  Setting the Stage for 1905 - The 19th Century: Physics becomes
Queen of the Sciences and Part of Culture  Recording Details
PIRSA Number:    The achievements of 19th Century physicists
stand shoulder to shoulder with those of their 20th Century
successors. Physics, per se, did not exist in 1800, but a
century later, physics not only existed, but was regarded as the
model for all sciences. During the 19th Century, the physics
that dominates current introductory textbooks was brought to
completion. Electricity and magnetism, two separate domains of
Nature, were united as electromagnetism; the laws of
thermodynamics were established; the kinetic theory of matter
was developed in its current form; and the nature of light, the
crowning achievement of 19th Century physics, was demonstrated
to be an electromagnetic wave. The substantive achievements were
stunning. But more than the technical successes, 19th Century
physicists made the subject part of the larger culture. John S
Rigden, 19th century, 20th century,