Physics was born in Greece
The amazing amber
Greeks were more like philosophers rather than true scientists. That means they had big ideas, but they rarely made experiments to test them. However, they discovered static electricity at around 600 B.C. They knew that if they rubbed a piece of amber (a yellow rasin) on wool, that attracts feathers, like magic!
Magnetic insteps
The legend says that the one who discovered magnetism was a greek shepherd, called Magnes. While climbing a mountain, the iron nails from his footwear were attracted by a rock called magnetite. Greeks believed that magnetite had a "soul" which attracted the iron.
What is matter?
Greeks have launched the theory that any thing was made out of atoms (particles so small, that they couldn't be further divided). They had no proof, but they guessed well. It was believed that the atoms' shape could explain their properties, such as, for fire, atoms were angular, and for water, atoms were round.
The falling feather
One of the first people concerned about gravity was the greek philosopher Aristotel (384 - 322 B.C.). He observed that rocks fall faster than feathers and concluded, without verifying, that an object's falling speed increases with it's weight. He wasn't right, but only after 2000 years experiments have been made to check the theory.
Continuous movement
Aristotel tryed to explain how force creates movement. He believed that a body's movement is driven by a force, but he was mistaking again. Actually, a body can move without ever stopping without needing a force, in fact, friction is the one that slows it down.
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31/07/08 05:47
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