Physicist Who Coined Black hole & Wormhole

John Wheeler is best known as a physicist who popularized the term black hole. He was called the hero of black hole story by Stephen Hawking. Wheeler also coined the word wormhole for a hypothetical pathway connecting two remote points in space-time.

Wheeler [1911 – 2008] earned his doctorate degree when he was only 21 years old. He worked with such renowned scientists as Niels Bohr and Edward Teller. For most his life, Wheeler was a professor, his most notable student being Nobel laureate Richard Feynman.

Following are 5 brilliant quotes by John Wheeler:

1. Space tells matter how to move. Matter tells space how to curve. This is how Wheeler summarized Einstein's general relativity in one line.

2. The best way to learn something is to have to teach it. said in 1996

3. We live on an island surrounded by a sea of ignorance. As our island of knowledge grows, so does the shore of our ignorance. to Scientific American, 1992

4. In any field find the strangest thing and then explore it. quoted by James Gleick

5. The universe gives birth to consciousness, and consciousness gives meaning to the universe.

John Wheeler and Richard Feynman

Wheeler joined Princeton University as a professor of physics in 1938, remaining until 1976. Wheeler supervised 46 PhD students at Princeton, more than any other professor. His most notable student was Richard Feynman.

Over the course of time, Wheeler and Feynman developed a friendship and mutual admiration. Feynman referred to Wheeler as his "spiritual father," and they maintained a lifelong connection, even after Feynman moved to Caltech.

Death and legacy

On April 13, 2008, Wheeler died of pneumonia at the age of 96. He is remembered as one of the greatest American physicists of the 20th century. After his death, the University of Texas named the John Wheeler Lecture Hall in his honor.

Which Physicist Had The Highest IQ?

While the score of IQ does not determine or justify the genius of a physicist, it is still a good measure to keep. The IQ of a person is always an estimate of their intelligence, but might not be accurate.

Having said that, following are the IQ scores of renowned physicists. Who had the highest IQ and who had (surprisingly) the lowest? Let's see.

1. Albert Einstein

German physicist Albert Einstein made substantial contributions to physics and won the Nobel Prize for explaining the photoelectric effect. Einstein's IQ is said to be somewhere around 160 to 190.

2. Richard Feynman

Feynman was a charismatic physicist who is well known for playing the bongo. His work includes quantum electrodynamics, Feynman diagram and contribution to the Manhattan project. Feynman's IQ is said to be 125 and he loved joking about it.

3. Stephen Hawking

English astrophysicist Stephen Hawking is popularly known for his work in the field of big bang cosmology and black holes. Hawking's IQ is around 160.

4. Nikola Tesla

Tesla was a genius inventor who laid the foundations of alternating current technology which is used to power any modern household. Tesla's intelligence is often debated, and some claims about his IQ are exaggerated. However, the estimate is around 160 to 250.

5. Carl Sagan

American astronomer Carl Sagan is known for his popular show Cosmos: a personal voyage. He was among the first to accurately describe the atmosphere of Venus. His interest was to explore the universe for signs of extraterrestrial life. Sagan's IQ was around 150.

6. Werner Heisenberg

German physicist Heisenberg is considered the father of quantum mechanics. He is most famous for proposing the uncertainty principle, which is the cornerstone of quantum physics. Heisenberg's IQ was somewhere around 155.

7. Paul Dirac

Dirac is also considered one of the fathers of quantum mechanics. His most famous contribution is the accurate prediction of the existence of anti-matter for which he earned a Nobel prize. Dirac's IQ was higher than Einstein's, somewhere around 180-200.

8. Niels Bohr

Bohr was among the first to welcome the quantum revolution and supported the theory with all his influence. He is known for proposing the hydrogen model of atom and laying the foundations of quantum physics. Bohr's IQ was from 150 to 160.

9. Marie Curie

Madame Curie was among the brightest scientists who is the only person to win two Nobel prizes in two different sciences. Her IQ is estimated to be around 180 to 200.

10. John Wheeler

American theoretical physicist John Wheeler worked with Niels Bohr to explain nuclear fission. But he is widely known as the person who coined the term black hole. Wheeler's IQ was around 150 to 160.

10 Examples of Physics In Daily Life

Physics is not just about solving the problems and finding the right answer. From atoms to galaxies, everything is governed by physical laws. Not only is physics responsible for modern technology but also an active part of day to day life without us even realizing.

Following are ten such examples of physics in daily life:

1. In winter season, the act of rubbing your hands together to create warmth is a norm. Friction generates heat as well as responsible for static electricity. Have you heard sparkling noise while removing woollen clothes?

2. The refrigerator is made up of sheet metal so we can have thermal insulation between the strong metal and the food inside. That is why we use the surface of fridge to hold up a magnetic note or picture.

3. As we throw a basketball into the hoop or hit the soccer ball with foot, the curve traced by ball is called a parabola, and there is a certain angle at which you need to throw the projectile so it covers maximum distance. Athletes use this physics all the time.

4. Feeling the pressure change when riding in an elevator. Not only that, when you move from plains to mountains, there is also a pressure change and breathing becomes more difficult. This also happens with divers.

5. Using glasses or contact lenses to correct vision. Approximately 64% of adults use some form of vision correction, including eyeglasses, contact lenses, and/or vision correction surgery. Also, rear view mirror in vehicles is a convex mirror, bulged outward, to give a wider field of view.

6. Semiconductor physics used in electronic devices like smartphones, laptops, and TVs. When we buy a new smartphone, we tend to compare which chip the device is powered by.

7. When a baseball pitcher throws a curveball, the spin on the ball creates a pressure difference on its surface, causing it to curve due to Bernoulli's principle.

8. Ferrofluids are used in high end speakers to improve sound quality. Ferrofluids are liquids that become strongly magnetized in the presence of a magnetic field, thus dampening vibrations, and cooling the speaker coils.

8. Flicking a light switch involves a combination of mechanical and electrical processes. When the switch is flipped, it completes an electrical circuit, allowing current to flow and illuminate the light bulb.

9. The popping of popcorn kernels occurs due to the buildup of steam inside the kernel as it heats up. When the pressure inside the kernel exceeds its structural integrity, it explodes, turning inside out to form the fluffy snack we enjoy.

10. Elasticity is everywhere around us - from springs to rubber bands to bouncing a ball. Even trains are powered by thick metal springs. Springs are also used as a power source in mechanical watches.

Why Light Bends Because of Gravity If It Has No Mass?

Gravity affects light not because light has mass or not, but because gravity disturbs the fabric of spacetime itself. According to Einstein's theory of general relativity, massive objects like stars or planets, even mountains to some extent, bend the space around them.

Imagine space is a flexible, three-dimensional rubber grid. For example: planets like Earth or Jupiter, bend and create an impression in this grid. This curvature makes smaller bodies, their moons, follow the planets around in a circle.

Near massive objects, like a star or a black hole, spacetime is more curved, and objects move along more curved trajectories like an elongated ellipse.

Light, like moons and planets, also follows the curvature of this warped spacetime, causing it to appear as if it's being "bent" by gravity.

Does light have mass?

No, light does not have mass. Light consists of massless particles called photons.

The masslessness of photons is a fundamental property that contributes to some unique characteristics, such as traveling at the speed of light and having no electric charge.

Has general relativity been tested?

Albert Einstein proposed his theory of gravity, known as the theory of general relativity, in 1915 in a sequence of four papers. Time and time again the theory has been proven right, for instance in explaining the rotation of Mercury's orbit.

That's why general relativity is extensively used in modern technological applications such as atomic clocks, GPS, etc.

5 Quotes By Stephen Hawking On Black Holes

Stephen Hawking [1942-2018] was an English cosmologist and author who is most well known for his theory of black holes. Hawking is known for postulating the black hole thermal radiation. Hawking also made important contributions to the big bang theory of the universe.

Following are five noteworthy quotes on black holes by Stephen Hawking:

1. I used to think that information was destroyed in black holes. But the AdS/CFT correspondence led me to change my mind. This was my biggest blunder, or at least my biggest blunder in science.

2. Black holes ain't as black as they are painted. They are not the eternal prisons they were once thought. Things can get out of a black hole, both to the outside, and possibly to another universe. So if you feel you are in a black hole, don't give up. There's a way out.

3. Einstein was wrong when he said "God does not play dice." Consideration of black holes suggests, not only that God does play dice, but that he sometimes confuses us by throwing them where they can't be seen.

4. My discovery that black holes emit radiation raised serious problems of consistency with the rest of physics. I have now resolved these problems, but the answer turned out to be not what I expected.

5. It is said that 'fact is sometimes stranger than fiction', and nowhere is this more true than in the case of black holes. Black holes are stranger than anything dreamt up by science fiction writers.

5 Quotes By Isaac Newton To Inspire Students

Isaac Newton was an English physicist who is credited for the invention of calculus. He is best known for the discovery of the laws of motion and the universal law of gravitation.

Newton laid the foundations for modern physics. Following are 5 quotes by Sir Isaac Newton that everyone should know:

1. If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of Giants.

2. To explain all nature is too difficult a task for any one man or even for any one age...

3. I do not know what I may appear to the world, but to myself I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the sea-shore, whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me.

4. God created everything by number, weight and measure. We must be righteous & do to all men as we would they should do to us.

5. I can calculate the motions of the heavenly bodies, but not the madness of the people.

10 Less Known Facts About Physicist S.N. Bose

Satyendra Nath Bose was an Indian physicist who is best known for his contributions to statistical mechanics. Together with Albert Einstein, Bose is famous for the theory of Bosons and Bose Einstein condensate.

Following are 10 unbelievable facts about S.N. Bose which you may not know:

1. Bose was well versed in several languages including English, Bengali, Hindi, French, German and Sanskrit. He is remembered by his colleagues as a polyglot.

2. Since Bose had not done a doctorate, Einstein’s recommendation helped him become a professor. He served as a professor in Dhaka and then in Calcutta until 1956.

3. Seven Nobel Prizes have been awarded for research related to the concepts of the Bosons and the Bose-Einstein Condensate but Bose himself never won the most coveted prize.

4. Bose was good friends with several famous physicists including Indian physicist Meghnad Saha, English physicist Paul Dirac and Swiss mathematician Marcel Grossmann.

5. It was said that when Niels Bohr got stuck with a problem during his lecture in Calcutta, S.N. Bose instantly resolved it.

6. In 1919, Bose and Saha translated Einstein's book on the theory of relativity which was in German and published it in English. It was the first English translation of Einstein's groundbreaking work of 1915.

7. Paul Dirac coined the term Boson in the honor of S.N. Bose.

8. Bose wrote a letter to Einstein about a collaboration. Einstein immediately recognized Bose's genius and extended Bose's idea to the atoms that led to the existence of Bose Einstein condensate - the fifth state of matter.

9. Satyendra Nath Bose was devastated by the division of Bengal on the basis of religion in 1905. He was also depressed by the division of India and Pakistan and felt it to be a wound in the heart of his beloved nation.

10. Bose was also gifted when it came to music. He played an Indian stringed instrument called Esraj which sounded like a violin.

Why Edwin Hubble Never Won A Nobel Prize?

Edwin Hubble [1889-1953] was the first person to discover that the universe was expanding. He also found that Milky Way is just one of many galaxies in the universe. Thus, Hubble emerged as a pivotal figure in the field of astronomy in the 20th century.

Despite being a pioneer of his field, and doing work that revolutionized modern physics, why did American astronomer Edwin Hubble never win a Nobel Prize?

Early life

Hubble was more famous for his athletic prowess than scientific achievements in teenage life. He was gifted at baseball and football in high school. Not only that, Hubble led the University of Chicago's basketball team to their first major title in 1907.

Hubble's academic journey began with a bachelor of science degree, which he finished in 1910. As a college student, he served as a lab assistant to future Nobel laureate Robert Millikan, the discoverer of value of elementary charge.

Astronomy work

Hubble earned a law degree at Oxford University as a Rhodes scholar, demonstrating his diverse intellectual capabilities. He also studied Spanish for a while. However, his passion for science and astronomy prevailed over other interests.

In the 1920s, Hubble utilized a powerful 100-inch telescope at Mount Wilson Observatory in California to observe distant galaxies.

All the galaxies looked reddish in color. Like a siren whose sound gets lower and lower as it moves away. In terms of light, red is a color of low frequency. Hubble concluded that the galaxies were going away from us, so their wavelengths were stretched.

Ours was not a static universe like Albert Einstein had imagined, but it was an expanding universe, as Hubble had observed. This gave birth to the concept of the Big Bang theory.

Nobel prize

Edwin Hubble's notable contributions to the field of astronomy did not win him a Nobel Prize, and there are several reasons for this.

Firstly, at the time of Hubble's discovery in 1929, the Nobel Prize in Physics did not recognize work done in astronomy. Hubble spent the latter part of his career to have astronomy considered an area of physics.

Secondly, Hubble's work was truly groundbreaking, it changed our view of the cosmos, and the Nobel Committee may not have fully grasped the long-term implications immediately.

Thirdly, Hubble's work was more observational in nature and not supported by theory and experiment. It was dependent on Hubble's own interpretation of redshift data.

Legacy

Hubble's work was a key piece of evidence in supporting the idea of an expanding universe. Hubble has a crater on the moon and an asteroid named after him.

Hubble's legacy was further solidified when in 1990 Hubble Space Telescope was launched, capturing stunning images of distant nebulae, galaxies and other amazing cosmic phenomena.

5 Amazing Quotes By Max Planck On Science

Max Planck [1858-1947] was a German physicist who discovered energy quanta and laid the foundations of quantum mechanics in 1900. This won him the Nobel Prize in physics in 1918.

Best known for Planck's constant, denoted by h, Planck was a devout man who believed that his work with subatomic particles revealed to him the deepest secret of the universe.

According to Max Planck, the very greatest scientists of all times - such as Kepler, Newton, Leibniz - were permeated by a most profound religious attitude.

Early life

Max Planck was the sixth child in a family of intellectuals. His teacher Hermann Muller recognized the young talent and taught Planck astronomy and mathematics early on, aged 12.

Planck was gifted when it came to music. He played piano, organ and cello, and composed songs of his own. However, instead of music he chose physics for a career.

Planck's professor at University of Munich advised him not to study physics because in that field "almost everything is already discovered." Planck replied he just wanted to know more about the universe.

However, by discovering quantum theory Max Planck opened a whole new field of quantum mechanics which in turn gave rise to modern technology.

Quotes by Planck

1. Experiments are the only means of knowledge at our disposal. The rest is poetry, imagination.

2. Science cannot solve the ultimate mystery of nature. That is because, in the last analysis, we ourselves are part of nature and therefore part of the mystery that we are trying to solve.

3. We have no right to assume that any physical laws exist, or if they have existed up to now, that they will continue to exist in a similar manner in the future.

4. What we perceive as matter is merely the manifestation of a force that causes the subatomic particles to oscillate and holds them together in the tiniest solar system of the universe.

5. Over the entrance to the gates of the temple of science are written the words: Ye must have faith. It is a quality which the scientist cannot dispense with.