Scientific View of the World

Lecturer:

Tutor:

Supervisor:

Department of Physics

Synopsis:

Scientific view of the world in broader relations to human knowledge, philosophy and culture. The subject motivates an interest in new and open problems. Key words: rationality, mathematics, physics, spacetime, Universe, quantum processes, chaos, information, evolution of the man, technology, perspectives.

Requirements:

Syllabus of lectures:

1. Man in the world, his problems and questions

2. Rational knowledge. Physics as the base of modern technology

3. Historical epoches in physics. Revolutions in concepts

4. Space and time, relativity, paradoxes

5. Gravitation, cosmology, stars, black holes

6. Quantum nature of the microworld, structure of matter

7. Philosophical aspects of quantum world, measurement, reality

8. Subnuclear particles, quanta of fields, types of interactions

9. Dynamical systems, determinism and randomness, chaos

10. Fractals, non-integer dimensions, mathematics and its limitations

11. Irreversibility, time asymmetry, past and future

12. Entropy and information, information flows and energy, computation

13. Synergetics, structures, evolution, life

14. Science as a part of human culture, its values, perspectives

Syllabus of tutorials:

Discussions, questions. Essay

1. Human knowledge, its history. Philosophy and science

2. Irrational approaches, pseudoscience (psychotronics, astrology, etc.)

3. Mechanistic epoch in science. Success. Pitfalls

4. Relativistic paradoxes (twin paradox, transporter paradox, )

5. Discussion on popular books (Hawking, Barrow, Weinberg, Grygar, Davis )

6. Quantum physics in the 20th century

7. Quantum paradoxes (EPR, Schrödinger's cat, etc.)

8. Examples of chaotic dynamic systems

9. Examples of fractals

10. Mathematics in science, its limitations

11. Science on the origin of man

12. Expanding universe and possibility of life

13. The concept of information

14. Man and technology. Its hazards. Human responsibility

Study Objective:

Study materials:

[1] Recommended articles from journals as Vesmír, Scientific American etc.

[2] Recommended popular books by Barrow, Hawking, Davies, Weinberg, Penrose, etc.

[3] Brokman, J., Matsonová, K. (Ed.): Jak se věci mají. (Průvodce myšlenkami moderní vědy.) Archa, Bratislava. Edice: Mistři věd

Note:

Further information:

No time-table has been prepared for this course

The course is a part of the following study plans: