Physics, Culture and Ideology

This subject has the following teaching availabilities in 2008:

In the first half of the twentieth century physics underwent a dramatic transformation through the emergence of the theories of relativity and quantum mechanics. These theories left an indelible mark on the modern understanding of space, time and matter. But this was also a tumultuous period of European cultural and political history, which witnessed two World Wars, the establishment of the Weimar republic, the rise of Nazism and various strands of Marxist thought. In this subject we examine the various ways in which modern physics was brought into contact with the wider cultural and political attitudes of the time. Through a close reading of primary and secondary sources, we will investigate the ways in which the discovery, interpretation and reception of the new ideas in physics were shaped by various cultural, intellectual, and ideological movements. Of particular interest will be the way physicists themselves responded to the social and political upheavals of the time, particularly after the First World War, and to what extent this shaped their understanding of the physics of the twentieth century. Students taking this subject will not be expected to have prior knowledge of the technical details of modern physics.

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This subject is not available as a breadth subject.

• develop skills in written and oral communication;

• conduct independent research;

• make appropriate use of primary and secondary sources in mounting an argument;

• form defensible judgements based on a critical evaluation of conflicting evidence.