EthnoPhysics is a theory about physics that is based on describing what we see, hear, taste and feel. Ideas are presented in a way that is accessible to an adventurous lay reader. We start in plain newspaper English, then as we go along, words with specialized meanings are explained in terms of common sensations. Definitions are arranged in logical order so they can be taught with minimal hand-waving. The level of mathematics is mostly high-school algebra.
51 x 38 cm. Photograph by D Dunlop.
EthnoPhysics has developed scientific definitions for mass and time. They have been tested by detailed mathematical analysis for hundreds of nuclear particles. Calculated results compare favorably with experimental observations, fewer than a dozen particles fall outside of experimental uncertainty. There are also some other findings. The conservation laws and Pauli’s exclusion principle have been explicitly traced to their historical roots. Quantum effects are explained as an artifact of categorical thought. And there is a new approach to some atomic spectroscopy calculations. However the intellectual cost of these results is high: The idea of perfectly continuous space has been forsaken. So some limits on the use of calculus may be inferred.
Right now, work at EthnoPhysics is moving toward a logical exposition of Newtonian mechanics. This involves developing a theory of space, and lots of discussion about hydrogen. On the horizon, there is an outline for predicting the magnetic moments of some nuclear particles.
EthnoPhysics is about Humans
EthnoPhysics has little to say about the mysteries of the universe. It is a scientific description of human experience, including all sorts of people. Hence the name. It explicitly uses cultural notions of classification, often a Western style, along with some other ways of organizing things. And it incorporates socially established priorities about what gets attention. This inclusive view enriches theoretical development from an expanded library of semiotic textures.
