physics

The Character of Physical Law

The Character of Physical Law is a physics topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand The Character of Physical Law rather than just read about it. In short: The Character of Physical Law is a series of seven lectures by physicist Richard Feynman concerning the nature of the laws of physics. Feynman delivered the lectures in 1964 at Cornell University, as part of the Messenger Lectures series.

Key takeaways

The Character of Physical Law belongs to physics; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect The Character of Physical Law to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of The Character of Physical Law from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Character of Physical Law is a series of seven lectures by physicist Richard Feynman concerning the nature of the laws of physics. Feynman delivered the lectures in 1964 at Cornell University, as part of the Messenger Lectures series. The BBC recorded the lectures and published a book under the same title the following year; Cornell published the BBC's recordings online in September 2015. In 2017 MIT Press published, with a new foreword by Frank Wilczek, a paperback reprint of the 1965 book.

Topics The lectures covered the following topics:

The law of gravitation, an example of physical law The relation of mathematics and physics The great conservation principles Symmetry in physical law The distinction of past and future Probability and uncertainty – the quantum mechanical view of nature Seeking new laws

Reception Critical reception has been positive. The journal The Physics Teacher, in recommending it to both scientists and non-scientists alike, gave The Character of Physical Law a favorable review, writing that although the book was initially intended to supplement the recordings, it was "complete in itself and will appeal to a far wider audience".

Selections "In general we look for a new law by the following process. First we guess it." (Feynman 1965, p. 156)

See also QED: The Strange Theory of Light and Matter The Feynman Lectures on Physics

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with The Character of Physical Law

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what The Character of Physical Law claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In physics, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to The Character of Physical Law before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about The Character of Physical Law ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of The Character of Physical Law

In research: The Character of Physical Law appears in physics research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses The Character of Physical Law in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: The Character of Physical Law is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1965 non-fiction books, Books of lectures, Physics book stubs, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for The Character of Physical Law outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study The Character of Physical Law in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what The Character of Physical Law means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain The Character of Physical Law out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is The Character of Physical Law in simple terms?

Why does The Character of Physical Law matter?

Because it connects several physics ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study The Character of Physical Law?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on The Character of Physical Law.