The Story of Physics
In 1802, the colors of the spectrum—red, blue, green—were linked to a measurable physical property: the wavelength of light.
Each spectral color corresponds to a particular wavelength.
No amount of thinking alone could establish this. What experiments made it possible? How could anyone measure a wave of light—or establish that light behaves like a wave in the first place?
These are the questions that drive the laboratory explorations in this course. Students follow a journey of discovery beginning with Galileo’s investigations of motion, through Newton’s unification of the heavens and the Earth and Michael Faraday’s discoveries in electricity and magnetism, and culminating in profound new physical theories of light.
Each discovery gives students something they need for the next. Measurements become mathematical relationships. Relationships become explanations that reach across seemingly unrelated phenomena. Students build up the ideas of physics from scratch, following nothing but the evidence they collect.
Five Lab Series
1. Galileo — The Acceleration of Gravity
What is the rate of acceleration of gravity?
The great Aristotle was wrong ... about a lot in physics. But for 2000 years no one challenged his ideas, until Galileo ran a few simple experiments, which shed new light on old questions. Galileo would go on to pioneer a new method of science rooted in measurement rather than philosophy.
Students begin by mastering the idea of speed, then uncover that falling objects don’t just move—they accelerate. From there, they find a way to measure and quantify this change, ultimately determining the acceleration of gravity itself.
2. Newton — The Moon Is Falling
Can the same laws explain motion on Earth and in the heavens?
The Moon is falling! But luckily its speed is big enough that it keeps missing the Earth. Isaac Newton came to this conclusion after being hit on the head (no one knows if this actually happened!) with a falling apple. Whatever causes the apple to fall must govern the movement of everything in the universe, he surmised.
Students dissect motion itself, formulating the fundamental laws that govern how objects move and interact. They then apply these ideas across everything—from falling apples to orbiting moons—and uncover a striking similarity in how nature behaves, no matter the scale.
3A. Émilie du Châtelet — The Universal Law
Can one equation describe gravity across the universe?
Newton’s ideas did not sweep across Europe overnight. In fact, they were met with deep skepticism. Émilie du Châtelet took it upon herself to study, refine, and defend these ideas with relentless determination.
Students follow her journey through a largely theoretical course, unpacking Newton’s laws and watching as she champions them across Europe. Out of this work emerges a single, powerful law—one mathematical relationship that governs the motion of every heavenly body.
3B. Newton — Heat and Pressure
Can heat be explained through motion?
With motion seemingly understood, attention turns to heat, pressure, and the behavior of air. Students begin probing these phenomena through careful experiments, searching for patterns beneath the surface.
Along the way, they uncover a coldest possible temperature—absolute zero—and harness these ideas to build one of the most transformative machines in history: the engine.
4. Faraday — Forces and Fields Unite
Can a magnet produce electricity?
Students begin by uncovering the ancient behaviors of magnetism and static electricity—phenomena long observed but never fully understood.
They then stumble upon a device capable of producing a continuous supply of electricity, setting off a chain of discoveries. As they map the laws governing electric current, an unexpected connection emerges between electricity and magnetism—two forces once thought unrelated. Following this thread, students reveal a relationship that helps power the modern world.
5. Young — The Color of Waves
What makes red light different from blue?
There is no way to know by looking at light (the only thing we can see!) what it is. This is kind of ironic! At the least, it certainly puts us in a pickle. The dominant early theories were that light is a particle shooting around like tiny little bullets and that light is a wave moving about like the way water and sound move. Isaac Newton forcefully proclaimed it was not a wave, but rather a particle. But a century and half after Newton, Danish scientist, Christian Huygens, studied light and confirmed it actually exhibits wave properties. It spreads out more like waves than like particles. Students in the course join the debate and run detailed experiments on laser light looking for particle-like and wave-like properties. Out of this work, students discover a difference in the behavior of the different colors of light and come to a strikingly concrete answer of what light is, AND almost more interestingly, what color is!