Toward the Unification of Forces
Overview
Scientists develop theories as attempts to understand the physical world. The more observed phenomena a theory can account for, the more promising it is. One of the main goals of modern physics is to construct a single theory that would explain the four known forces of nature: electromagnetism, gravity, and the strong and weak nuclear forces. The philosophical implications of such a fundamental understanding of the workings of the universe have led manyphysicists to speak metaphorically of "reading the mind of God." But the ultimate "theory of everything" has yet to be found.
Background
The main objective of science is to find the underlying explanations for the phenomena we observe in nature. The wonderful variety of these phenomena might lead one to conclude that the underlying causes are just as numerous. Who would imagine, for example, that the long neck of the giraffe has anything to do with the sweet smell of flowers? Yet the theory of evolution explains them both quite nicely.
In the physical sciences, the behavior of objects is understood in terms of forces. A force is a vector quantity, meaning it has both magnitude (amount) and direction. A force is an impetus that tends to cause an object to move.
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