How To Teach Physics Like Richard Feynman

Physics is a beautiful subject, apparent and applicable in the day-to-day life. The mysterious phenomena of nature have sparked human interest since time immemorial. But if the education system is unable to keep the curiosity alive then something must not be right.

In this post, you will learn how best to teach physics by using the IRADE technique, a teaching method of taking multiple approaches. It is based on American physicist Richard Feynman's philosophy: "The best way to teach is to be very chaotic, in the sense, that you use every possible way of doing it."

Introduce

Narrate the history of the concept in a story-like format. How and why something being taught was discovered is a good way to start. Make use of humor whenever possible. This will take students on a ride and peak their interest. Then, define the concept with a bookish definition along with the equation associated with that concept.

Relate

Give at least three real-world examples of the concept. For example, suppose you are teaching the third law of motion. It is visible in many instances of life, such as while walking, jumping, swimming, recoiling of gun, rocket propulsion, etc.

This is an important step because otherwise their understanding is merely bookish, that is, robotic in a sense. If students know examples, the next time they observe similar phenomena they will immediately recall the associated concept in physics.

Apply

Solve at least two numerical problems from the textbook. From the beginner level to the advanced. Make sure that students understand the approach. Accept questions from students if they have any doubts.

Demonstrate

Visual demos are necessary for science teaching because they implant the concept in the mind of the learner. In the case of third law of motion, you could use balloon in a controlled propulsion activity.

You may even start the lesson with demonstration (before narrating that history) or insert it in the middle somewhere. There is always at least one experiment for each physics concept. Try to find it on the internet and replicate in class if possible.

Examine

In the end, test your students (but make it fun, like a quiz). You may group them into teams and even give incentive to the winner. Students will look forward to this event and it will not only strengthen their understanding but also develop teamwork. You may also examine students more formally once this activity is done.

Summing up

Teaching is a noble profession but half-hearted teaching benefits no one. By using the IRADE technique, any science teacher can become a rock star for their students. More importantly, physics classes will not bore students like it used to before. So please share this post with a fellow science teacher.

Why You Should Read A Brief History of Time

For a man who was given just a few years to live in his twenties, not only did Stephen Hawking beat the odds but also revolutionized physics for next half a century. Let us see what makes his book A brief history of time special and why you should read it.

The cover quite nicely summarizes the book: This book marries a child's wonder to a genius's intellect. The introduction to A brief history of time is written by an equally famous scientist, American astronomer Carl Sagan, who declares Hawking a worthy successor to Newton and Dirac.

Hawking wrote the book for non-specialist readers who have no prior knowledge of physics or astronomy. He clearly possessed a natural teacher's gifts: easy good-natured humour and the ability to illustrate the complexities of physics with well thought out analogies.

As the book progresses, Hawking takes on the role of a narrator, unfolding the stories of man's struggle for knowledge and wisdom.

Hawking briefly touches upon the important contributions made by Copernicus, Kepler and Galileo that debunked the 2000-year-old accepted world views of Aristotelian science.

The consequences were not in their favour as Copernicus was mysteriously put to death for his daring questioning and Galileo imprisoned for life for his very stubborn resistance against the church.

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The first scientific movement was crushed by the figures of authority but it paved a way for later scientists like Newton and Huygens. Hence, the famous saying attributed to Newton: If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.

Throughout the book, Hawking has discussed various integrations in physics as they happened: Newton's laws that explained celestial mechanics, Maxwell's equations unifying the phenomena of electricity and magnetism, Einstein's energy-mass equivalence, wave-particle duality and so on.

Hawking has touched upon his collaboration with mathematician Roger Penrose with whom he worked on deriving a set of results in general relativity which attempt to answer the question of when gravitation produces singularities. With this, Hawking earned his PhD in 1965.

Two chapters are devoted to black holes, Hawking's specialization. In 1970, a young physicist named Jacob Bekenstein made a proposal that the surface area of a black hole's event horizon might be the measure of its entropy.

But if an object has entropy, it must also have a temperature, and if it has temperature, then it must radiate energy. Since the whole point of black hole is that nothing gets out of it, not even light, the idea seemed absurd at first.

While initially Hawking set out to prove Bekenstein wrong, to his surprise, he found that Bekenstein was correct. In doing so, Hawking brought together relativity and quantum mechanics and discovered the formula of black hole radiation.

In the book, there is also a discussion on time in which Hawking argues that intelligent life could not exist in the contracting phase of the universe, that is, when time is running backwards. Only the expanding universe is suitable for the humans to exist, as it contains a strong thermodynamic arrow.

For example: in order to live and function properly, we must consume food – an ordered form of energy and convert it into heat – the disordered form of energy. That clearly points to a thermodynamic arrow of time moving forwards.

All in all, A Brief History of Time is a masterpiece that makes sense because it sold more than 10 million copies and got translated into 30 languages. It is the single best book on physics and astronomy covering a large number of topics on science and philosophy.

In his conclusion to the book, Hawking says: "If we find the answer to why we and the universe exist, it would be the ultimate triumph of human reason, for then we would know the mind of God."

The last line irked his academic colleagues and confused critics since Hawking was known for being an outspoken atheist. Hawking later explained in an interview that he had used the word God only as a metaphor.

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This book infuses our questioning and thinking with a spiritual aspect: why there is something rather than nothing? Does the universe need a supernatural creator or is it governed by natural laws? Can time run backwards? How do we know what's true and what's not true?

In A brief history of time, Stephen Hawking tries to unveil answers to questions of such intriguing nature that add to the beauty and mystery of science. His book is not only a source of great learning but also a messenger of science to the wider public.

Movies Every Physics Student Should Watch

Physics movies often make us wow due to the combined impact of scenery and music, technical detail and philosophical dialogue, futuristic lighting and a multitude of other special effects, that can't be found in run of the mill films. So, take a look at the following spoiler-free list of 20 science movies that everyone should watch in their lifetime.

Primer (IMDb 6.9)

This 2004 film is based on the physics of time. The principles of time travel in the film are inspired by Feynman diagrams in which there is no difference between watching an interaction happen forward or backward in time.

The film is so mind-bending that it makes Back To The Future look like a children's cartoon. It has deep philosophical implications and complex technical terminology in the dialogue which make us want to Google their meanings.

The film was written, directed, produced, edited and scored by Shane Carruth, who also is the protagonist of the story. In real life, he is a mathematics major (no surprises) who has previously worked as software developer before becoming a full-time filmmaker.

The Theory of Everything (IMDb 7.7)

This 2014 movie is less about physics and more about life. It is based on Professor Stephen Hawking who is played almost effortlessly by Eddie Redmayne. The film has multiple themes including science, love, life and religion. It is a beautiful mix of everything; you can watch on Amazon prime.

Hawking (IMDb 7.5)

Compared to The Theory of Everything, this 2004 film is a little less known. However, it has more substance to it than its successor. Starring Benedict Cumberbatch as Professor Stephen Hawking, the movie has more physics in it and less of philosophy.

The film has debates and arguments on the Steady State and the Big Bang theories which were part of Hawking's early years as a PhD student. Benedict received his first nomination for a BAFTA Award for his role in the film.

Infinity (IMDb 6.2)

This movie is based on the autobiography of Richard Feynman in which the Nobel Prize winning physicist has described his early childhood, his work during the second World War and his relationship with the love of his life, Arline Greenbaum. You can watch it on Amazon prime; it was released in 1996 starring Matthew Broderick and Patricia Arquette.

Copenhagen (IMDb 7.4)

This 2002 film is based on the chemistry between two genius physicists, Niels Bohr and Werner Heisenberg. It has actors Daniel Craig and Stephen Rea as Heisenberg and Bohr respectively.

The movie is quite serious as it is set against the backdrop of the second World War. It has a running time of 90 minutes followed by an epilogue by physicist Michio Kaku.

Interstellar (IMDb 8.6)

This 2014 epic science fiction film directed by Christopher Nolan is probably the most scientifically accurate film. It has a star cast of Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain and Matt Damon. Nobel Prize winning theoretical physicist Kip Thorne was the executive producer of the film.

The film has portrayed the correct depiction of the Penrose Process which is a means by which energy can be extracted from a rotating black hole. It was widely praised by eminent scientists such as Michio Kaku, Stephen Hawking and Neil deGrasse Tyson; watch it on Amazon prime.

Coherence (IMDb 7.2)

This is a science fiction thriller movie which is based on the many worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics. It has the idea of multiple realities in a single location. The film was released in 2013 starring Emily Baldoni in the lead role.

Einstein and Eddington (IMDb 7.3)

This is a British drama movie based on the friendship of Albert Einstein and Arthur Eddington and their groundbreaking work on the theory of general relativity.

The film has David Tennant and Andy Serkis as Eddington and Einstein respectively. It is a story about the pursuit of truth against a background of war, violence, nationalism, subterfuge, and prejudice.

Predestination (IMDb 7.5)

This is not just another time travel movie: if you want your mind to be blown, then this is the one to watch. The entirety of the film is full of twists and turns and the ending is absolutely jaw-dropping. It has Ethan Hawke in the lead role.

A Serious Man (IMDb 7)

This 2009 comedy movie is fully based on the concept of Schrödinger's cat. The idea is simple: if you place a cat and something which could kill the cat in a box and sealed it, you would not know if the cat was dead or alive until you opened the box so that until the box was opened, the cat was, in some sense, both "dead and alive".

Contact (IMDb 7.4)

This film is based on the prize winning novel written by Carl Sagan. It is the story of a radio astronomer who has found strong evidence of extraterrestrial life.

It has Jodie Foster and Matthew McConaughey in the lead roles. The film has been described as the most accurate cinematic study of alien life.

2001: A Space Odyssey (IMDb 8.3)

This movie was released way back in 1968 but it is on par with Interstellar due to its stunning ahead of the time special effects for which it even received an Oscar. The main theme of the film was artificial evolution of intelligence: from tool-making ancestors to sentient machines in the future.

Gravity (IMDb 7.7)

This film is the winner of seven academy awards; starring Sandra Bullock and George Clooney. It is the story of astronauts who are stranded in space after mid orbit destruction of their Space Shuttle and attempt to return to Earth. Watch it on Amazon Prime.

Flatland: The Movie (IMDb 6.9)

Flatland is a romance of many dimensions. It is an animated movie with a voice cast of Martin Sheen, Kristen Bell and Tony Hale. Based on the 1884 novel written by Edwin Abbott; it is a combination of science, maths and philosophy.

October Sky (IMDb 7.8)

Released in 1999 starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Laura Dern, this is a film about a coal miner's son who wants to become a NASA engineer, against his father's wishes. The good thing is that the story is based on real events, which is why, the movie is deeply motivational, especially for young, growing minds.

Back To The Future (IMDb 8.5)

This is probably the best science fiction comedy of all time. The theme is time travel and its bizarre implications such as the grandfather paradox. The movie was released in 1985, has Michael J. Fox in the lead, and earned a Saturn Award for Best Science Fiction Film. Watch it on Amazon Prime.

The Martian (IMDb 8)

It is the story of an astronaut who becomes stranded on Mars after his team members assume him dead. He must rely on his ingenuity to find a way to signal to Earth that he is alive. Starring Matt Damon and Jessica Chastain, this is one of the most scientifically accurate films.

Marie Curie: More Than Meets The Eye (IMDb 7.5)

This is a movie on the life of Marie Curie who is remembered for her discovery of radium and polonium and her contributions to finding treatment for cancer. The film is set amidst the backdrop of world war starring Kate Trotter as Marie Curie.

Particle Fever (IMDb 7.4)

This 100 minute film is a story of the large hadron collider at CERN and its discovery of the Higgs Boson particle in 2012. Particle fever is so well made that you don't have to be a physics student to enjoy it.

Apollo 13 (IMDb 7.6)

This film was released in 1995 starring Tom Hanks as Apollo 13 Commander Jim Lovell. Based on a true story; nominated for nine academy awards; most technically accurate film because it was executed by NASA engineers and actors took a crash course in physics.

10 Real Scientists On The Big Bang Theory

The Big Bang Theory had a successful run on TV having broadcast a total 279 episodes over the course of twelve years. The show was centered around the lives of Caltech physicists Sheldon Cooper and Leonard Hofstadter, Indian-origin astrophysicist Rajesh Koothrappali and MIT-trained engineer and astronaut Howard Wolowitz.

While them four were reel-life scientific people, did you know that they had the pleasure of sharing the screen time with actual geniuses in the field? This post is a list of extraordinarily intelligent personalities in sciences and technology who made casual appearances on the longest running sit-com.

George Smoot

He is an American Nobel Prize winning astrophysicist who is known for his work on the cosmic microwave background radiation. He did a cameo in season two episode The Terminator Decoupling. Smoot had admitted in an interview that he was a fan of the show's often physics-based plots.

Sheldon: "You won the Nobel Prize what, three years ago? You must be dealing with a whole lot of, what has Smoot done lately?" So I thought.. we continue my research, as a team and when we win the Nobel Prize, you will be back on top!"

George has also written a joke for the episode The Dead Hooker Juxtaposition which is told by Penny. He appeared again in the last season on the episode The Laureate Accumulation.

Mayim Bialik

She played the role of Amy Farrah Fowler on the show from season four onwards. Mayim has a PhD in neuroscience from UCLA so she's the real-life doctor among the cast members. Neuroscientists study the development and function of the brain.

For her role as Fowler, Mayim has been nominated four times for the Primetime Emmy Award. She has also acted as scientific consultant for the show along with professor David Saltzberg of UCLA.

Brian Greene

Brian Greene is an American theoretical physicist, mathematician, and string theorist who is the chairman of the World Science Festival since co-founding it in 2008. He appeared in the episode The Herb Garden Germination speaking to a small crowd about the contents of his most recent book.

Greene's area of research is string theory which is a candidate for the theory of everything. He is most well known for his popular books such as The Elegant Universe, The Fabric of the Cosmos and The Hidden Reality.

Elon Musk

He is the renowned South African-American engineer and technology entrepreneur who has founded companies like PayPal, Tesla and SpaceX. Musk appeared in an episode as himself volunteering at a soup kitchen with Howard Wolowitz.

Musk asks if Howard ever thinks about going back into space. Howard lights up: “Is that a job offer? Cuz I really want to go to Mars!” Musk tells him, “We’re not quite there yet, but we’re always looking for engineers, so let me give you my email, and we can stay in touch.

Neil deGrasse Tyson

Popular American astrophysicist and science communicator first appeared on the show alongside Rajesh Koothrapalli. Sheldon just happened to stop by and they exchange a friendly banter. He is quite unhappy with Tyson's role in the demotion of Pluto from planetary status.

In season 12, Neil and Raj get caught up in a Twitter war in which he called Neil "Mike Tyson's little sister." Neil, enraged, goes on to phone Rajesh and challenges him to a face to face duel, "I am the guy who kicked Pluto out of the solar system," he says.


Bill Nye

He is an American science educator who studied mechanical engineering at Cornell University in 1977. His enthusiasm for science deepened after meeting astronomer Carl Sagan. Bill Nye became well known as "The Science Guy" and for his other appearances on television.

He guest starred in episode The Proton Displacement. Sheldon Cooper befriends Nye and brings him in to teach Leonard Hofstader a lesson after Professor Proton, played by Bob Newhart, helps Leonard with an experiment instead of Sheldon.

Steve Wozniak

American electronics engineer and programmer who co-founded the Apple Computers company in 1976 which went on to become the largest company in the world..

While dining in The Cheesecake Factory where Penny works, Woz is approached by Sheldon via telepresence on a self-made robot. Leonard tries to explain to Penny who Wozniak is, but she says she already knows him from Dancing with the Stars.


Stephen Hawking

He was an English theoretical physicist, probably the most famous genius of the modern age, best known for Hawking radiation. Hawking had a recurring role in the show having appeared a total six times. The first cameo is the funniest when Sheldon goes to great lengths to meet his hero. When the moment comes, Sheldon messes up big time and faints!

He was a fan of The Big Bang Theory since season one and requested to watch a rehearsal. Howard Wolowitz does an impression of Hawking's voice in the episode; Simon Helberg who plays the character felt slightly uncomfortable mimicking Hawking but Hawking seemed to enjoy the impression.

Kip Thorne

He is an American Nobel Prize winning physicist who appeared in the final season of the show. After their Nobel prize competitors, Pemberton and Campbell, go on a publicity tour, Sheldon and Amy seek support from a trio of Nobel laureates which included Kip Thorne.

Frances Arnold

She is an American Nobel Prize winning chemist and engineer who appeared in the same season as Kip Thorne as one of the laureates whose support Amy and Sheldon seek.

Think Classically And Live Like A Quantum

Written by Sakar Sharma, an IIT alumnus, for Wonders of Physics:

The textbook definition of physics is that it is a branch of science concerned with the properties of light and matter. Philosophy on the other hand deals with questions of the most general kind such as why do we respect the dead more than the living?

If however we combined these two we could do so much to transform the life of a common man. The very purpose of this article is to alter or at least influence human perception using the fundamentals of physics and philosophy.

Let's first look at the key difference between classical and quantum physics. The simplest way to do that would be to understand the nature of the particles. In classical physics, you may know, particles are distinguishable having their own identities and characteristics, meaning, that they could each be identified by their separate positions, velocities, momenta, so on.

On the contrary, in quantum physics, particles are indistinguishable from one another, that is, their physical properties like velocity or position, cannot be attributed to single particle but only to a group of particles. For example let's assume that in a system the probability of a particle having a particular velocity is sixty percent. This implies that out of 100 particles 60 have this velocity. In other words the individuality of the particle has been lost in the quantum world.

Now there is a saying all great men have lived by, "simple living, high thinking," and many who have practiced this principle in life have achieved greatness. However to be honest it has failed to derive a behaviour in the modern youth because it does not resonate with most of us. This is where the ideas from physics can come to help.

Modify the saying to, "think classical, stay quantum," and you will see it making sense. While dealing with the society behave like a quantum particle as if you are one among many. This will keep you grounded and stay humble for the rest of your life. But when on your own, think and plan, like a classical particle, in other words, preserve your individuality.

So to illustrate what it means, currently, we are all doing quite the opposite, which is, "think quantum, stay classical," and you see clearly that most people they think with herd-like mentality. They have not their own sense, logic or reason. They however prefer to live like classical particles with distinct and flashy lifestyles based around materialism.

This is probably why scientific temper is fading away from the world. Communal violence is easily brewed and also why fake news spread so fast. We must quickly learn to do what was taught by thinkers from every corner of the world, "think classical, stay quantum."

15 Famous Physicists Who Believed In God

This is the third post from a series of three articles in which religious views of well-known scientists are listed. If you are interested, the other two posts celebrate atheists and agnostics in the field of physics. In this post, 15 believers who excelled at physics.

First, a brief note on history: the word theism was first used in the 1600s by English theologian Ralph Cudworth who said, "we are strictly and properly called theists, who affirm, that a perfectly conscious understanding being, or mind, existing of itself from eternity, was the cause of all other things."

Robert Millikan

He was an American experimental physicist who was honored with the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1923 for his measurement of the elementary electric charge. He wrote about the reunion of science and religion in books like Evolution in Science and Religion.

He was the son of Reverend Silas Franklin Millikan. As an active Christian, Millikan found religious significance in his studies of the cosmic rays, as he did in his other research, concluding that the “creator is still on the job." He remained theist all his adult life.

Johannes Kepler

He was a German astronomer and mathematician who laid out the three laws of planetary motion with the help of his and Tycho Brahe's observations of the night sky. Kepler's belief that God created the cosmos in orderly fashion caused him to attempt to determine and comprehend the laws that govern the natural world.

He said, "Those laws of nature are within the grasp of the human mind; God wanted us to recognize them by creating us after his own image so that we could share in his own thoughts." Kepler was an outstanding mathematician especially in the studies of geometry, he once claimed, "geometry is one and eternal shining in the mind of God."

Isaac Newton

He was the most prominent scientist during the scientific revolution. By the age of 26 he had discovered the universal law of gravitation, laws of motion and invented a new branch of mathematics, calculus. Newton was a practicing Christian.

He said, "We account the scriptures of God to be the most sublime philosophy. I find more sure remarks of authenticity in the Bible than in any profane history whatever." Then when asked why he studied sciences, Newton replied, "He is the God of order and not of confusion."

Abdus Salam

He was a Pakistani theoretical physicist who shared the 1979 Nobel Prize in physics for his contribution to the electroweak unification theory. Abdus Salam was an Ahmadi Muslim who saw his religion as a fundamental part of his scientific work.

He once wrote that "the Holy Quran enjoins us to reflect on the verities of Allah's created laws of nature; however, that our generation has been privileged to glimpse a part of His design is a bounty and a grace for which I render thanks with a humble heart."

Philip Lenard

Lenard was a Hungarian-German experimental physicist and the winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1905. His pioneering research on cathode rays and their properties led to the development of the early television.

Lenard was born and raised with Christian practices and values because his parents Phillip and Antonie were deeply religious. But he was swept along in a wave of Nazism that accompanied the World War I, became anti-semetic and hostile towards what he claimed was "Jewish Physics."

Max Born

He was a German physicist and mathematician who was influential in the development of quantum mechanics. He also made contributions to solid-state physics and optics, winner of the 1954 Nobel Prize in physics. In 1933, the Nazis came to power in Germany, and Born, who was Jewish, was suspended from his professorship.

Max was born to a family of Jewish descent. He had famously said, "The dance of atoms, electrons and nuclei, which in all its fury is subject to God's eternal laws." Born was baptised as a Lutheran in 1914 by the same pastor who had performed his wedding ceremony. His decision to be baptised was made due to his desire to assimilate into German society.

Galileo Galilei

He was an Italian physicist who is most noted for his many astronomical findings such as the rings on Saturn, sunspots and Jupiter's four moons with the help of a telescope he had invented. Galileo was a deeply religious man who was ordered life imprisonment for his groundbreaking discoveries.

Galileo was an outspoken supporter of the Copernican sun-centered model of the universe. He said, "The intention of the Holy Ghost is to teach us how one goes to heaven, not how heaven goes, and I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with senses, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use."

He added, "Copernicus did not ignore the Bible, but he knew very well that if his doctrine were proved, then it could not contradict the Scriptures when they were rightly understood." Apart from his astronomical observations, Galileo also discovered the law of inertia with experiment, which is why he is often called the "father of the scientific method."

Michael Faraday

He was an English physicist who contributed to the study of electricity and magnetism and ultimately their unification. Faraday discovered the laws of electromagnetic induction and electrolysis and is often called the father of electricity.

When asked about his speculations on life after death, Faraday replied, "Speculations? I have none. I am resting on certainties. I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day." He remained a devout Christian until his death.

Georges Lemaitre

He was a Jesuit trained Belgian Catholic priest and professor of physics at the Catholic University of Louvain. Lemaitre was the first to identify that the recession of nearby galaxies can be explained by a theory of an expanding universe. Then he proposed the Big Bang Theory.

In a 1933 interview for the New York Times, he said, "There is no conflict between science and religion. I was interested in truth from the point of view of salvation just as much as in truth from the point of view of scientific certainty. It appeared to me that there were two paths to truth, and I decided to follow both of them."

Werner Heisenberg

He was a German theoretical physicist and one of the key pioneers of quantum mechanics. Heisenberg was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for 1932 for the creation of matrix mechanics. He was raised and lived as a Lutheran Christian.

Most of his quotations about god and religion are misattributed such as this one, "the first gulp from the glass of natural sciences will turn you into an atheist, but at the bottom of the glass God is waiting for you," these repeated time after time do not really represent his original views and are completely biased.

However Heisenberg did say, "of course.. we all know that our own reality depends on the structure of our consciousness; we can objectify no more than a small part of our world. But even when we try to probe into the subjective realm, we cannot ignore the central order. In the final analysis, the central order with which we commune in the language of religion, must win out." This was his own unique and intellectual way of putting out his beliefs.

Arthur Compton

He was an American physicist who won the Nobel Prize in Physics for his 1923 discovery of the Compton effect, an increase in wavelength of X-rays or gamma rays that occurs when they are scattered, which demonstrated the particle nature of electromagnetic radiation.

For some time, Compton was a deacon at a Baptist church, a member who was generally associated with service of some kind. "Science can have no quarrel", he said, "..with a religion which postulates a God to whom men are as His children." Compton remained religious all his life.

Hideki Yukawa

He was a Japanese theoretical physicist who was the first Japanese citizen to win Nobel Prize in physics for his accurate prediction of the pi meson. As a child Yukawa used to read the Confucian Doctrine of the Mean, and later Lao-Tzu and Chuang-Tzu.

Yukawa Hideki was a devout Buddhist and believed that a Buddhist philosophical outlook influenced his research in physics. In his view, natural forces could reasonably be viewed as a somewhat random product of chance or pure contingency in mathematical terms, similar to Hindu and Buddhist notions of karma.


Victor Francis Hess

He was an Austrian-American theoretical physicist who won the 1936 Nobel Prize in physics for his discovery of the cosmic rays, highly energetic atomic nuclei which travel through space at a speed approaching that of light.

Hess was a practicing Roman Catholic and in 1946 wrote on the relationship between science and religion in his famous article "My Faith", in which he explained why he believed in God.

Arthur Eddington

He was a prominent English astronomer and physicist who is known for his groundbreaking research in astrophysics. Eddington was the first person to investigate the internal structure and evolution of stars. He correctly speculated that the source of starlight was fusion of hydrogen into helium.

He was born to Quaker parents and the members of the various Quaker movements are all generally united by their belief in the ability of each human being to experientially access the light within, or that of God in every one. In 1930, Arthur wrote a 64 page book titled, "Why I Believe in God: Science and Religion, as a Scientist Sees It."


James Clerk Maxwell

To him we owe the most significant discovery of our age, the theory of electromagnetism. Maxwell was a Scottish theoretical physicist who built upon Faraday's results to unify the once separate fields of electricity, magnetism and optics.

Maxwell said, "I have committed myself to God as the instrument of His will, not doubtfully, but in the certain hope that that Will will be plain enough at the proper time." Maxwell's intellectual understanding of his Christian faith and of science grew rapidly during his Cambridge years. His knowledge of the Bible was remarkable as his Cambridge colleagues remember.


Summing up

Agnostics	Atheists	Theists
John Bardeen	Richard Feynman	Robert Millikan
Jagadish Chandra Bose	Niels Bohr	Johannes Kepler
Marie Curie	S. Chandrasekhar	Isaac Newton
Edwin Hubble	Louis de Broglie	Abdus Salam
Freeman Dyson	Pierre Simon Laplace	Philip Lenard
Albert Einstein	Stephen Hawking	Max Born
C.V. Raman	Francis Crick	Galileo Galilei
Rosalind Franklin	Erwin Schrodinger	Michael Faraday
Enrico Fermi	Meghnad Saha	Georges Lemaitre
Eugene Wigner	Steven Weinberg	Werner Heisenberg
Carl Sagan	Hans Bethe	Arthur Compton
Lisa Randall	Kip Thorne	Hideki Yukawa
Paul Dirac	James Franck	Victor Francis Hess
Murray Gell Mann	John Bell	Arthur Eddington
Henri Poincare	Herbert Kroemer	James Clerk Maxwell