《Feynman Lectures on Physics Volume 1 Chapter 05 Time_and_Distance》.pdf

5 Time and Distance 5-1 Motion In this chapter we shall consider some aspects of the concepts of time and 5-1 Motion distance. It has been emphasized earlier that physics, as do all the sciences, de- 5-2 Time pends on observation. One might also say that the development of the physical sciences to their present form has depended to a large extent on the emphasis 5-3 Short times which has been placed on the making of quantitative observations . Only with 5-4 Long times quantitative observations can one arrive at quantitative relationships, which are the heart of physics. 5-5 Units and standards of time Many people would like to place the beginnings of physics with the work 5-6 Large distances done 350 years ago by Galileo, and to call him the first physicist. Until that time, the study of motion had been a philosophical one based on arguments that could 5-7 Short distances be thought up in ones head. Most of the arguments had been presented by Aristotle and other Greek philosophers, and were taken as proven. Galileo was skeptical, and did an experiment on motion which was essentially this : He allowed a ball to roll down an inclined trough and observed the motion. He did not, however, just look