Colloquium January 30 - Experiments from the history of physics: are they as simple as they seem?
Prof. Peter Heering (Europa Universität Flensburg)
30-01-2025 | 15:00 | Aula Rostagni
URL website: https://indico.dfa.unipd.it/event/1342/
Descrizione/Abstract: Some instruments and experiments from the history of physics can be found in practically all textbooks; therefore, they can be described as canonical. Among them are Millikan’s oil drop apparatus, Coulomb’s and Cavendish’ torsion balances or experiments to determine the speed of light. However, the descriptions of these canonical instruments and experiments do not go into any further detail and thus support an image according to which experiments are simple and straightforward (at least for the genius who carried them out). However, when corresponding experiments are analyzed using the replication method, it quickly becomes evident that this idea is very misleading. Instead, stabilization and the creation of control play an essential role in the experimental process. In this lecture, selected examples will be used to illustrate the more thorough understanding of physical experimentation and its development that can be created through the replication method.
