Physics

Physics (from the Greek, φυσικός (phusikos), "natural", and φύσις (phusis), "nature") is the science of the natural world in the broadest sense, dealing with matter and energy and the fundamental forces of nature that govern the interactions between particles; it was called natural philosophy until the late 19th century. Physicists study a wide range of physical phenomena spanning all length scales, from the sub-nuclear particles of which all ordinary matter is made (particle physics) to the material Universe as a whole (cosmology).

Notes

• {{fnb|1}} Enrico Fermi, for example, was notable for his success in both experiment and theory.
• {{fnb|2}} Modern physics, especially after the 1920s, may be marked as an "era of specialization." There was a time when physicists were universalists; for instance, Einstein researched quantum mechanics, along with what are now referred to as statistical mechanics and cosmology unabated. On the contrary, physicists today have become distinguished by a single field of study (e.g., nuclear physics), finding difficulty in spanning the multiple areas of present physical investigation.
• {{fnb|3}}Alpher, Herman, and Gamow. Nature 162,774 (1948).
• {{fnb|4}}Wilson's 1978 Nobel lecture
• {{fnb|5}}see also: C.S. Wu's contribution to the overthrow of the conservation of parity
• {{fnb|6}}Yang, Mills 1954 Physical Review 95, 631.
• {{fnb|7}}Yang, Mills 1954 Physical Review 96, 191.