Innovating the Old: Discussing the Problem of Ideological Methods in Scientific Research

Author: Wen Jingsong
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-08-01
Features: Much of the content in this book involves Professor Wen's important research field, colloid theory. One of the key pioneers of this theory is Einstein. This year is the World Physics Year, and the world is commemorating the great contributions Einstein made to the advancement of human science a century ago. When it comes to Einstein, people immediately think of his contributions to relativity and quantum theory, which is understandable because relativity and quantum theory form the foundation of 20th-century physics. Here, I would like to emphasize Einstein's significant contributions to colloid science. Einstein's 1905 theory on Brownian motion was developed without a complete understanding of the extensive research background on Brownian motion. This theory provided several quantitative relationships for Brownian motion, which were not only precisely verified by subsequent experiments but also gradually revealed their profound physical implications over the following century. The Einstein relation is actually a simple case of the famous fluctuation-dissipation theorem. As time progresses, with the continuous advancement of quantitative research on life sciences and complex systems, the significance of Einstein's theoretical contributions to colloid science will become increasingly evident. Professor Wen's book can also serve as an accessible introduction to the foundational knowledge in this field.