In science, movement refers to a body of mass or matter moved through a distance of space.
Overview
One of the first to question human movement was German human chemistry founder Johann Goethe who in 1790 answered the question in poetic riddles: [1]
“Why are people busily moving? For food they are seeking, children they would fain beget, feeding them well as then can. Traveler, mark this well, and, when thou art home, do thou likewise! More can no mortal effect, work with what ardor he will.”
In his 1809 Elective Affinities, however, he correctly explained that humans are large evolved chemicals that move due to the force of chemical affinity. This translates, according to the 1882 Helmholtz affinity-free energy relation, to the effect that humans move along decreasing Gibbs free energy gradients or paths. In a modern human molecule sense, the question can be further resolved by asking “why are the atoms and the molecules of the universe or rather on the surface of the earth, busily moving?” Terms that attempt to answer this include: induced movement and mechanical action. Defunct theories of movement include: perpetual movement or perpetual motion. A related term is "Brownian motion", which was explained by German-born American physicist Albert Einstein via thermodynamics.
See also
● Library walk problem
References
1. (a) Goethe, Johann. (1790). “Venetian Epigrams”. Germany.
(b) Margulis, Lynn and Sagan, Dorion. (2000). What is Life? (pg. 44). University of California Press.
