为什么迈克尔逊-莫雷实验被称为“最成功的失败”？
Why is the Michelson–Morley experiment called the most successful failure?
他们想测地球相对以太的运动，结果干涉条纹几乎不动，预期效应完全没出现。正是这个“零结果”把以太推向绝路，为洛伦兹变换和爱因斯坦的狭义相对论铺平了道路。
They set out to detect Earth's motion through the ether, yet the interference fringes barely shifted and the expected effect never appeared. That null result doomed the ether and cleared the way for the Lorentz transformation and special relativity.
难度 专业 · 适合 高中(15-18)
CC BY 4.0 · 来源待核验 · Source pending review
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出处备注：著录仅给书名，无版次与年份；同一书名常对应多个版次，不臆测具体版本。
Michelson 与 Morley，《论地球与发光以太的相对运动》，American Journal of Science 34 (1887)
Michelson & Morley, 'On the Relative Motion of the Earth and the Luminiferous Ether', American Journal of Science 34 (1887)
#迈克尔逊 #以太 #相对论
麦克斯韦最初写了二十个方程，为什么今天课本上只有四个？
Maxwell originally wrote twenty equations — why do textbooks show four?
麦克斯韦在 1860 年代最初写出约二十个方程，用的是按分量、依赖坐标的繁复记法，因为当时现代矢量分析尚未建立。后来赫维赛德（以及吉布斯独立地）用矢量分析重新表述，把众多分量方程压缩成今天课本上的四个矢量方程。物理内容没变，只是记号被大大简化了。
Maxwell's original 1860s formulation used about twenty component-by-component, coordinate-heavy equations because modern vector calculus did not yet exist. Later Oliver Heaviside (and, independently, Josiah Gibbs) recast them with vector analysis, collapsing the many component equations into the four compact vector equations we use today. The physics was unchanged; only the notation was streamlined.
难度 专业 · 适合 高中(15-18)
CC BY 4.0 · 已核验 · Verified 2026-11-03
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Maxwell，《电磁场的动力学理论》，Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society 155 (1865)
Maxwell, 'A Dynamical Theory of the Electromagnetic Field', Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society 155 (1865)
独立核验依据 · Independent verification: 核验依据 1 CROSSREF 标识 10.5479/sil.423156.39088007130693：A dynamica
#麦克斯韦方程 #矢量分析 #赫维赛德
伦福德伯爵钻炮筒的实验推翻了哪一种旧理论？
Which old theory did Count Rumford overturn by boring cannon?
伦福德伯爵在钻炮筒时发现，钻孔持续产生大量热，几乎没有上限，远超过被削下的那点金属所能“携带”的热量。这与“热素说”（认为热是一种储存在物质中的守恒流体）相矛盾。他的实验支持“热是运动的一种形式”（即微粒的动能），而非一种物质性的流体。
Count Rumford observed that boring a cannon produced continuous heat apparently without limit, far more than the small shavings of metal could contain as 'caloric.' This contradicted caloric theory, which held heat to be a conserved fluid stored in matter. His experiments supported the view that heat is a form of motion—kinetic energy of particles—rather than a material fluid.
难度 专业 · 适合 大众
CC BY 4.0 · 已核验 · Verified 2026-11-03
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Rumford（伦福德伯爵），《论摩擦激发的热之源的探究》，Philosophical Transactions 88 (1798)
Rumford (Count Rumford), 'An Inquiry Concerning the Source of the Heat which is Excited by Friction', Philosophical Transactions 88 (1798)
独立核验依据 · Independent verification: 核验依据 1 OPENLIBRARY 标识 /works/OL10566574W：An inquiry concerning
#伦福德 #热素说 #热运动
卡文迪什在1798年用什么办法“称”出了地球？
How did Cavendish weigh the Earth in 1798?
他用一根细石英丝吊起哑铃状的小铅球，让两个大铅球靠近，靠扭丝的微小扭转角测出万有引力。知道了引力常数的量级，再结合地表重力加速度和地球半径，就能推出地球质量约6×10²⁴千克。
He hung a dumbbell of small lead balls on a fine fibre and brought large lead spheres near, reading the gravitational pull from the tiny twist of the fibre. With that constant in hand, surface gravity and the Earth's radius gave a mass of about 6×10²⁴ kg.
难度 专业 · 适合 高中(15-18)
CC BY 4.0 · 来源待核验 · Source pending review
来源 · Source
出处备注：著录仅给书名，无版次与年份；同一书名常对应多个版次，不臆测具体版本。
Cavendish，《测定地球密度的实验》，Philosophical Transactions 88 (1798)
Cavendish, 'Experiments to Determine the Density of the Earth', Philosophical Transactions 88 (1798)
#卡文迪什 #扭秤 #引力常数
麦克斯韦是怎么从纯电磁的实验常数里“算出”光速的？
How did Maxwell compute the speed of light from purely electrical constants?
他发现自己的方程给出的波速等于1除以真空电容率与磁导率之积的平方根。把韦伯和科尔劳施用静电与电流实验测出的常数代入，得到约31万公里每秒，与当时测得的光速几乎一致，他因此断言光就是电磁波。
His equations gave a wave speed equal to one over the square root of the product of the electric permittivity and magnetic permeability of vacuum. Substituting the values Weber and Kohlrausch had measured electrically gave about 310,000 km/s, so close to measured light speed that he concluded light is an electromagnetic wave.
难度 专业 · 适合 高中(15-18)
CC BY 4.0 · 已核验 · Verified 2026-11-03
来源 · Source
Maxwell，《电磁场的动力学理论》，Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society 155 (1865)
Maxwell, 'A Dynamical Theory of the Electromagnetic Field', Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society 155 (1865)
独立核验依据 · Independent verification: 核验依据 1 CROSSREF 标识 10.5479/sil.423156.39088007130693：A dynamica
#麦克斯韦 #光速 #电磁波
焦耳靠“搅水”实验证明了什么？
What did Joule prove by stirring water?
他让下落的重物带动桨叶搅动水，测出水温微小的上升，从而算出一定量的机械功对应多少热量。这确立了功和热是同一种“能量”的两种形式，为能量守恒和热力学第一定律提供了实验基础。
Falling weights drove paddles that stirred water, and he measured the tiny rise in temperature to find how much heat a given amount of mechanical work produces. That fixed work and heat as two forms of one quantity, energy, underpinning the first law of thermodynamics.
难度 进阶 · 适合 初中(12-15)
CC BY 4.0 · 已核验 · Verified 2026-11-03
来源 · Source
Joule，《热的机械当量》，Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society 140 (1850)
Joule, 'On the Mechanical Equivalent of Heat', Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society 140 (1850)
独立核验依据 · Independent verification: 核验依据 1 OPENLIBRARY 标识 /works/OL1486761W：On the mechanical equiv
#焦耳 #热功当量 #能量守恒
伽利略为什么用斜面而不是直接让物体自由下落来研究重力？
Why did Galileo study gravity with inclined planes instead of free fall?
当时没有能测出零点几秒的计时工具。斜面把加速度按倾角比例“稀释”，让运动慢下来又不改变匀加速的本质，于是他能用水钟和滚球的滴答声测出距离与时间平方成正比。
No clock of his day could resolve fractions of a second. An incline dilutes gravity in proportion to its slope, slowing the motion without changing its uniformly accelerated character, so he could show with a water clock that distance grows as time squared.
难度 进阶 · 适合 大众
CC BY 4.0 · 已核验 · Verified 2026-10-04
来源 · Source
Galileo（伽利略），《两种新科学》（1638）
Galileo Galilei, 'Discorsi e Dimostrazioni Matematiche' (Two New Sciences, 1638)
独立核验依据 · Independent verification: 核验依据 1 ISBN 9780921332213 (2000)
#伽利略 #斜面实验 #实验方法
居里夫人是靠什么线索找到镭的？
What clue led Marie Curie to radium?
她用皮埃尔改进的静电计测量矿石使空气电离的强度，发现沥青铀矿的放射性比其中铀含量能解释的还要强。这个定量的“多出来的电流”提示存在未知元素，她随后从数吨矿渣中分离出钋和镭。
Using an electrometer refined by Pierre, she measured how strongly ores ionised air and found pitchblende far more active than its uranium content could explain. That quantitative excess pointed to unknown elements, and she eventually isolated polonium and radium from tonnes of residue.
难度 进阶 · 适合 大众
CC BY 4.0 · 已核验 · Verified 2026-11-03
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Curie（居里夫人），《论一种强放射性的新物质》，Comptes Rendus 127 (1898)
Curie, 'Sur une nouvelle substance fortement radio-active, contenue dans la pechblende', Comptes Rendus 127 (1898)
独立核验依据 · Independent verification: 核验依据 1 OPENLIBRARY 标识 /works/OL1096580W：Sur une nouvelle substa
#居里夫人 #放射性 #电离
法拉第没受过正规高等教育，是怎么发现电磁感应的？
With little formal schooling, how did Faraday discover electromagnetic induction?
他从装订工做起，靠动手实验和几乎不用数学的“力线”图像思考。1831年他把两组线圈绕在铁环上，发现只有在电流通断的瞬间另一侧才有电流，从而抓住了变化的磁通才生电这一关键。
A former bookbinder, he reasoned through hands-on experiments and an almost mathematics-free picture of lines of force. In 1831 he wound two coils on an iron ring and saw current appear only at the instants of switching, revealing that a changing magnetic flux is what induces it.
难度 进阶 · 适合 大众
CC BY 4.0 · 已核验 · Verified 2026-11-03
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Faraday，《电学实验研究》，Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society (1831)
Faraday, 'Experimental Researches in Electricity', Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society (1831)
独立核验依据 · Independent verification: 核验依据 1 OPENLIBRARY 标识 /works/OL2008499W：Experimental researches
#法拉第 #电磁感应 #科学史
牛顿为什么非得先有微积分才能写出万有引力定律？
Why did Newton need calculus before he could state universal gravitation?
万有引力描述任意两质量间的吸引力随距离连续变化，要预测天体轨道，就必须对无穷多个微小作用力求和（积分），或描述量随瞬时的变化（微分）。牛顿正是为了计算这种连续变化和累积才发明了微积分，没有它就无法从平方反比律推导出行星运动。定律与这套数学是相伴诞生的。
Universal gravitation says every pair of masses attracts with a force that varies continuously with distance, so predicting orbits requires summing infinitely many tiny forces (integration) or describing instantaneous change (differentiation). Newton invented calculus precisely as the mathematics of continuous change and accumulation; without it he could not have derived planetary motion from the inverse-square law. The law and the math were born together.
难度 进阶 · 适合 高中(15-18)
CC BY 4.0 · 已核验 · Verified 2026-11-03
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Newton（牛顿），《自然哲学的数学原理》（1687）
Newton, 'Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica' (1687)
独立核验依据 · Independent verification: 核验依据 1 CROSSREF 标识 10.5479/sil.52126.39088015628399：Philosophia
#牛顿 #微积分 #引力
居里夫人的实验笔记本为什么到今天还有放射性？
Why are Marie Curie's notebooks still radioactive today?
纸页上沾了镭-226，它的半衰期约1600年，一百多年只衰减了不到5%。这些手稿被存放在铅盒里，参观者要签署免责声明才能查阅。
The pages are contaminated with radium-226, whose half-life is about 1600 years, so barely 5 % has decayed in a century. The manuscripts are kept in lead-lined boxes and readers must sign a waiver.
难度 入门 · 适合 大众
CC BY 4.0 · 已核验 · Verified 2026-11-02
来源 · Source
Curie（居里夫人），《放射性物质研究》（1903）
Curie, 'Recherches sur les substances radioactives' (1903)
独立核验依据 · Independent verification: 核验依据 1 OPENLIBRARY 标识 /works/OL723624W：Recherches sur les subst
#镭 #半衰期 #科学遗产
伽利略真的在比萨斜塔上扔过铁球吗？
Did Galileo really drop balls from the Leaning Tower of Pisa?
这个故事出自他晚年学生的回忆，缺少同时代记录，多半是传说。伽利略真正依赖的是斜面实验和思想实验，用它们论证了相同条件下不同重量的物体下落一样快。
The tale comes from a late memoir by his student and has no contemporary record, so it is probably legend. Galileo's real evidence came from inclined-plane experiments and thought experiments showing that weight does not change the rate of fall.
难度 入门 · 适合 小学低段(6-8)
CC BY 4.0 · 已核验 · Verified 2026-10-04
来源 · Source
Galileo（伽利略），《两种新科学》（1638）
Galileo Galilei, 'Discorsi e Dimostrazioni Matematiche' (Two New Sciences, 1638)
独立核验依据 · Independent verification: 核验依据 1 ISBN 9780921332213 (2000)
#伽利略 #自由落体 #科学史