Here we treat both the history of science and new discoveries in the natural and social sciences.

Reality emerges: Particles are nature’s smallest constituents, but that doesn’t mean they’re fundamental. So what is the Universe made of?

By Felix Flickeris

Aeon Magazine

Felix Flickeris a theoretical physicist and senior lecturer in physics at Bristol University in the UK. He is the author of The Magick of Matter: Crystals, Chaos and the Wizardry of Physics (2023).

What is the world made of? For centuries, people have believed that matter is constructed from tiny, indivisible parts. Some of the earliest known references come from the Greek philosopher Democritus, who taught that the Universe was composed of atoms the size of dust motes floating in sunlight. Theravada Buddhism developed the concept of kalapas, indivisible bundles of properties fleeting into and out of existence. Alchemy’s description of fundamental ‘corpuscles’, expounded by Isaac Newton and others, derived from translations of Aristotle by medieval Islamic scholars. And Hideki Yukawa, winner of the 1949 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work developing the modern theory of elementary particles, took inspiration from a passage in the Zhuangzi, a Daoist text written during China’s warring states period, in which fast-moving entities puncture holes within formless chaos. Yukawa saw a parallel to particle collisions.

The concept of a particle, as we now refer to these indivisible parts, has therefore been repeatedly re-introduced in contradictory ways. The modern view continues this tradition. In late-19th-century physics, particles were tiny indivisible objects with well-defined positions and momenta. The advent of quantum mechanics led these clear waters to become muddied. But the basic idea persists: we are taught from a young age that matter is made of atoms, built from particles such as electrons, and electrons are not built from anything else. For this reason, these particles are sometimes said to be fundamental. But are they? Is the Universe really made from the smallest constituents, as a beach is made from sand?

The answer to this question, I will contest, is perhaps a surprising one: yes, the Universe is built from fundamental units – but fundamental need not mean smallest. This view is generally adopted by those physicists, such as myself, who work in the largest discipline within the subject: quantum matter. This is the study of quantum behaviours that manifest on everyday scales: the attraction of iron to a magnet, the flow of electricity along a wire, or the passage of sound through a crystal. In these settings, too, we find particles. But these particles are not elementary, like the electron: they are emergent… Go Here

Einstein for the Masses

Prof. Ramamurti Shankar, J.R. Huffman Professor of Physics & Applied Physics at Yale, introduces Einstein’s Theory to a lay audience. The only preparation needed is an open mind. One-hour Video Lecture. Access Here

Cosmos: A Personal Voyage

This is the famous thirteen-part television series written by Carl Sagan, Ann Druyan, and Steven Soter, with Sagan as presenter. Each segment is about one hour. Magnificent, from beginning to end. Access Here ‘Science as a Way of Knowing, a 20-minute talk by Sagan with Charlie Rose shortly before Sagan’s death, HERE

Gravity is NOT a Force!

Discovery That Changed Physics! Made more clear by the James-Webb telescope. 11-minute video. Access Here

Life happened fast: It’s time to rethink how we study life’s origins. It emerged far earlier, and far quicker, than we once thought possible Access Here

Darwin’s Legacy: Natural Selection’s Wider Impact

DARWIN AND BEYOND…NOVA takes viewers on a journey from the Galapagos Islands to the Arctic and from the explosion of animal forms half a billion years ago to the research labs of today. Scientists are finally beginning to crack nature’s biggest secrets at the genetic level. The results confirm the brilliance of Darwin’s insights while revealing clues to life’s breathtaking diversity in ways the great naturalist could scarcely have imagined. Access Here

Three 30-minute videos of the revolutionary ecological thinking and design science of Buckminster Fuller. Access Here

A great pioneer of physics and a legend of a scientist. Three parts.

Access Here

The four-part series, each about an hour, is about the history of Mathematics, presented by Oxford professor Marcus du Sautoy. In the first episode, The Language of the Universe, after showing how fundamental mathematics is to our lives, du Sautoy explores the mathematics of ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Greece. In Egypt, he uncovers the use of a decimal system based on ten fingers of the hand. At the same time, in former Mesopotamia, he discovers that the way we tell the time today is based on the Babylonian Base 60 number system. In Greece, he looks at the contributions of some of the giants of mathematics, including Plato, Euclid, Archimedes, and Pythagoras, who is credited with beginning the transformation of mathematics from a tool for counting into the analytical subject we know today. The second episode, The Genius of the East, sees du Sautoy leaving the ancient world. When ancient Greece fell into decline, mathematical progress stagnated as Europe entered the Dark Ages, but in the East mathematics reached new heights. ACCESS HERE

The Fourth Dimension Incredibly Explained By A High School Student.

Click here for the video

Much of what we thought we knew about our universe – that the past has already happened and the future is yet to be, that space is just an empty void, that our universe is the only universe that exists – just might be wrong. Interweaving provocative theories, experiments, and stories with crystal-clear explanations and imaginative metaphors like those that defined the groundbreaking and highly acclaimed series The Elegant Universe, The Fabric of the Cosmos aims to be the most compelling, visual, and comprehensive picture of modern physics ever seen on television. Four videos in four hours. ACCESS HERE.

Marxism and the Philosophy of Science

A complete course outline and PDF files of the chapters from the book of the same title by Helena Sheehan, Dublin City University, Ireland. Access Here

All 18 episodes from Through the Wormhole series are

Einstein, the FBI, and the Scientist’s Support for the Battle vs. Racism.  Fred Jerome talked about his book The Einstein File: J. Edgar Hoover’s Secret War Against the World’s Most Famous Scientist, published by Martin’s Press. In this book, he details the activities of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in spying on Albert Einstein and his associates. He also details the pacifist and socialist politics of Albert Einstein and his involvement in the Civil Rights Movement, which provoked J. Edgar Hoover into leading an FBI. campaign to link the Nobel Prize-winning physicist to Soviet espionage activities and discredit his reputation. Mr. Jerome and Ms. Simmons read passages from the book focusing on racial conflict. Then Mr. Jerome answered questions from members of the audience. Access Here

Foucault and the Philosophy of Science

From a paper on the topic by Linda Martin Alcoff:  “Like all of the highly original philosophers, Foucault’s work poses significant challenges of interpretation and assessment. How are we to take his occasional generalizations when he so often counsels us to analyze only locally and particularly? How can we understand his views on reference, or realism, or an assortment of other contemporary philosophical concerns when he refuses to address these issues.” directly? Access Here

The Day the Universe Changed is a ten-part documentary television series presented by science historian James Burke. The series tells a series of stories of how specific scientific and technological advances have shaped the Western way of life. The series posits that when one’s view of the universe changes, the universe itself effectively changes. The series’ primary focus is on the effect of advances in science and technology on Western philosophy. The title comes from the philosophical idea that the universe essentially only exists as you perceive it through what you know; therefore, if you change your perception of the universe with new knowledge, you have essentially changed the universe itself. Watch the full documentary now (10 episodes – 7,5 hrs)