All sciences are dependant one upon another. This is very easy to understand. Take History for example. If we define the science of History as ‘all the processes and events that occurred to Humans (Homo-Sapiens) from the point we can gather any scientific proof of their lives, like the invention of wheel, Socialism or Christianity – then we must ask ourselves… well, what happened before? What is the greater scientific subject that came PRIOR to the beginning of what we just defined as “History”.
And the answer is, of course, Biology. Genes, Cells, Replicators – the evolution of life long before humanity came to be – these belong in Biology, which also sets the guidelines (or more precisely the “game rules”) for History. History cannot teach us anything that defies the laws Biology. No human had ever grown wings and flew.
And what is Biology dependant on? What came to be before Biology? The answer is Chemistry. Chemical reactions were responsible for the creation of life on this planet. But the science for explaining the very first concepts, those that were even before Chemistry came to be, is Physics – Everything that came after the “Big Bang” falls under the rules of Physics. Chemistry, Biology and Human History.
So if we are to aspire to be Polymaths, then we must first understand at least the basic concepts of Physics. This science came a long way ever since Newton first described what we know as “Classical Mechanics”. Albert Einstein couldn’t stretch Newton’s science far enough to fit his discoveries so he had to invent a new science: Quantum Mechanics.
Luckily for all of us, Stanford has 2 full courses on Quantum Physics available online for free. Let us take the first step to understanding how the universe and life work by learning Quantum Entanglements 101, with Prof. Leonard Susskind.
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