Physical Theory and the Fall of Causality

Abstract

Experimentation and observation, mathematical correlation of observable data, engineering design, and physical theory, are today interwoven in many ways in modern engineering education. Particularly, modern engineering curriculum encourages a thorough investiagation into the fundamentals of physical theory. For a successful inquiry into the intricacies of classical and modem physical theory, the engineering student must develop an affinity for the correct attitudes, techniques, and scientific language used by the theorists. In its broad, deep, and diverse inquiry, physical theory uses methods and techniques which often run contrary to common sense. In this paper we have attempted to bring about some of the most fundamental attitudes in modem physical theory in its language and in the use of analogies.