Modern science, exclusive of geometry, is a comparatively recent creation and can be said

to have originated with Galileo and Newton. Galileo was the first scientist to recognize
clearly that the only way to further our understanding of the physical world was to resort to
experiment. However obvious Galileo’s contention may appear in the light of our present
knowledge, it remains a fact that the Greeks, in spite of their proficiency in geometry, never
seem to have realized the importance of experiment. To a certain extent, this may be
attributed to the crudeness of their instruments of measurement. Still an excuse of this sort
can scarcely be put forward when the elementary nature of Galileo’s experiments and
observations is recalled. Watching a lamp oscillate in the cathedral of Pisa, dropping bodies
from the leaning tower of Pisa, rolling balls down inclined planes, noticing the magnifying
effect of water in a spherical glass vase, such was the nature of Galileo’s experiments and
observations. As can be seen, they might just as well have been performed by the Greeks.
At any rate, it was thanks to such experiments that Galileo discovered the fundamental law
of dynamics, according to which the acceleration imparted to a body is proportional to the
force acting upon it.

The next advance was due to Newton, the greatest scientist of all time if account be taken
of his joint contributions to mathematics and physics. As a physicist, he was of course an
ardent adherent of the empirical method, but his greatest title to fame lies in another
direction. Prior to Newton, mathematics, chiefly in the form of geometry, had been studied
as a fine art without any view to its physical applications other than in very trivial cases. But
with Newton all the resources of mathematics were turned to advantage in the solution of
physical problems. Thenceforth, mathematics appeared as an instrument of discovery, the
most powerful one known to man, multiplying the power of thought just as in the mechanical
domain the lever multiplied our physical action. It is this application of mathematics to the
solution of physical problems, this combination of two separate fields of investigation, which
constitutes the essential characteristic of the Newtonian method. Thus, problems of physics
were metamorphosed into problems of mathematics.

But in Newton’s day the mathematical instrument was still in a very backward state of
development. In this field again Newton showed the mark of genius by inventing the integral
calculus. As a result of this remarkable discovery, problems, which would have baffled
Archimedes, were solved with ease. We know that in Newton’s hands this new departure in
scientific method led to the discovery of the law of gravitation. But here again the real
significance of Newton’s achievement lay not so much in the exact quantitative formulation
of the law of attraction, as in his having established the presence of law and order at least in
one important realm of nature, namely, in the motions of heavenly bodies. Nature thus
exhibited rationality and was not mere blind chaos and uncertainty. To be sure, Newton’s
investigations had been concerned with but a small group of natural phenomena, but it
appeared unlikely that this mathematical law and order should turn out to be restricted to
certain special phenomena; and the feeling was general that all the physical processes of
nature would prove to be unfolding themselves according to rigorous mathematical laws.

When Einstein, in 1905, published his celebrated paper on the electrodynamics of moving
bodies, he remarked that the difficulties, which surrounded the equations of
electrodynamics, together with the negative experiments of Michelson and others, would be
obviated if we extended the validity of the Newtonian principle of the relativity of Galilean
motion, which applies solely to mechanical phenomena, so as to include all manner of
phenomena: electrodynamics, optical etc. When extended in this way the Newtonian
principle of relativity became Einstein’s special principle of relativity. Its significance lay in its
assertion that absolute Galilean motion or absolute velocity must ever escape all
experimental detection. Henceforth absolute velocity should be conceived of as physically
meaningless, not only in the particular realm of mechanics, as in Newton’s day, but in the
entire realm of physical phenomena. Einstein’s special principle, by adding increased
emphasis to this relativity of velocity, making absolute velocity metaphysically meaningless,
created a still more profound distinction between velocity and accelerated or rotational
motion. This latter type of motion remained absolute and real as before. It is most important
to understand this point and to realize that Einstein’s special principle is merely an
extension of the validity of the classical Newtonian principle to all classes of phenomena.

21.According to the author, why did the Greeks NOT conduct experiments to understand
the physical world?

(1) Apparently they did not think it necessary to experiment.

(2) They focused exclusively on geometry.

(3) Their instruments of measurement were very crude.

(4) The Greeks considered the application of geometry to the physical world more
important.

1.The statement “Nature thus exhibited rationality and was not mere blind chaos and
uncertainty” suggests that

(1) problems that had baffled scientists like Archimedes were not really problems.

(2) only a small group of natural phenomena was chaotic.

(3) physical phenomena conformed to mathematical laws.

(4) natural phenomena were evolving towards a less chaotic future.

2. Newton may be considered one of the greatest scientists of all time because he

(1) discovered the law of gravitation.

(3) invented integral calculus.

(4) started the use of the empirical method in science.

3.Which of the following statements about modern science best captures the theme of the
passage?

(1) Modern science rests firmly on the platform built by the Greeks.

(2) We need to go back to the method of enquiry used by the Greeks to better
understand the laws of dynamics.

(3) Disciplines like Mathematics and Physics function best when integrated into one.

(4) New knowledge about natural phenomena builds on existing knowledge.

4.The significant implication of Einstein’s special principle of relativity is that

(1) absolute velocity was meaningless in the realm of mechanics.

(2) Newton’s principle of relativity needs to be modified.

(3) there are limits to which experimentation can be used to understand some physical
phenomena.

(4) it is meaningless to try to understand the distinction between velocity and