Page 47- Physics is the most fundamental and all-inclusive of the sciences.

Quotes

""[I]f a thing is not a science, it is not necessarily bad... So, if something is said not be a science, it does not mean that there is something wrong with it; it just means that it is not a science."

"Mathematics is not a science from our point of view, in the sense that it is not a natural science. The test of its validity is not experiment."

Questions:

By Feynman's definition, is "political science" a science?

Do you agree with his perspective?

Can you not be scientific even in a non-science field?

Pages 48-49- Chemistry

Quotes:

"The theory of chemistry, i.e., of the reactions themselves, was summarized to a large extent in the periodic chart of Mendeleev, which brings out many strange relationships among the various elements, and it was the collection of rules as to which substance is combined with which, and how, that constituted inorganic chemistry."

"All these rules were ultimately explained in principle by quantum mechanics."

Questions:

Has organic chemistry's importance over the last 40 years changed? Why?

Key terms:

Mendeleev's Periodic Table - the classic organization of elements by mass, with families based on similar properties. A flash version of the table includes pictures and applications of each element.

Page 49-51- Biology

Quotes

" If we look at the processes of biology of living animals more closely, we see many physical phenomena: the circulation of blood, pumps, pressure, etc."

"This wave is somewhat analogous to a long sequence of vertical dominoes; if the end one is pushed over, that one pushes the next, etc."

Why today are biology students not often note required to take physics? And physics students are rarely required to take biology unless they major in biophysics. Why?

Is this a good thing?

- Consider one physicist's view, in a 1999 article about Physics and Biology

Other reading

- Recent advances in tracking nerve cell electrical signals (Feb, 2004).

- Using ultrashort laser pulses to track nerves

- MRI basics

Key terms:

Julius Mayer made the connection between heat and mechanics based on his voyage as a ship's doctor.

capacitor = an electrical device that temporarily stores and releases charge. Unlike a battery, which is a more permanent storage of electrical potential, capacitors can be charged, discharged, and recharged quickly. A camera flash attachment is one common application of a capacitor.

Visual of nerve cells

Actual Neuron image

Pages 51-54- All living things have a great many characteristics in common

Quotes

"In the cells of living systems there are many elaborate chemical reactions, in which one compound is changed into another and another."

"If we could literally take the molecules in our hands and push and pull the atoms around in such a way as to open a hole to let the new atom in, and then let it snap back, we would have found ... the reaction would go easily."

Questions:

Do you see how this statement is consistent with Feynman's thesis, that understanding the atomic model is THE single most important discovery of modern physics and science?

Links of interest:

The Krebs cycle

Ion Flow

Enzyme physics

Pages 54-56 - Proteins & Enzymes

Quotes:

"[T]he most useful tool of all for analyzing this fantastically complex system is to label the atoms which are used in the reactions."

"Each of the amino acids probably serves some special purpose. Some, for example, have a sulphur atom at a special place; when two sulphur atoms are in the same protein, they form a bond, that is they tie the chain together at two points and form a loop. Another has extra oxygen atoms which make it an acidic substance..."

Questions:

Key terms:

isotope = an element with a different number of neutrons in its nucleus, that functions identically in chemical reactions as the normal element. "Deuterium" is an isotope of hydrogen, with one proton and one neutron in the nucleus. "Carbon-13 and Carbon-14 are isotopes of Carbon-12, the normal form of carbon in our bodies.

Amino Acids

Hemoglobin Molecule

Pages 56 -59- DNA

Quotes:

" The structure of the substance DNA was studied for a long time, first chemically to find the composition, and then with x-rays to find the pattern in space."

"Next comes the question, precisely how does the order of the A, B, C, D units [Adenine, Guanine, Cytosine, and Thimine] determine the arrangement of the amino acids in the protein? This is the central unsolved problem in biology today." (1961)

"All things are made of atoms, and everything that living things do can be understood in terms of the jigglings and wigglings of atoms."

Questions:

Is there a link between the study of physics and the study of biology? Could we map the genome today without having invested in physics research?

Is it really true that everything we do can be understood in terms of the "jigglings" of atoms? What about dreams? Imagination?

Pages 59-61- Astronomy

Quotes:

"[T]he stars are made of atoms of the same kind as those on earth."

"How I'm rushing through this!... Poets say science takes away from the beauty of the stars - mere globs of gas atoms. Nothing is "mere." I too can see the stars on a desert night, and feel them. But do I see less or more?"

"Even though we cannot reproduce the conditions on the earth [the high temperatures in the stars], using the basic physical laws we often can tell precisely, or very closely, what will happen. "

"What goes on inside a star is better understood than one might guess from the difficulty of having to look at a little dot of light through a telescope, because we can calculate what the atoms in the stars should do in most circumstances."

Why did Feynman put the comments on the bottom of page 59 into a footnote, rather than into the text? Do those comments change your sense of the man? Would we be better off if science textbooks included these thoughts?

Who was the man who discovered the nuclear reactions inside stars? Hans Bethe.

An example of stellar absorption spectra.

Stellar Structure overview

Pages 61-63 - Geology

Quotes:

"However, the theory of meteorology has never been satisfactorily worked out by the physicist."

"In many fields we find this situation of turbulent flow that we cannot analyze today." (1961)

"You will find, if you study geology, that there are mountain-forming processes and vulcanism, which nobody understands but which is half of geology."

"We do much less well with the earth than we do with the conditions of matter in the stars."

Questions:

Is meteorology still beyond the abilities of modern physicists to work out? Can't supercomputers help?

What about earthquakes?

Key Terms:

vulcanism = the process of volcanoes outgassing and venting magma.

Page 63-64 - Psychology

Quotes:

"Incidentally, psychoanalysis is not a science: it is at best a medical process, and perhaps even more like witch-doctoring."

"The central problem of the mind, if you will, or the nervous system, is this: when an animal learns something, it can do something different than it could before, and its brain cell must have changed too, if it is made out of atoms. In what way is it different?.

Questions:

Would Feynman not have a high regard for Freud?

Key terms:

Pages 64-67 - How did it get that way?

Quotes:

"In order for physical theory to be of any use, we must know where the atoms are located."

"There is no historical question being studied in physics at the present time."

"A poet once said, 'The whole universe is in a glass of wine.' We will probably never know in what sense he meant that, for poets do not write to be understood."

Questions:

Why does Feynman not talk more about the Theory of Evolution?

Why *aren't* there historical questions for physicists to investigate? Or is Feynman wrong here?

What is the problem that Feynman mentions still unresolved?

Does Feynman like poetry?