Progress of physics and technology. Physics research in Uzbekistan
People moved from stone tools to copper, bronze and iron tools, and then to the steam engine (late 18th century), the telegraph, the internal combustion engine, the telephone and radio (19th century). The 20th century brought electric power engineering, aviation, nuclear technology, electronics, computers, television, lasers and space flight; in the 21st century information technology, biophysics and nanotechnology are developing fast. Our land produced scholars such as Beruni, Ibn Sino, Farabi and Ulugh Beg: at Ulugh Beg’s observatory (15th century) a catalogue of 1018 stars was compiled. The Academy of Sciences of Uzbekistan was founded in 1943; the Physical-Technical Institute was set up the same year, later the Institutes of Nuclear Physics (1956), Astronomy (1966) and Electronics (1967), and in 1976 the “Physics-Sun” scientific-production association. Research in these institutions covered semiconductors, solid-state physics, thermal physics, optics and lasers, nuclear physics, astronomy and solar technology. Over time the institutions have been reorganised and renamed.
Mini-project: pick one technology (for example a phone, a laser or a solar panel) and write 5–6 sentences about the physics behind it. Which of our chapter topics (heat, optics, molecular physics) relate to it? Discuss it with family members.