Physics has the top position in the hierarchy of sciences because physics is the science where a Principle of Objectivity (PO) comes to its fullest expression.
Modern physics was born in the beginning of the 19th century when the PO of classical physics of Newton's absolute space and time was confronted with the null-result of the Michelson-Morley experiment indicating that the speed of Earth through an aether of absolute space was zero, as if the Earth was dragging the aether of absolute space along on its path around the Sun. This was in direct conflict with the PO of the Copernican principle stating that the Earth is not the center of the Universe as the anchor of absolute space.
Einstein solved the dilemma by simply declaring that there is no aether whatsoever and then developed his special theory of relativity as an ultimate expression of a PO declaring that physical laws must look the same in all reference/coordinate systems. A physical law which takes different forms in different coordinate systems, would then not be a true fundamental physical law because it would violate PO.
Einstein thus managed to keep physics at its top position by initiating a modern form of physics in accordance with PO, based on the following fundamental expressions of objectivity:
- no-aether special theory of relativity
- universal wave function of quantum mechanics
- Cosmological Principle (CP): the universe is homogeneous and isotropic.
Modern physics thus kept the top position in the hierarchy of sciences by claiming superior full objectivity, but the price of maintaining PO has shown to be very high and has led modern physics into a free fall diverging from reality into string theory on small scales beyond rationale and cosmology on large scales beyond comprehension, topped with a new completely unknown form of dark energy as a result of CP.
From this crisis new forms of physics as post-modern physics, are now emerging where special reference systems are again allowed as in classical physics and the PO is no longer worshipped in extreme. This makes physics more like other sciences, more human and more useful. In fact, Einstein re-introduced in his general theory of relativity the aether he had eliminated in his special theory of relativity. Einstein was very clever.
I describe possible forms of post-modern physics as many-minds physics in the upcoming books:
and the collapse of modern physics is recorded in:
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