The lecture "Modeling on the Road to Reality - History, Science and Philosophy" is conceived for bachelor students of the following course of studies:

• Mathematik
• Wirtschaftsmathematik
• Mathematische Biometrie
• CSE

as well as for master students studying CSE. The lecture has 9 ECTS and 4+2 credit hours.

Please register for the second written exam (21.03.2017) within the Hochschuldienstportal.

Please register for the Moodle course.

• 11/01/2017: Exercise Sheet #7 is available (Moodle).

The teaching aims are:

• Deep understanding of physical, mathematical and philosophical concepts of modern modeling theories in the natural sciences with a focus on the historical perspective - science as a process.
• Autonomous elaboration of complex scientific relations and fundamental theories and their critical reflection, also in an epistemological context.
• Scientific thinking and working on the basis of broad interdisciplinary concepts connecting scientific disciplines.

The contents are:

• Historical and epistemological overview of the development of scientific discoveries and mathematical modeling in the natural sciences from the Greeks to the early 20th century
• Space-Time Concepts and Atomistic Models of Matter: Form Aristoteles via Galilei to Einstein.
• Development of geometric concepts and models of space and time up to space curvature concepts in general relativity.
• Newtonian dynamics, analytical (Lagrange-Hamilton) and relativistic mechanics.
• Basics of quantum mechanics and fundamental models of matter.

Important dates:

• Mo, 16/01/ Exercise (N24/131) and We, 18/01/ Lecture (He22 E.03)

Feel free to contact us and ask questions within lectures and exercise sessions or write a mail with subject [RTR]: Subject.

The following books are recommenced:

• Arnold, Vladimir: Mathematical methods of classical mechanics
• Einstein, Albert: Relativity
• Frankel, Theodore: The Geometry of Physics
• Jaeger, Lars: Die Naturwissenschaften – Eine Biographie
• Lanczos, Cornelius: The variational principles of mechanics
• Nolting, Wolfgang: Grundkurs Theoretische Physik 2 - Analytische Mechanik
• Penrose, Roger: The Road to Reality
• Simonyi, Karoly: A Cultural History of Physics