Physics and natural philosophy

JUN 01, 1951

In spite of their many spectacular works, the present article suggests, physicists should not rest too comfortably on their laurels. Physics is not the only field concerned with understanding nature.

DOI: 10.1063/1.3067250

John R. Van Wazer

For nearly a century we physicists have complacently thought of ourselves as being the philosophers of nature. While the biologists and astronomers expanded their interminable classifications and the chemist did heavens‐knows‐what with his grubby beakers, we were, in our own estimation at least, constructing rational pictures of the universe aided by artfully chosen experiments. It is true, of course, that at times these self‐consistent and rational pictures did not agree with each other; but, when this happened, we became true philosophers in the Greek sense and in a mist of polemics and sophistry demonstrated that nothing could be more rational than the disagreement which was only apparent after all.

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More about the authors

John R. Van Wazer, Monsanto Chemical Company, Anniston, Alabama.