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Ancient Astronomy: Physics (From

1) Physics is the natural science that studies matter, motion, energy, and force, with the goal of understanding how the universe behaves. 2) Physics is one of the oldest academic disciplines, dating back to ancient civilizations, and along with other sciences emerged as a unique field of study during the Scientific Revolution. 3) Advances in physics have enabled many modern technologies and transformed society through developments in areas like electromagnetism, mechanics, thermodynamics, and nuclear physics.

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43 views2 pages

Ancient Astronomy: Physics (From

1) Physics is the natural science that studies matter, motion, energy, and force, with the goal of understanding how the universe behaves. 2) Physics is one of the oldest academic disciplines, dating back to ancient civilizations, and along with other sciences emerged as a unique field of study during the Scientific Revolution. 3) Advances in physics have enabled many modern technologies and transformed society through developments in areas like electromagnetism, mechanics, thermodynamics, and nuclear physics.

Uploaded by

Azreen Anis azmi
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Physics (from Ancient Greek: φυσική (ἐπιστήμη), romanized: physikḗ (epistḗmē), lit.

 'knowledge of
nature', from φύσις phýsis 'nature')[1][2][3] is the natural science that studies matter,[4] its motion and
behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force.[5] Physics is one of the
most fundamental scientific disciplines, and its main goal is to understand how
the universe behaves.[a][6][7][8]
Physics is one of the oldest academic disciplines and, through its inclusion of astronomy,
perhaps the oldest.[9] Over much of the past two millennia, physics, chemistry, biology, and certain
branches of mathematics were a part of natural philosophy, but during the Scientific Revolution in
the 17th century these natural sciences emerged as unique research endeavors in their own right.
[b]
 Physics intersects with many interdisciplinary areas of research, such as biophysics and quantum
chemistry, and the boundaries of physics are not rigidly defined. New ideas in physics often explain
the fundamental mechanisms studied by other sciences[6] and suggest new avenues of research in
academic disciplines such as mathematics and philosophy.
Advances in physics often enable advances in new technologies. For example, advances in the
understanding of electromagnetism, solid-state physics, and nuclear physics led directly to the
development of new products that have dramatically transformed modern-day society, such
as television, computers, domestic appliances, and nuclear weapons;[6] advances
in thermodynamics led to the development of industrialization; and advances in mechanics inspired
the development of calculus.

Ancient astronomy
Main article: History of astronomy

Ancient Egyptian astronomy is evident in monuments like the ceiling of Senemut's tomb from the Eighteenth


Dynasty of Egypt.

Astronomy is one of the oldest natural sciences. Early civilizations dating back before 3000 BCE,
such as the Sumerians, ancient Egyptians, and the Indus Valley Civilisation, had a predictive
knowledge and a basic understanding of the motions of the Sun, Moon, and stars. The stars and
planets, believed to represent gods, were often worshipped. While the explanations for the observed
positions of the stars were often unscientific and lacking in evidence, these early observations laid
the foundation for later astronomy, as the stars were found to traverse great circles across the sky,
[9]
 which however did not explain the positions of the planets.
According to Asger Aaboe, the origins of Western astronomy can be found in Mesopotamia, and all
Western efforts in the exact sciences are descended from late Babylonian astronomy.[11] Egyptian
astronomers left monuments showing knowledge of the constellations and the motions of the
celestial bodies,[12] while Greek poet Homer wrote of various celestial objects in
his Iliad and Odyssey; later Greek astronomers provided names, which are still used today, for most
constellations visible from the Northern Hemisphere.[13]

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