History, Philosophy & Foundations
How physics came to be, what its theories mean, the mathematics they stand on, and the questions that remain open.
The history, philosophy and foundations of physics together study how physical theories were developed, what they claim about the world and how they should be interpreted, the mathematical structures and measurement standards they rely on, and the major problems that current theories have not solved.
What this covers
This domain stands slightly apart from the others. It documents the historical development of each major area of physics, the philosophical debates about interpretation (such as the measurement problem in quantum mechanics and the nature of time), the mathematical foundations shared across physics (symmetry, units, dimensional analysis, tensors, group theory, probability), and a set of open problems. Where interpretations or historical judgements are contested, entries present the positions as positions, not as settled fact.
History of Physics
- History of Classical Mechanics [PENDING FULL ENTRY]
- History of Electromagnetism [PENDING FULL ENTRY]
- History of Thermodynamics [PENDING FULL ENTRY]
- History of Quantum Mechanics [PENDING FULL ENTRY]
- History of Relativity [PENDING FULL ENTRY]
- History of Particle Physics [PENDING FULL ENTRY]
- History of Cosmology [PENDING FULL ENTRY]
- Scientific Revolutions in Physics [PENDING FULL ENTRY]
- Nobel Prizes in Physics [PENDING FULL ENTRY]
Philosophy of Physics
- Philosophy of Quantum Mechanics [PENDING FULL ENTRY]
- Philosophy of Space and Time [PENDING FULL ENTRY]
- Determinism and Indeterminism [PENDING FULL ENTRY]
- Reductionism in Physics [PENDING FULL ENTRY]
- Emergence in Physics [PENDING FULL ENTRY]
Mathematical Foundations
- Symmetry and Conservation Laws [PENDING FULL ENTRY]
- Noether's Theorem [PENDING FULL ENTRY]
- Dimensional Analysis [PENDING FULL ENTRY]
- SI Units [PENDING FULL ENTRY]
- Vectors and Tensors [PENDING FULL ENTRY]
- Differential Equations in Physics [PENDING FULL ENTRY]
- Group Theory in Physics [PENDING FULL ENTRY]
- Probability in Physics [PENDING FULL ENTRY]
Open Problems
- Open Problems in Physics [PENDING FULL ENTRY]
- Grand Unified Theories [PENDING FULL ENTRY]
- Quantum Gravity [PENDING FULL ENTRY]
- Arrow of Time [PENDING FULL ENTRY]
- Measurement Problem [PENDING FULL ENTRY]
- Dark Matter Candidates [PENDING FULL ENTRY]
Already covered elsewhere in the Codex
No full entries in this domain are published yet. These live pages, in other domains, already cover closely related material:
- Physicist Biographies — the people behind the theories, with Nobel omissions documented
- Equations Library — the named equations of physics
- Constants Reference — CODATA values that fix the SI
- Quantum Entanglement — Bell's theorem and debates about locality
- Born Interpretation — probability at the heart of quantum mechanics
- Dark Matter — an open problem, with candidates under study
- Cosmological Constant — the vacuum-energy problem
- Albert Einstein — relativity and the debates with Bohr
Sources
- Kragh, H. (1999). Quantum Generations: A History of Physics in the Twentieth Century. Princeton University Press.
- Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, entries on philosophy of physics (plato.stanford.edu).
- Bureau International des Poids et Mesures (2019). The International System of Units (SI), 9th ed.