apple that opened

To him the law of gravity,

That he is his

Ultimately, he ate it.”

Finally, Mark Twain gave the whole episode a humorous twist. In the story “When I Served as a Secretary” he writes:

“What is glory? A creation of chance! Sir Isaac Newton discovered that apples fall to the ground - honestly, such trifling discoveries were made by millions of people before him. But Newton had influential parents, and they inflated this trivial incident into an extraordinary event, and the simpletons took up their cry. And then in an instant Newton became famous.”
As was written above, this case had and still has many opponents who do not believe that the apple led the scientist to the discovery of the law. Many people have doubts about this hypothesis. After the publication of Voltaire’s book in 1738, dedicated to the first popular presentation of Newton’s ideas, controversy arose about whether it really was so? It was believed that this was another invention of Voltaire, who was considered one of the wittiest people of his time. There were people who were even outraged by this story. Among the latter was the great mathematician Gauss. He said:

“The apple story is too simple; whether the apple fell or not is the same; but I do not understand how one can suppose that this incident could hasten or retard such a discovery. It probably went like this: one day a stupid and impudent man came to Newton and asked him how he could achieve such a great discovery. Newton, seeing what kind of creature was standing in front of him, and wanting to get rid of him, replied that an apple fell on his nose, and this completely satisfied the curiosity of that gentleman.”

Here is another refutation of this case by historians, for whom the gap between the date of the fall of the apple and the discovery of the law itself has suspiciously stretched out.
An apple fell on Newton.

This is more likely a fiction, the historian is sure. - Although, after the memoirs of Newton’s friend Stekeley, who allegedly said from Newton’s own words that he was inspired by the law of universal gravitation by an apple falling from an apple tree, this tree in the scientist’s garden was a museum exhibit for almost a century. But another friend of Newton's, Pemberton, doubted the possibility of such an event. According to legend, the falling apple event occurred in 1666. However, Newton discovered his law much later.

Biographers of the great physicist claim: if the fruit fell on the genius, it was only in 1726, when he was already 84 years old, that is, a year before his death. One of his biographers, Richard Westfall, notes: “The date itself does not disprove the veracity of the episode. But, given Newton’s age, it is somehow doubtful that he clearly remembered the conclusions drawn then, especially since in his writings he presented a completely different story.”

He composed the tale of the falling apple for his beloved niece Katherine Conduit, in order to popularly explain to the girl the essence of the law that made him famous. For the arrogant physicist, Katerina was the only one in the family to whom he treated with warmth, and the only woman he ever approached (according to biographers, the scientist never knew physical intimacy with a woman). Even Voltaire wrote: “In my youth I thought that Newton owed his successes to his own merits... Nothing of the sort: fluxions (used in solving equations) and universal gravitation would have been useless without this lovely niece.”

So did an apple fall on his head? Perhaps Newton told his legend to Voltaire’s niece as a fairy tale, she passed it on to her uncle, and no one was going to doubt the words of Voltaire himself, his authority was quite high.

Another guess on this matter goes like this: A year before his death, Isaac Newton began to tell his friends and relatives an anecdotal story about an apple. Nobody took her seriously, except for Newton’s niece Katerina Conduit, who spread this myth.
It is difficult to know whether this was a myth or an anecdotal story of Newton's niece, or indeed the likely sequence of events that led the physicist to the discovery of the law of universal gravitation. Newton's life and the history of his discoveries have become the subject of close attention of scientists and historians. However, there are many contradictions in Newton's biographies; This is probably due to the fact that Newton himself was a very secretive and even suspicious person. And there were not so frequent moments in his life when he revealed his true face, his structure of thoughts, his passions. Scientists are still trying to recreate his life and, most importantly, his work from surviving papers, letters, and memories, but, as one of the English researchers of Newton’s work noted, “this is largely the work of a detective.”

Perhaps Newton's secrecy and his reluctance to let strangers into his creative laboratory gave rise to the legend of the falling apple. However, based on the proposed materials, the following conclusions can still be drawn:

What was certain about the apple story?
That after graduating from college and receiving his bachelor's degree, Newton left Cambridge in the fall of 1665 for his home in Woolsthorpe. Cause? The plague epidemic that swept through England - in the village there is still less chance of becoming infected. It is now difficult to judge how necessary this measure was from a medical point of view; in any case, she was not superfluous. Although Newton was apparently in excellent health, in his old age he

retained his thick hair, did not wear glasses and lost only one tooth - but who knows how the history of physics would have turned out if Newton had remained in the city.

What else happened? There was undoubtedly also a garden at the house, and in the garden there was an apple tree, and it was autumn, and at this time of year, apples, as you know, often spontaneously fall to the ground. Newton also had a habit of walking in the garden and thinking about the problems that worried him at that moment; he himself did not hide this: “I constantly keep the subject of my research in my mind and patiently wait until the first glimpse gradually turns into a full and brilliant light.” . True, if we assume that it was at that time that the glimmer of a new law illuminated him (and we can now assume so: in 1965 Newton’s letters were published, in one of which he directly speaks about this), then the expectation of “full brilliant light” It took quite a long time - twenty years. Because the law of universal gravitation was published only in 1687. Moreover, it is interesting that this publication was not made on Newton’s initiative; he was literally forced to express his views by his colleague at the Royal Society, Edmond Halley, one of the youngest and most gifted “virtuosos” - that’s what people who were “sophisticated in the sciences” were called at that time. Under his pressure, Newton began to write his famous “Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy.” First, he sent Halley a relatively small treatise “On Motion.” So, perhaps, if Halley had not made Newton present his conclusions, the world would not have heard this law 20 years later, but much later, or heard it from another scientist.

Newton received worldwide fame during his lifetime; he understood that everything he created was not the final victory of reason over the forces of nature, for knowledge of the world is endless. Newton died on March 20, 1727 at the age of 84. Shortly before his death, Newton said: “I don’t know what I may seem to the world, but to myself I seem only like a boy playing on the shore, amusing myself by finding from time to time a pebble more colorful than usual, or a beautiful shell, while while the great ocean of truth spreads out before me unexplored.” ,,.

Law of buoyancy of bodies.

Another example of an accidental discovery is the discovery Archimedes' law . The well-known “Eureka!” belongs to his discovery. But more on that later. To begin with, let's dwell on who Archimedes is and why he is famous.

Archimedes was an ancient Greek mathematician, physicist and engineer from Syracuse. He made many discoveries in geometry. He laid the foundations of mechanics and hydrostatics, and was the author of a number of important inventions. Already during the life of Archimedes, legends were created around his name, the reason for which was his

amazing inventions that had a stunning effect on their contemporaries.

It is enough to just glance at the “know-how” of Archimedes to understand how far this man was ahead of his time and what our world could have become if high technology had been adopted in antiquity as quickly as it is today. Archimedes specialized in mathematics and geometry - two of the most important sciences underlying technological progress. The revolutionary nature of his research is evidenced by the fact that historians consider Archimedes one of the three greatest mathematicians of mankind. (The other two are Newton and Gauss)

If we are asked which discovery of Archimedes is the most important, we will begin to sort through - for example, his famous: “Give me a fulcrum, and I will turn the Earth over.” Or the burning of the Roman fleet with mirrors. Or the definition of pi. Or the basics of integral calculus. Or a screw. But we will still not be completely right. All the discoveries and inventions of Archimedes are extremely important for humanity. Because they gave a powerful impetus to the development of mathematics and physics, especially a number of branches of mechanics. But here's something else interesting to notice. Archimedes himself considered his highest achievement to be the determination of how the volumes of a cylinder, sphere and cone relate. Why? He explained simply. Because these are ideal figures. And it is important for us to know the relationships between ideal figures and their properties, so that the principles contained in them can be brought into our far from ideal world.
"Eureka!" Who among us has not heard this famous exclamation? “Eureka!”, that is, found, Archimedes exclaimed when he figured out how to find out the authenticity of the gold of the king’s crown. And this law was discovered again by chance:
There is a well-known story about how Archimedes was able to determine whether the crown of King Hiero was made of pure gold or whether the jeweler mixed a significant amount of silver into it. The specific gravity of gold was known, but the difficulty was to accurately determine the volume of the crown: after all, it had an irregular shape.

Archimedes pondered this problem all the time. One day he was taking a bath, and then a brilliant idea came to his mind: by immersing the crown in water, you can determine its volume by measuring the volume of water displaced by it. According to legend, Archimedes jumped naked into the street shouting “Eureka!”, i.e. “Found it!” And indeed at that moment the fundamental law of hydrostatics was discovered.

But how did he determine the quality of the crown? To do this, Archimedes made two ingots: one of gold, the other of silver, each of the same weight as the crown. Then he put them one by one in a vessel with water and noted how much its level had risen. Having lowered the crown into the vessel, Archimedes established that its volume exceeded the volume of the ingot. Thus the master’s dishonesty was proven.

Now Archimedes' law sounds like this:

A body immersed in a liquid (or gas) is subject to a buoyancy force equal to the weight of the liquid (or gas) displaced by this body. The force is called the Archimedes force.
But what was the cause of this accident: Archimedes himself, the crown, the weight of gold of which had to be determined, or the bathroom in which Archimedes was in? Although, it could be all together. Is it possible that Archimedes was led to his discovery only by chance? Or is the very preparation of the scientist involved in this to find a solution to this issue at any time? We can turn to Pascal's expression that accidental discoveries are made only by prepared people. So, if he had simply taken a bath, without thinking about the king’s crown, he would hardly have paid attention to the fact that the weight of his body was displacing water from the bath. But he was Archimedes to notice this. It was probably he who was ordered to discover the fundamental law of hydrostatics. If you think about it, you can conclude that some chain of obligatory events leads to the accidental discovery of laws. It turns out that these same random discoveries are not so random. Archimedes had to take a bath to accidentally discover the law. And before he accepted it, his thoughts should have been occupied with the problem of the weight of gold. And at the same time, one must be mandatory for the other. But it cannot be said that he would not have been able to resolve the issue if he had not taken a bath. But if there was no need to calculate the mass of gold in the crown, Archimedes would not have rushed to discover this law. He would just take a bath.
This is the complex mechanism of our, so to speak, accidental discovery. A lot of reasons led to this very accident. And finally, under ideal conditions for the discovery of this law (it’s easy to notice how the water rises when a body is immersed, we all saw this process) a prepared person, in our example Archimedes, simply grasped this thought in time.

However, many doubt that the discovery of the law was exactly that way. There is a refutation to this. It sounds like this: in reality, the water displaced by Archimedes does not say anything about the famous buoyant force, since the method described in the myth only allows one to measure the volume. This myth was propagated by Vitruvius, and no one else reported the story.

Be that as it may, we know that there was Archimedes, there was Archimedes’ bath and there was the king’s crown. Unfortunately, no one can draw unambiguous conclusions, therefore, we will call the accidental discovery of Archimedes a legend. Whether it is true or not, everyone can decide for themselves.

Scientist, distinguished teacher and poet Mark Lvovsky wrote a poem dedicated to the famous case of science with a scientist.

Archimedes' Law

Archimedes discovered the law

Once he was washing himself in the bath,

Water poured onto the floor,

He guessed it then.

Force acts on the body

That's how nature wanted it,

The ball flies like an airplane

What doesn't sink, floats!

And in the water the load will become lighter,

And he will stop drowning,

Oceans along the Earth,

The ships are conquering!

All historians of Rome describe in great detail the defense of the city of Syracuse during the Second Punic War. They say that it was Archimedes who led it and inspired the Syracusans. And he was seen on all the walls. They talk about his amazing machines, with the help of which the Greeks defeated the Romans, and for a long time they did not dare to attack the city. The following verse adequately describes the moment of the death of Archimedes, during that very Punic War:

K. Ankundinov. Death of Archimedes.

He was thoughtful and calm,

I'm fascinated by the mystery of the circle...

Above him is an ignorant warrior

He swung his robber sword.

The thinker drew with inspiration,

Only a heavy burden squeezed my heart.

“Are my creations going to burn?

Among the ruins of Syracuse?

And Archimedes thought: “Will I sink?

Am I laughing at the enemy?”

With a steady hand he took the compass -

Conducted the last arc.

The dust was already swirling over the road,

That is the path to slavery, to the yoke of chains.

"Kill me, but don't touch me,

O barbarian, these drawings!

Centuries have passed in strings.

The scientific feat has not been forgotten.

Nobody knows who the killer is.

But everyone knows who was killed!

No, not always funny and narrow

The sage, deaf to the affairs of the earth:

Already on the roads in Syracuse

There were Roman ships.

Above the curly mathematician

The soldier raised a short knife,

And he's on a sandbank

I entered the circle into the drawing.

Oh, if only death were a dashing guest -

I was also lucky to meet

Like Archimedes drawing with a cane

At the minute of death - a number!

Animal electricity.

The next discovery is the discovery of electricity inside living organisms. In our table, this is a discovery of an unexpected type, however, the process itself was also not planned and everything happened according to a “chance” familiar to us.
The discovery of electrophysiology belongs to the scientist Luigi Galvani.
L. Galvani was an Italian doctor, anatomist, physiologist and physicist. He is one of the founders of electrophysiology and the study of electricity, the founder of experimental electrophysiology.

This is how what we call an accidental discovery happened...

At the end of 1780, a professor of anatomy in Bologna, Luigi Galvani, was studying in his laboratory the nervous system of dissected frogs, which just yesterday had been croaking in a nearby pond.

It happened quite by chance that in the room where in November 1780 Galvani was studying the nervous system of frogs using preparations, his friend, a physicist, was also working, conducting experiments with electricity. Galvani absent-mindedly placed one of the dissected frogs on the table of the electric machine.

At this time, Galvani's wife entered the room. A terrible picture appeared before her eyes: when there were sparks in an electric machine, the legs of a dead frog, touching an iron object (a scalpel), twitched. Galvani's wife pointed this out to her husband in horror.

Let us follow Galvani in his famous experiments: “I cut up a frog and, without any intention, placed it on a table where an electric machine stood at some distance. By chance, one of my assistants touched the frog’s nerve with the end of a scalpel, and at the same moment the frog’s muscles shuddered as if in convulsions.

Another assistant, who usually helped me in experiments on electricity, noticed that this phenomenon occurred only when a spark was drawn from the conductor of the machine.

Struck by the new phenomenon, I immediately turned my attention to it, although at that moment I was planning something completely different and was completely absorbed in my thoughts. I was filled with an incredible thirst and zeal to explore this and shed light on what was hidden underneath.”

Galvani decided that it was all about electric sparks. To get a stronger effect, he hung several prepared frog legs on copper wires on an iron garden trellis during a thunderstorm. However, lightning - giant electrical discharges - did not in any way affect the behavior of the prepared frogs. What lightning could not do, wind did. When the wind gusted, the frogs swayed on their wires and sometimes touched the iron bars. As soon as this happened, the paws twitched. Galvani, however, attributed the phenomenon to lightning electrical discharges.

In 1786 L. Galvani declared that he had discovered “animal” electricity. The Leyden jar was already known - the first capacitor (1745). A. Volta invented the mentioned electrophoric machine (1775), B. Franklin explained the electrical nature of lightning. The idea of ​​biological electricity was in the air. L. Galvani's message was greeted with immoderate enthusiasm, which he fully shared. In 1791, his main work, “Treatise on the Forces of Electricity in Muscular Contraction,” was published.

Here is another story about how he noticed biological electricity. But it is naturally different from the previous one. This story is something of a curiosity.

The wife of anatomy professor at the University of Bologna, Luigi Galvani, who had a cold, like all patients, required care and attention. Doctors prescribed her a “strengthening broth” that included those same frog legs. And so, in the process of preparing frogs for broth, Galvani noticed how the legs moved when they came into contact with an electric machine. Thus he discovered the famous “living electricity” - electric current.
Be that as it may, Galvani pursued in his studies slightly different

goals. He studied the structure of frogs and discovered electrophysiology. Or, even more interesting, he wanted to prepare broth for his wife, to do something useful for her, but he made a discovery useful to all of humanity. And why? In both cases, the frogs' legs accidentally touched an electric machine or some other electrical object. But did everything turn out so randomly and unexpectedly, or again was it an obligatory interconnection of events?...

Brownian motion.

From our table we can see that Brownian motion is a late discovery in physics. But we will dwell on this discovery, since it was also made by accident to some extent.

What is Brownian motion?
Brownian motion is a consequence of the chaotic movement of molecules. The cause of Brownian motion is the thermal movement of molecules of the medium and their collision with a Brownian particle.

This phenomenon was discovered by R. Brown (the discovery was named after him) in 1827, while he was conducting research on plant pollen. During his lifetime, the Scottish botanist Robert Brown, as the best plant expert, received the title “Prince of Botanists.” He made many wonderful discoveries. In 1805, after a four-year expedition to Australia, he brought to England about 4,000 species of Australian plants unknown to scientists and devoted many years to studying them. Described plants brought from Indonesia and Central Africa. He studied plant physiology and for the first time described in detail the nucleus of a plant cell. The St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences made him an honorary member. But the name of the scientist is now widely known not because of these works.

This is how Brown happened to notice the movement inherent in molecules. It turns out that while trying to work on one thing, Brown noticed something slightly different:

In 1827 Brown conducted research on plant pollen. He was particularly interested in how pollen participates in the process of fertilization. Once he looked under a microscope at elongated cytoplasmic grains isolated from pollen cells of the North American plant Clarkia pulchella, suspended in water. And so, unexpectedly, Brown saw that the smallest solid grains, which could barely be seen in a drop of water, were constantly trembling and constantly moving from place to place. He found that these movements, in his words, “are not associated either with flows in the liquid or with its gradual evaporation, but are inherent in the particles themselves.” At first, Brown even thought that living beings actually fell into the field of the microscope, especially since pollen is the male reproductive cells of plants, but particles from dead plants behaved the same way, even from those dried a hundred years earlier in herbariums.

Then Brown wondered if these were the “elementary molecules of living beings” that the famous French naturalist Georges Buffon (1707–1788), author of the 36-volume Natural History, spoke about. This assumption fell away when Brown began to examine apparently inanimate objects; very small particles of coal, soot and dust from the London air, finely ground inorganic substances: glass, many different minerals.

Brown's observation was confirmed by other scientists.

Moreover, it must be said that Brown did not have any of the latest microscopes. In his article, he specifically emphasizes that he had ordinary biconvex lenses, which he used for several years. And he goes on to say: “Throughout the entire study I continued to use the same lenses with which I began the work, in order to give more credibility to my statements and to make them as accessible as possible to ordinary observations.”
Brownian motion is considered a very late discovery. It was made using a magnifying glass, although 200 years have passed since the microscope was invented (1608)

As often happens in science, many years later historians discovered that back in 1670, the inventor of the microscope, the Dutchman Antonie Leeuwenhoek, apparently observed a similar phenomenon, but the rarity and imperfection of microscopes, the embryonic state of molecular science at that time did not attract attention to Leeuwenhoek’s observation, therefore the discovery is rightly attributed to Brown, who was the first to study and describe it in detail.

Radioactivity.

Antoine Henri Becquerel was born on December 15, 1852, died on August 25, 1908. He was a French physicist, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics and one of the discoverers of radioactivity.

The phenomenon of radioactivity was yet another discovery made by accident. In 1896, the French physicist A. Becquerel, while working on the study of uranium salts, wrapped fluorescent material in an opaque material along with photographic plates.

He discovered that the photographic plates were completely exposed. The scientist continued his research and discovered that all uranium compounds emit radiation. Becquerel's work continued with the discovery of radium in 1898 by Pierre and Marie Curie. The atomic mass of radium is not so different from the mass of uranium, but its radioactivity is a million times higher. The phenomenon of radiation was called radioactivity. In 1903, Becquerel, together with the Curies, received the Nobel Prize in Physics “In recognition of outstanding services expressed in the discovery of spontaneous radioactivity.” This was the beginning of the atomic age.

Another important discovery in physics that falls under the unforeseen category is the discovery of X-rays. Now, after many years of this discovery, X-rays are of great importance to humanity.
The first and most widely known area of ​​application of X-rays is medicine. X-ray images have become a common tool for traumatologists, dentists, and medical specialists in other fields.

Another industry where X-ray equipment is widely used is security. So, at airports, customs and other checkpoints, the principle of using x-rays is almost the same as in modern medicine. The beams are used to detect prohibited items in luggage and other cargo. In recent years, small autonomous devices have appeared that make it possible to detect suspicious objects in crowded places.
Let's talk about the history of the discovery of X-rays.

X-rays were discovered in 1895. The method of their production reveals their electromagnetic nature with particular clarity. The German physicist Roentgen (1845-1923) discovered this type of radiation by accident while studying cathode rays.

Roentgen's observation was as follows. He worked in a darkened room, trying to figure out whether the newly discovered cathode rays (they are still used today - in televisions, fluorescent lamps, etc.) could pass through a vacuum tube or not. By chance, he noticed that a blurry greenish cloud appeared on a chemically cleaned screen several feet away. It was as if a faint flash from a telecoil was reflected in a mirror. He conducted research for seven weeks, practically without leaving the laboratory. It turned out that the glow was caused by direct rays emanating from the cathode ray tube, that the radiation produced a shadow and could not be deflected by a magnet - and much more. It also became clear that human bones cast a denser shadow than the surrounding soft tissue, which is still used in fluoroscopy. And the first X-ray image appeared in 1895 - it was a photo of Madame Roentgen’s hand with a clearly visible gold ring. So for the first time, it was men who saw through women, and not vice versa.

These are the useful random discoveries the Universe has given to humanity!

And this is only a small fraction of useful accidental discoveries and inventions. It’s impossible to tell at one time how many there were. And how much more will there be... But to learn about discoveries that took place in everyday life would also be

Healthy.

Unforeseen discoveries in our daily lives.

Chocolate chip cookies.
One of the most popular types of cookies in the United States is chocolate chip cookies. It was invented in the 1930s when small hotel owner Ruth Wakefield decided to bake butter cookies. The woman broke a chocolate bar and mixed the chocolate pieces into the dough, hoping that the chocolate would melt and give the dough a brown color and a chocolate flavor. However, Wakefield was let down by her ignorance of the laws of physics, and she took out cookies with chocolate chips from the oven.

Sticky notes for notes.
Adhesive papers appeared as a result of an unsuccessful experiment to enhance the durability of glue. In 1968, a 3M research laboratory employee tried to improve the quality of adhesive tape. He received a dense glue that was not absorbed into the surfaces being glued and was completely useless for the production of adhesive tape. The researcher did not know how to use the new type of glue. Four years later, a colleague of his, who sang in a church choir in his spare time, was annoyed that the bookmarks in the book of hymns kept falling out. Then he remembered about glue that could secure paper bookmarks without damaging the pages of the book. Post-it Notes were first released in 1980.

Coca Cola.
1886 Pharmacist John Pemberton is looking for a way to prepare a tonic potion using the cola nut and the coca plant. The mixture tasted very pleasant. He took this syrup to the pharmacy, where it was sold. And Coca-Cola itself appeared by accident. The salesman at the pharmacy confused the taps with regular water and carbonated water and poured the second one. This is how Coca-Cola was born. True, at first it was not very popular. Pemberton's expenses exceeded his income. But now it is drunk in more than two hundred countries around the world.

Garbage bag.
In 1950, inventor Harry Vasilyuk created such a bag. Here is how it was. The city administration approached him with a task: to come up with a way in which garbage would not fall out during the process of being loaded into a garbage collection machine. He had an idea to create a special vacuum cleaner. But someone said: I need a trash bag. And suddenly he realized that he needed to make disposable ones for garbage.

bags, and to save money, make them from polyethylene. And 10 years later, bags for individuals appeared on sale.

Supermarket trolley.
Just like other discoveries in this post, it was discovered by accident in 1936. The inventor of the cart, merchant Sylvan Goldman, began to notice that customers rarely bought large goods, citing the fact that it was difficult to carry them to the checkout. But one day in the store he saw how a customer’s son was rolling a bag of groceries on a typewriter by a string. And then he was enlightened. Initially, he simply attached small wheels to the baskets. But then he attracted a group of designers to create a modern cart. After 11 years, mass production of such carts began. And by the way, thanks to this innovation, a new type of store called a supermarket appeared.

Raisin buns.
In Russia, the delicacy was also created by mistake. This happened in the royal kitchen. The cook was preparing buns, kneading the dough, and accidentally touched a tub of raisins, which fell into the dough. He was very scared; he couldn’t get the raisins out. But the fear did not justify itself. The Emperor really liked the raisin buns, for which the chefs were rewarded.
It is also worth mentioning here the legend described by Moscow expert journalist and writer Vladimir Gilyarovsky, that the raisin bun was invented by the famous baker Ivan Filippov. Governor General Arseny Zakrevsky, who once bought a fresh cod, suddenly discovered a cockroach in it. Filippov, called to the carpet, grabbed the insect and ate it, declaring that the general was mistaken - this was the highlight. Returning to the bakery, Filippov ordered an urgent start to baking raisin buns in order to justify himself to the governor.

Artificial sweeteners

The three most common sugar substitutes were discovered only because scientists forgot to wash their hands. Cyclamate (1937) and aspartame (1965) were by-products of medical research, and saccharin (1879) was accidentally discovered during research on coal tar derivatives.

Coca Cola

In 1886, doctor and pharmacist John Pemberton tried to prepare a mixture based on an extract from the leaves of the South American coca plant and African cola nuts, which have tonic properties. Pemberton tried the finished

mixture and realized that it tasted good. Pemberton believed that this syrup could help people suffering from fatigue, stress and toothache. The pharmacist took the syrup to the largest pharmacy in the city of Atlanta. The first batches of syrup were sold that same day, at five cents per glass. However, the Coca-Cola drink was created as a result of negligence. By chance, the seller, diluting the syrup, mixed up the taps and poured sparkling water instead of ordinary water. The resulting mixture became Coca-Cola. Initially, this drink was not very successful. During the first year of soda production, Pemberton spent $79.96 on advertising the new drink, but was only able to sell $50 worth of Coca-Cola. Nowadays Coca-Cola is produced and drunk in 200 countries around the world.

13.Teflon

How did the microwave invention come about?

Percy LeBaron Spencer is a scientist, inventor who invented the first microwave oven. He was born on July 9, 1984 in Howland, Maine, USA.

How the microwave was invented.

Spencer invented the microwave cooking device completely by accident. In the Raytheon laboratory in 1946, when he was standing near

magnetron, he suddenly felt a tingling sensation and that the candy that was in his pocket was melting. He was not the first to notice this effect, but others were afraid to conduct experiments, while Spencer was curious and interested in conducting such research.

He placed the corn next to the magnetron and after a certain time it began to crack. Observing this effect, he made a metal box with a magnetron to heat food. This is how Percy Laberon Spencer invented the microwave.

After writing a report on his results, Raytheon patented this discovery in 1946 and began selling microwave ovens for industrial purposes.

In 1967, Raytheon Amana began selling RadarRange home microwave ovens. Spencer received no royalties for his invention, but he was paid a one-time two-dollar allowance from Raytheon, a symbolic payment the company made to all of the company's inventors.

Bibliography.

Http://shkolyaram.narod.ru/interesno3.html

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