Editing Physics (section)

===Scope and aims===
[[File:Acceleration components.JPG|thumb|left|Physics involves modeling the natural world with theory, usually quantitative. Here, the path of a particle is modeled with the mathematics of [[calculus]] to explain its behavior: the purview of the branch of physics known as [[mechanics]].]]

Physics covers a wide range of [[phenomenon|phenomena]], from [[elementary particle]]s (such as [[quark]]s, [[neutrino]]s, and [[electron]]s) to the largest [[supercluster]]s of galaxies. Included in these phenomena are the most basic objects composing all other things. Therefore, physics is sometimes called the "fundamental science".<ref name="feynmanleightonsands1963v1ch3" /> Physics aims to describe the various phenomena that occur in nature in terms of simpler phenomena. Thus, physics aims to both connect the things observable to humans to root causes, and then connect these causes together.

For example, the [[History of China|ancient Chinese]] observed that certain rocks ([[lodestone]] and [[magnetite]]) were attracted to one another by an invisible force. This effect was later called magnetism, which was first rigorously studied in the 17th century. But even before the Chinese discovered magnetism, the [[Ancient Greece|ancient Greeks]] knew of other objects such as [[amber]], that when rubbed with fur would cause a similar invisible attraction between the two.<ref name=stewart>{{cite book |last=Stewart |first=J. |year=2001 |title=Intermediate Electromagnetic Theory |page=50 |publisher=World Scientific |isbn=978-981-02-4471-2}}</ref> This was also first studied rigorously in the 17th century and came to be called electricity. Thus, physics had come to understand two observations of nature in terms of some root cause (electricity and magnetism). However, further work in the 19th century revealed that these two forces were just two different aspects of one force—[[electromagnetism]]. This process of "unifying" forces continues today, and electromagnetism and the [[weak nuclear force]] are now considered to be two aspects of the [[electroweak interaction]]. Physics hopes to find an ultimate reason (theory of everything) for why nature is as it is (see section ''[[#Current research|Current research]]'' below for more information).<ref>{{cite book |last=Weinberg |first=S. |year=1993 |title=Dreams of a Final Theory: The Search for the Fundamental Laws of Nature |publisher=Hutchinson Radius |isbn=978-0-09-177395-3}}</ref>