Einstein wrote it in 1946.
I am 67 years old, and I sit here and write some obituaries similar to my own. I do this,
Not only did Hope Bo Tu convince me, but I really believed that I would tell those who struggled with * * * *.
It should be a good thing to look back on your own efforts and explorations. Think about it a little.
Later, I felt that the result of this attempt would definitely not be perfect. Because, no matter how short the working hours are.
Moreover, it is not easy to figure out what is worth talking about, no matter how dominant the misguided experience is.
Yes-now a 67-year-old man is completely different from when he was 50, 30 and 20 years old. Any memory will be absorbed.
Before the color, so with unreliable point of view. This kind of consideration may make people retreat. However, one can still
In order to extract a lot of things from your own experience that others don't realize.
When I was a precocious teenager, I deeply realized that most people have endless lives.
Those earnest hopes and efforts are worthless. Moreover, I soon discovered the cruelty of this pursuit, which is when
Compared with today, 2008 is more carefully covered by false and beautiful words. Everyone is doomed, just because they have a stomach.
Participate in this hunt. Moreover, his stomach may be satisfied because he participated in this chase; However, there is one
People with thoughts and feelings can't be satisfied with this. In this way, the first way out is religion, which is through traditional teaching.
Educational institutions instill it in every child. Therefore, although I am the son of (Jewish) parents who have no religious beliefs at all, I
I still deeply believe in religion, but this belief suddenly stopped when I was 12 years old. Break away from reading popular science
Books, I soon believe that many stories in the Bible can't be true. The result is real madness.
Fierce free thought, mixed with the impression that the country deliberately deceives young people with lies; This is a kind of
Amazing impression. This experience makes me doubt all authority, which will exist in any social environment.
Faith is completely skeptical, and this attitude has never left me, even later, because of better understanding.
This causality, it has lost its original spirit.
I know very well that my childhood religious paradise was lost, which changed me from "just being an individual"
In the shackles, I tried for the first time to liberate myself from the life dominated by wishes, hopes and primitive feelings. In our
There is a huge world outside, without us. It is like a great and eternal existence in front of us.
However, at least part of this mystery lies in our observation and thinking. Staring at the world and thinking deeply is like getting.
Liberation also attracted us, and I soon noticed that many people I respected and admired were engaged in this project.
In my career, I have found inner freedom and peace. Grasp this point ideologically within all possible scope provided to us.
In the world outside the individual, it always comes to my mind as a supreme goal, consciously or unconsciously. Have similar ideas
Ancient and modern people, as well as their insights, are friends I can't lose. The gateway to heaven
This road is not as comfortable and charming as the road to religious paradise; However, it proved to be reliable, and
I have never regretted choosing this road.
What I say here is only correct in a sense, just like a painting with only a few strokes, which can only be rich.
In the sense of limit, it reflects a complex object with chaotic details. If a person likes very organized ideas, then
This aspect of his nature is likely to become more prominent and more and more obvious at the expense of other aspects.
Corrected his mental outlook In this case, what such a person sees in the comments is probably only a thousand articles.
The systematic development of law, however, his practical experience took place in a constantly changing single situation. External situation
It is diverse, and the instantaneous content of consciousness is narrow, resulting in an atomization of everyone's life. Like me
The turning point of this kind of people's development is that their main interests are gradually away from brevity and purity.
For personal reasons, I turned to try to master things ideologically. From this perspective, it can be briefly described as above.
Concise comments contain as many facts as possible.
Exactly, what is "thinking"? Memory images appear when receiving sensory impressions, which is not "thinking"
. Moreover, when such images form a series, each of them causes another image, which is not yet available.
Thinking, however, when an image appears repeatedly in many such series, it is precisely because of this reappearance.
It becomes a dominant element of this series because it connects those series that are not connected by themselves.
Get up. This element becomes a tool, a concept. I think, from free association or "dreaming" to thinking
The characteristic of transition is that "concept" plays a leading role in it more or less. Concepts are by no means necessarily related.
About symbols (words) that can be perceived and copied; But if there is such a connection, think about it.
Therefore, Wei can communicate.
Readers will ask, what right does this person have to use it so rashly and primitive in such a problematic field?
Concept, without any effort to prove it, my defense is that all our thinking is a kind of conceptual freedom.
Games; As for the rationality of this game, it depends on how much we can use it to sum up the sensory experience.
The concept of "truth" cannot be used in such a structure; In my opinion, this game has only elements and rules.
Only by reaching a broad consensus (agreement) can the concept of "truth" be reached. To me, it's nothing.
Doubt, most of our thinking can be carried out without symbols (words), and to a large extent it is carried out unconsciously.
Yes Otherwise, why do we sometimes feel "surprised" by a completely spontaneous experience? This "surprise" seems to be
Experience will only happen when it conflicts with our completely fixed conceptual world. Whenever we feel strongly.
When encountering this kind of conflict, it will act decisively on our thinking world. This world of thinking
The development of, in a sense, is to constantly get rid of "surprise".
When I was a child of four or five years old, I experienced this surprise when my father showed me the compass.
This compass acts in such a definite way, which is completely out of line with those who can find their place in the unconscious conceptual world.
The nature of things (roles related to direct "contact"). I remember, at least believe me, this experience.
Leave a deep and lasting impression on me. I think there must be something deep behind the incident. Everyone has grown up.
What you see will not cause this reaction; He is interested in falling objects, wind and rain, the moon or the moon.
Light doesn't fall, and I'm not surprised at the difference between living things and nonliving things.
When 12 years old, I experienced another completely different surprise: it was at the beginning of a school year, and I got.
A little book about Euclidean plane geometry. There are many judgments in this book, such as three of a triangle.
Although they are not obvious, they can be reliably proved, so any
Doubt seems impossible. This clarity and reliability gave me an indescribable impression. As for the need for proof,
You must admit justice, which doesn't bother me. If I can rely on something, its effectiveness is beyond doubt in my opinion.
Proposition to prove it, then I am completely satisfied. For example, I remember reading it in this sacred little book on geometry.
I have an uncle who told me about Pythagorean Theorem before. After hard work, I am based on
The similarity of triangles successfully "proves" this theorem; In doing so, I think that every right triangle
The relationship between edges "obviously" depends entirely on its acute angle. In my opinion, it's just not very good in a similar way.
What is "obvious" needs to be proved. Moreover, the objects of geometry research are the same as those that can be seen and touched.
The object of sensory perception seems to be the same type of thing. The root of this primitive idea is naturally due to unconscious existence.
In the relationship between geometric concepts and direct experience objects (rigid rods, segments, etc.). ), the original concept is probably Kant.
It provides a famous basis for the possibility of "transcendental comprehensive judgment".
If it seems that you can get reliable knowledge about the experience object with pure thinking, then this "surprise" will be
It's based on mistakes. But for those who experience it for the first time, it can be realized in pure thinking.
As the Greeks first told us in geometry, the degree of dependence and purity is surprising enough.
Since I interrupted the initial obituary and digressed, I will not hesitate to use a few words here.
In order to illustrate my epistemological creed, although I have said something by the way, this creed was actually a long time ago.
After that, it developed slowly, which was not in line with the views I held when I was young. On the one hand, I see sensory experience.
On the other hand, I see the sum of the concepts and propositions recorded in the book. The relationship between concepts and propositions is as follows
The essence of logic and the task of logical thinking are strictly limited within some established rules (this is a problem in logic research)
Establish the relationship between concepts and propositions. Concepts and propositions can only be obtained through their connection with sensory experience.
"Meaning" and "content". The connection between the latter and the former is purely intuitive and has no logical nature. science
The difference between "truth" and empty fantasy lies in this connection, that is, the reliability of this combination of intuition can be guaranteed.
, rather than anything else. Conceptual system, together with the syntactic rules that constitute the structure of conceptual system, is the creation of human beings. although
But the concept system itself is completely arbitrary in logic, but they are limited by such a goal, that is, to do everything possible.
Can achieve reliable (intuitive) and complete correspondence with the sum of sensory experience; Secondly, they should logically
Independent elements (basic concepts and axioms), namely undefined concepts and deducible propositions, should be as few as possible.
A proposition is correct if it is deduced in a certain logical system according to recognized logical rules. system
The content of truth depends on the reliability and completeness of its possibility corresponding to the sum of experience. The correct proposition is from
Get * * * "truth" in the truth content of its system.
Some views on historical development. Hume knew very well that some concepts, such as the law of causality, could not be used.
Logical methods are derived from empirical materials. Kant completely believes that some concepts are indispensable, and he thinks that these concepts are almost
Reading-how they are chosen-is a necessary prerequisite for any thinking, and put them together with those from experience.
Distinguish the concept of. However, I think this distinction is wrong, that is, it is not in a natural way.
Treat the problem correctly. Logically, all concepts, even those closest to experience, are completely like cause and effect.
Like the concept of sex, it is an agreement of free choice. This problem was first put forward from the concept of causality.
Now back to the obituary. 12- 16 years old, familiar with basic mathematics, including calculus principles. this
At that time, I was lucky to come into contact with some books. The logical rigor was not too strict, but it could be simple and clear.
Give the basic idea. On the whole, this study is really fascinating; It impressed me as much as primary school.
Why, it has reached its peak several times-the basic idea of analytic geometry, the concepts of infinite series, differential and integral. I was lucky
I know the main achievements and methods of the whole natural science field from an excellent popular reading. this book
(Bernstein's Popular Reading of Natural Science is a book with five or six volumes) It is almost completely confined to qualitative narration.
Shu, this is a book that I read with my heart. /kloc-when I was 0/7 years old, I entered as a student of mathematics and physics.
I studied some theoretical physics when I was at Zurich University of Technology.
There, I have several outstanding teachers (for example, Hurwitz and Minkowski), so in principle, I should
You should continue to study math. But I spend most of my time working in the physics laboratory, obsessed with direct experience.
Contact. The rest of the time is mainly spent at home watching the works of Kirchhoff, Helmholtz and Hertz. I am here
I neglected mathematics to some extent, not only because I am more interested in natural science than mathematics, but also because
Is the following strange experience. I see that mathematics is divided into many specialized fields, and each field can consume what we can.
A short life. So, I think I am in the same situation as the donkey in Brittan. It can't decide which bunch to eat.
Hay. This is obviously because my intuitive ability in the field of mathematics is not strong enough to put the most real fundamental.
Important things are reliably distinguished from other extensive knowledge that is somewhat dispensable. Besides, I am interested in knowledge of nature.
There is no doubt that interest is also strong; As a student, I still don't know that in physics, it leads to deeper.
The road to basic knowledge is linked with the most complicated mathematical methods. After several years of independent scientific research,
I gradually understand this. It is true that physics is also divided into various fields, and each field can be swallowed up.
Temporary life has not satisfied the desire for deeper knowledge. Here, the existing ones are old, and there is no complete link.
The number of bundled experimental excavations is also very large. However, in this field, I soon realized this.
That can lead to profound knowledge, and put aside many other things, stuffed a lot of heads and deviated from the Lord.
Put aside what you want to aim at. Of course, the problem here is that people have to take exams whether they like it or not.
All this rubbish is stuffed into your head. The result of this compulsion made me so timid that I passed the majority.
The next exam made me disappointed with any thinking about scientific issues for a whole year. But to be fair, we are
Switzerland is much less suffocated by real scientific motives than many other places. There are only two here.
After three exams, people can do almost anything they want. If I could have a friend like me
Friends often attend lectures and carefully arrange the contents of lectures, especially. This situation gives people a choice.
Free to choose what research to do until a few months before the exam. I enjoy this freedom very much and put it with this companion.
The guilt that comes with it is considered as a trivial disease that people are willing to endure. Modern teaching methods have not even required research.
It is a miracle that the sacred curiosity of the topic is completely stifled; Because this fragile seedling needs more than encouragement.
Outside, the main need is freedom; Without freedom, it is bound to perish. People believe that compulsion and responsibility will increase.
It is a serious mistake to like to observe and explore. I think, even a healthy beast, when it is not hungry.
Sometimes, if it is possible to force it to swallow constantly with a whip, especially when people force it to eat proper food.
When choosing, it will also make it lose the habit of gluttony.
Now let's talk about physics at that time. At that time, although physics achieved fruitful results in various details, it was
The dominant principle is dogmatic stubbornness: at the beginning (if there is such a beginning), God created Newton's luck.
Law of motion and necessary mass and force. This is everything; Besides, everything can be deduced by appropriate mathematical methods.
Show it. On this basis, especially due to the application of partial differential equations, the achievements made in the nineteenth century will inevitably lead to
The admiration of all people with keen understanding. Newton may be the first person to reveal the deviation in the theory of sound propagation.
A person who works by dividing equations. Euler laid the foundation of fluid dynamics. However, as the basis of the whole physics, mass
The more accurate development of point mechanics is the achievement of the nineteenth century. However, for a college student, the impression is the deepest.
What is carved is not the special structure of mechanics or the complex problems it solves, but the seemingly mechanics has nothing to do with mechanics.
Achievements in the field of; The mechanical theory of light imagines light as a quasi-rigid elastic ether wave, but first it is gas.
Theory of motion of objects and molecules: the specific heat of monatomic gas has nothing to do with atomic weight, the derivation of gas state equation and the relationship between * * * annual heat.
System, molecular motion theory of gas dissociation, especially the quantitative relationship between gas viscosity, heat conduction and diffusion, and
Gas diffusion also provides the absolute size of atoms. These results also support mechanics as the basis of physics and atomic hypothesis.
Foundation, and the latter has firmly established its position in chemistry. But only the mass of atoms plays a role in chemistry.
The proportion of quantities, rather than their absolute size, so atomism is regarded as an understanding of the real structure of matter.
It's best to think of it as a metaphor. In addition, the statistical theory of classical mechanics can derive the basic laws of thermodynamics,
It's also very interesting. In essence, Boltzmann has done it.
Therefore, it is not surprising that all physicists in the last century regarded classical mechanics as all physics.
Science, and even all natural sciences, and they are also tirelessly trying to put this.
Maxwell's electromagnetic theory, which gradually won a comprehensive victory during the period, is also based on mechanics, even Maxwell and
In their conscious thinking, H.Yanz always thinks that mechanics is the reliable foundation of physics, and we are recalling it.
It is fair to regard them as people who have shaken the belief that mechanics is the ultimate foundation of all physical thoughts. be
In his history of mechanics, ernst mach attacked this dogmatic belief. When I was a student,
It is in this respect that this book has given me a profound influence. I think Mach's real greatness lies in his indestructibility.
Doubt and independence; When I was young, Mach's epistemology had a great influence on me, but,
This view is untenable to me today. Because he didn't sort out his thoughts correctly, especially his scientific thoughts.
It is constructive and speculative in nature; Therefore, it is precisely in the theoretical structure-speculative characteristics that the surface is bare.
Now those places are the theories he accuses, for example, in the theory of atomic motion.
Before I begin to criticize mechanics as the basis of physics, I must first talk about some general views. According to these views,
With some ideas, it is possible to criticize various physical theories. The first point is obvious: theory should not be equated with empirical facts.
Contradictions This requirement seems obvious at first glance, but it is very nerve-racking to apply. Because people often, even
It is always possible to make theoretical colleagues adapt to reality with artificial supplementary assumptions, so as to adhere to a universal theoretical basis. but
In any case, this first viewpoint involves using ready-made empirical facts to prove the theoretical basis.
The second point of view is not about the relationship between (theory) and observation materials, but about the premise of the theory itself.
About what people can simply but vaguely call premise (basic concepts and the foundation between these concepts.
Relationship) of "naturalness" or "simplicity of logic". This view has been playing a role in the selection and evaluation of various theories.
Important role, but it is difficult to express accurately. The problem here is not just a logical enumeration.
The premise of independence (if this enumeration proves to be clearly possible) is an incomparable property.
A trade-off problem. Secondly, among several theories with the same "simple" basis, how likely is the theoretical system?
The most restrictive theory (that is, the theory with the clearest argument) is considered superior. I don't need to talk about it here.
To the "scope" of theory, because we are limited to such theories, and their objects are the sum of all physical phenomena.
The second view can be simply called "internal integrity" related to the theory itself, while the first view involves "externality"
Confirmation from the Ministry. "I think the following points also belong to the' internal completeness' of the theory: logically, if one
This theory is not randomly selected from those equivalent and similar theories. Without it, we will give it.
This theory is highly praised.
I don't want to apologize for the lack of clarity in the arguments contained in the above two paragraphs, but I want to admit it here.
I can't immediately, maybe I don't have the ability to replace these tips with clear definitions. But, I believe, do it
It can still be explained more clearly. In any case, we can see that the "prophets" are judging the "inner" of the theory.
Complete ",their opinions are consistent, as for the degree of" external confirmation ",the situation is even more.
That's true.
Now let's criticize that mechanics is the foundation of physics. ..... Newton, please forgive me; The way you found is in your heart.
That era is the only way that a person with the highest thinking ability and creativity can find. What you created.
Even today, reading still guides our physical thinking, although we now know that if we want to understand it more deeply.
All kinds of connections, we need to replace these concepts with other concepts far from the direct experience field.
Surprised readers may ask, "Is this an obituary?" I want to answer: essentially. Because, like,
For a person of my type, the most important thing in life is what he thinks, not what he thinks.
For what he did or suffered. Therefore, this obituary can be mainly limited to those who were released under my efforts.
Thought it would work The simpler the premise of a theory, the more kinds of things it involves and the more models it uses.
The bigger the circle, the deeper the impression. So classical thermodynamics left a deep impression on me. I'm sure,
This is the only physical theory with universal content that will never be overthrown within its basic concept (this point
Sceptics in principle, please pay special attention).
When I was a student, the subject that fascinated me most was Maxwell's theory. This theory transits from distance force to distance force.
As a basic variable, field has become a revolutionary theory. Optics is integrated into electromagnetic theory, and the absolute electromagnetic unit is the same as the speed of light.
System, and the relationship between refractive index and dielectric constant, the qualitative relationship between reflection coefficient and conductivity of metal body-
This seems to be really a revelation. Here, besides field theory, the basic laws are expressed by differential equations.
In addition, Maxwell only needs a hypothetical step-introducing displacement current and its magnetism into vacuum and dielectric.
Effect, this innovation is almost stipulated by the formal nature of differential equations. At this point, I can't help but say,
There are obvious internal similarities between Faraday Maxwell and Galileo Newton.
The first person in each pair intuitively grasps the connections of things, while the second person strictly expresses these connections with formulas.
They are developed and applied quantitatively.
…………
In those days, my own interest was not in the individual results of Planck's achievements, although these
The result may be heavy. My main question is: from that radiation formula, about the structure of radiation, and more generally.
Frankly speaking, what kind of general conclusions can be drawn from the electromagnetic basis of physics is one of my in-depth discussions on this issue.
Before that, I must briefly mention some research on Brownian motion and related topics (ups and downs), mainly
Based on classical molecular mechanics. I don't know whether Boltzmann and Gibbs' paper has been published or whether they have really asked.
The problem was completely solved in the early research work, and I developed statistical mechanics and thermodynamics on this basis.
Theory of molecular motion. Here, my main purpose is to find some facts and try to prove those definite limitations.
The existence of atoms of different sizes. At this time, I found that according to atomic theory, suspended particles must have observable transport.
Moving, but I don't know, the observation of this "Brownian motion" has long been known. simplest
This inference is based on the following considerations. If the theory of molecular motion is correct in principle, then those that can be seen
The suspension of particles must have osmotic pressure that can satisfy the gas law, just like molecular solution. This osmotic pressure
It is related to the actual number of molecules, that is, the number of equimolar molecules. If the density of the suspension is not uniform,
Then this osmotic pressure is different everywhere in space, which will lead to uniform diffusion movement.
The diffusion motion can be calculated from the known particle mobility. But on the other hand, this diffusion process can also be regarded as
The result of irregular displacement of suspended particles caused by thermal disturbance is unknown. By combining these two considerations
The obtained diffusion flux values are equal, and the statistical law of this displacement, namely Brownian transport, can be obtained quantitatively.
Law of motion. These studies are in line with experience and Planck's true molecular size (for high temperature) according to the radiation law.
At that time, many skeptics believed in the existence of atoms. The reason why these scholars hate atomism is undoubtedly that
Trace back to their philosophical views on positivism. This is an interesting example to show that even with courage and sensitivity.
Intuitive scholars may also be unable to explain the facts correctly because of philosophical prejudice. This prejudice—
So far, it is not extinct-this is because we think that the concept of freedom is unnecessary, and the fact itself can and should be mentioned for us.
For scientific knowledge. This misunderstanding is only possible because it is not easy for people to realize that it has been proved and used for a long time.
Those concepts that seem to be directly related to empirical materials are actually free to choose.