Editing Physics (section)

=== 19th century ===
{{further|History_of_physics#19th_century}}
The discovery of laws in [[thermodynamics]], [[chemistry]], and [[electromagnetics]] resulted from research efforts during the [[Industrial Revolution]] as energy needs increased.<ref name="schoolscience-industrialrevolution">{{cite web
 |title       = The Industrial Revolution
 |publisher   = Schoolscience.org, [[Institute of Physics]]
 |url         = http://resources.schoolscience.co.uk/IoP/14-16/biogs/biogs5.html
 |access-date  = 1 April 2014
|url-status=live
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20140407083354/http://resources.schoolscience.co.uk/IoP/14-16/biogs/biogs5.html
 |archive-date = 7 April 2014
|df          = dmy-all
}}</ref> By the end of the 19th century, theories of thermodynamics, [[classical mechanics|mechanics]], and electromagnetics matched a wide variety of observations. Taken together these theories became the basis for what would later be called [[classical physics]].<ref name=Krane-2019>{{Cite book |last=Krane |first=Kenneth S. |title=Modern physics |date=2020 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons, Inc |isbn=978-1-119-49548-2 |edition=4 |location=Hoboken, New Jersey}}</ref>{{rp|2}}

A few experimental results remained inexplicable. Classical electromagnetism presumed a medium, an [[luminiferous aether]] to support the propagation of waves, but this medium could not be detected. The intensity of light from hot glowing [[blackbody radiation|blackbody]] objects did not match the predictions of thermodynamics and electromagnetism. The character of [[photoelectric effect|electron emission]] of illuminated metals differed from predictions. These failures, seemingly insignificant in the big picture would upset the physics world in first two decades of the 20th century.<ref name=Krane-2019/>