Re: history question

[Joseph Bellina <jbellina@SAINTMARYS.EDU>]

The question was not when physics was first used, but rather when
natural philosophy fell out of favor.  Further, I think you may find
that Aristotle's notion of what physics was isn't the same sort of thing
that we now mean by physics...certainly not the instrumentalists among
us.

cheers,

joe

On Thu, 29 Nov 2001, John S. Denker wrote:

> On Thu, 29 Nov 2001, Larry Smith
> > wrote:
> >
> > > When did physics stop getting called natural philosophy and start getting
> > > called physics?
>
> Joseph Bellina wrote:
> > I think it was mid 19th century as models turned from German naturalism
> > to more mechanistic models.  I think it all correllated with the
> > introduction of the notion of energy.
> >
> > That might not be the best answer, but it will give you a place to
> > start.
>
> Start there and go back a few thousand years.  Some guy named
> Aristotle wrote about various subjects including _Physics_,
> and I doubt the word was original with him.

Joseph J. Bellina, Jr.               219-284-4662
Associate Professor of Physics
Saint Mary's College
Notre Dame, IN 46556