The judge of any scientific theory is the experiment. Conducting an experiment requires a large amount of preparation time, specialized measuring instruments, insight, and foresight. The books available internationally for developing experimental intuition in students are very few, primarily because the instructions for designing and conducting an experiment depend on the instruments at our disposal.

This book provides guidelines for the design and analysis of experiments in mechanics, thermodynamics, electromagnetism, and optics using simple scientific instruments, which are now available in almost all departments of the natural sciences at higher education institutions, as well as in some secondary education schools. The book is designed to be comprehensive and independent.

It includes sufficient theory for presenting experimental measurements in tables and graphs, statistical analysis of data, and drawing conclusions. Thus, the student does not need to refer to other statistics books and contains instructions for presenting an experiment in the form of a scientific paper.

Before presenting the respective experiments, the operation of basic scientific instruments and the measurement of certain quantities are analyzed in detail. In the design and execution of the experiments, complete instructions are initially provided, which are gradually reduced so that the student can become autonomous and develop their experimental insight.

In the first exercises, a report of the experiment, with real measurements, is given, which is gradually withdrawn so that the student can develop their own way of presenting a scientific paper. It is hoped that this book will help cultivate logical thinking and critical spirit, which are essential elements for any future scientist.

Contents:
Introduction
Characteristics of experimental measurements
Processing of experimental data
Common sense and experiment
Publication of the experiment
Basic instruments and experimental setups for measuring quantities
Mechanics experiments
Thermal experiments
Electricity and magnetism experiments
Wave-optics experiments
Appendices

Matthaios Kamaratos is an Associate Professor in the Department of Physics at the University of Ioannina. He received his PhD from the same University and has been teaching Experimental Physics for many years at both undergraduate and graduate levels. His research interests focus on Experimental Condensed Matter Physics, specifically the development of ultrathin films and nanostructures on solid surfaces.