Every year, the Department of Physics and Astronomy is allocated funds to purchase materials for the library. This is a list of our recent orders and a blurb about each. To check to see if the item is available, you can use the McIntyre Library's Voyager Catalog. If you have any ideas for materials that the library does not have, contact Lyle Ford.
Applications of Physics to
Other Fields
Astronomy, Astrophysics, & Planetary Science
Condensed Matter Physics
Education
Experimental Methods
General Physics
Numerical Methods
History of Science
Particle Physics & Quantum
Mechanics
Philosophy & Science
Relativity
Statistical Physics
Theoretical Physics
See orders from 2002-3, 2003-4, 2004-5, or 2005-6.
Biological Physics: Energy, Information, Life, Philip Nelson
Book Description: Physics and engineering departments are building research programs in Biological Physics, but until now there has not been a synthesis of this dynamic field at the undergraduate level. Biological Physics focuses on new results in molecular motors, self-assembly, and single-molecule manipulation that have revolutionized the field in recent years, and integrates these topics with classical results. The text also provides foundational material for the emerging field of nanotechnology. The text is built around a self-contained core geared toward undergraduate students who have had one year of calculus-based physics. Additional "Track-2" sections contain more advanced material for senior physics majors and graduate students.
Biological Thermodynamics, Donald T. Haynie
Book Description: Biological Thermodynamics provides an introduction to the study of energy transformations for students of the biological sciences. Don Haynie uses an informal writing style to introduce this core subject in a manner which will appeal to biology and biochemistry undergraduate students and be relevant to their studies. The emphasis is on understanding basic concepts and developing problem-solving skills throughout the text, but mathematical complexity is kept to a minimum. Each chapter comprises numerous examples taken from different areas of biochemistry, as well as extensive exercises to aid understanding. Topics covered include energy and its transformation, the First Law of Thermodynamics, the Second Law of Thermodynamics, Gibbs Free Energy, statistical thermodynamics, binding equilibria and reaction kinetics, concluding with a survey of the most exciting areas of biological thermodynamics today, particularly the origin of life on Earth.
How We Got Here: A Slightly Irreverent History of Technology and Markets, Andy Kessler
Book Description: Best-selling author Andy Kessler ties up the loose ends from his provocative book, Running Money, with this history of breakthrough technology and the markets that funded them. Expanding on themes first raised in his tour de force, Running Money, Andy Kessler unpacks the entire history of Silicon Valley and Wall Street, from the Industrial Revolution to computers, communications, money, gold and stock markets. These stories cut (by an unscrupulous editor) from the original manuscript were intended as a primer on the ways in which new technologies develop from unprofitable curiosities to essential investments. Indeed, How We Got Here is the book Kessler wishes someone had handed him on his first day as a freshman engineering student at Cornell or on the day he started on Wall Street. This book connects the dots through history to how we got to where we are today.
Methane Hydrates in Quaternary Climate Change: The Clathrate Gun Hypothesis, J. P. Kennett, et al.
Book Description: What caused remarkably abrupt global warmings - in less than one human lifespan – during and at the end of the last ice age? A likely culprit is methane hydrate (clathrate), a vast reservoir of frozen methane in ocean sediments. Destabilization of the reservoir through changes in temperature and pressure (sea level) may release methane (a powerful greenhouse gas) into the atmosphere, with drastic climatic consequences: a process introduced here as the Clathrate Gun Hypothesis. Methane Hydrates in Quaternary Climate Change: The Clathrate Gun Hypothesis integrates recent, key discoveries in paleoceanography, climate dynamics, paleobotany, biogeochemical cycling, methane hydrates, and marine geology. For Earth and Earth System scientists worldwide.
Physics of the Body, J. Cameron, J. Skofronick, R. Grant
Book Description: This updated edition of a popular text contains new information on the relationship between physics and the workings of the body. New material on forces in dentistry has been added, and an entire chapter is devoted to the physics of the ear and hearing, with more detail on the function of the inner ear. Many new illustrations have also been added. This book is intended primarily for students who plan to make a career in some field of medicine. The authors rely on basic physics principles to promote an understanding of the function of the various organ systems of the body such as the eyes, ears, lungs, and heart. Although it was written primarily as a text for students who have some knowledge of elementary physics, it will be interesting and understandable to any person who is curious about how his/her body works. The mathematics is at the algebra level. Several new problems have been added to this new edition along with answers to all the problems.
Physics of the Human Body, Irving P. Herman
Book Description: Physics of the Human Body comprehensively addresses the physical and engineering aspects of human physiology by using and building on first-year college physics and mathematics. Topics include the mechanics of the static body and the body in motion, the materials properties of the body, muscles in the body, the energetics of body metabolism, fluid flow in the cardiovascular and respiratory systems, the acoustics of sound waves in speaking and hearing, vision and the optics of the eye, the electrical properties of the body, and the basic engineering principles of feedback and control in regulating all aspects of function. The goal of this text is to understand physical issues concerning the human body, in part by developing and then using simple and subsequently more refined models of the macrophysics of the human body. Many chapters include a brief review of the necessary physical principles. There are problems at the end of each chapter; solutions to selected problems are also provided. This text is geared to undergraduates interested in physics, medical applications of physics, quantitative physiology, medicine, and biomedical engineering.
Planetary Rings, Larry W. Esposito
Book Description: Including results from the Cassini space mission to Saturn, this summary of current knowledge of planetary rings covers all aspects of the subject with particular emphasis on ring history and evolution. Basic physical processes and simple mathematical approaches are supported by many images and diagrams that display the spectacular phenomena seen in these fascinating structures. Highlighted topics include Saturn's F ring, Neptune's rings, Jupiter's rings, stochastic models, ring age and evolution, and Cassini results. The text is supported by a glossary of terms and an extensive bibliography directs the reader to original references and resources.
Planetary Mapping, Ronald Greeley & Raymond M. Batson (eds.)
Book Description: Planetary Mapping describes the history and process of mapping planets and satellites beyond the Earth. Mapping planetary bodies is a unique process much different from ordinary terrestrial cartography. The book begins with an introduction to the differences between terrestrial and planetary mapping and continues with a general discussion of the history of planetary mapping. The fundamentals of cartographic techniques are described in detail, and appendixes on map formats and projects, halftone processes for planetary maps, and available mission data are also included. The general language used in this book will make it accessible to researchers and students in planetary science as well as cartographers, photogrammetrists, geodesists, geologists, and geophysicists.
Return to the Moon: Exploration, Enterprise, and Energy in the Human Settlement of Space, Harrison H. Schmitt
Book Description: The Moon is not just a "local" destination, argues former NASA Astronaut Harrison Schmitt. As a destination, the Moon presents us with a goal that tests our resourcefulness and determination. How much are we willing to spend to re-establish ourselves as space-farers? Return to the Moon proposes that we begin planning, and now, for the establishment of human outposts on the Moon — not just as an exercise in technology and discovery, and not just as a way of fulfilling our destiny as explorers and pioneers. Schmitt, having himself traveled to and literally walked on the Moon, is no stranger to technology, discovery, and a sense of our destiny as explorers; but in this book he focuses on a return to the moon as a business proposition.
Saturn and How to Observe It, Julius Benton
Book Description: This new series is designed especially for practical amateur astronomers who not only want to observe, but want to know the details of exactly what they are looking at. Saturn is the second largest planet in the solar system, and the only one with a spectacular ring system that is easily visible from Earth. Saturn is a gas-giant, a huge world dominated by its rings and a retinue of moons. It is probably the most commonly observed and imaged planet for amateur astronomers, because it is always changing - the moons move visibly in the course of an hour, the weather systems on the planet change, and the orientation of the ring alters this way and that. The concept of the book - and the series - is to present an up-to-date detailed description (part one); and then (part two) to consider how best to observe and record the planet, its moons and its ring system successfully. Saturn and How to Observe It is a mine of information for all levels of amateur observers, from the beginner to the experienced.
The Birth of Stars and Planets, John Bally
Book Description: Star formation is the fundamental cosmic process which makes galaxies visible, and regulates the evolution of normal matter in the Universe. New instruments and technologies are now enabling the exploration of fundamental cosmic processes. Scientists are beginning to understand the beauty and complexity of star and planet formation and their role in cosmic evolution. This fascinating book combines the latest astronomical images and data with descriptions of the exciting recent developments in the study of star and planet formation. The authors discuss isolated star birth in dark clouds, the formation of star clusters and nebulae, the 'ecology' of interstellar gas and dust, and the violent starbursts that may produce black holes. They relate these processes to the evolution of galaxies and the origin of life on Earth. Written using non-technical language, the book will appeal to readers with an interest in understanding the Universe and our cosmic origins.
Understanding Variable Stars, John R. Percy
Book Description: Variable stars are those that change brightness. They come in many varieties, but each one provides important information about the star: its properties, its internal structure, and its evolution. This book provides a concise overview of variable stars, including a historical perspective, an introduction to stars in general, the techniques for discovering and studying variable stars, and a description of the main types of variable stars. Intended for anyone with some background knowledge of astronomy, it is especially suitable for undergraduate students and experienced amateur astronomers.
The Geology of Mars: Evidence from Earth-Based Analogs, Mary Chapman (ed.)
Book Description: Research into the geological processes operating on Mars relies on interpretation of images and other data returned by unmanned orbiters, probes and landers. Such interpretations are based on our knowledge of processes occurring on Earth Terrestrial analog studies therefore play an important role in understanding the geological features observed on Mars. This is the first book to present direct comparisons between locales on Earth and Mars, and contains contributions from leading planetary geologists to demonstrate the parallels and differences between these two neighboring planets. Mars is characterized by a wide range of geological phenomena that also occur on Earth, including tectonic, volcanic, impact cratering, eolian, fluvial, glacial and possibly lacustrine and marine processes. The book provides terrestrial analogs for newly acquired data sets from Mars Global Surveyor, Mars Odyssey, Mars Exploration Rovers and Mars Express, and will therefore be a key reference for students and researchers of planetary science.
Book Description: This unique encyclopedia provides a fascinating and fully comprehensive description of stars and their natures and is filled with beautiful color images. The book begins by telling the story of astronomy, from ancient constellations and star names to the modern coordinate system. Further chapters explain magnitudes, distances, star motions and the Galaxy at large. Double stars, clusters and variables are introduced and once the different kinds of stars are in place, later chapters examine stellar evolution, beginning with the interstellar medium and star formation, proceeding to our Sun and its characteristics and then the ageing process of solar-type and high mass stars. The book ends by showing how this information can be combined into a grand synthesis. Detailed cross-referencing enables the reader to explore topics in depth and makes this an invaluable work both for beginners and those with a more advanced interest in stars and stellar evolution.
Book Description: This introduction to the night sky is for amateur astronomers who desire a deeper understanding of the principles and observations of naked-eye astronomy. It covers topics such as terrestrial and astronomical coordinate systems, stars and constellations, the relative motions of the sky, sun, moon and earth leading to an understanding of the seasons, phases of the moon, and eclipses. Topics are discussed and compared for observers located in both the northern and southern hemispheres. Written in a conversational style, only addition and subtraction are needed to understand the basic principles and a more advanced mathematical treatment is available in the appendices. Each chapter contains a set of review questions and simple exercises to reinforce the reader's understanding of the material. The last chapter is a set of self-contained observation projects to get readers started with making observations about the concepts they have learned. William Charles Millar, currently Professor of Astronomy at Grand Rapids Community College in Michigan, has been teaching the subject for almost twenty years and is very involved with local amateur astronomy groups. Millar also belongs to The Planetary Society and the Astronomical Society of the Pacific and has traveled to Europe and South America to observe solar eclipses. Millar holds a Masters degree in Physics from Western Michigan University.
Book Description: Meteor Showers and their Parent Comets is a unique handbook for astronomers interested in observing meteor storms and outbursts. Spectacular displays of 'shooting stars' are created when the Earth's orbit crosses a meteoroid stream, as each meteoroid causes a bright light when it enters our atmosphere at high speed. Jenniskens, an active meteor storm chaser, explains how meteoroid streams originate from the decay of meteoroids, comets and asteroids, and how they cause meteor showers on Earth. He includes the findings of recent space missions to comets and asteroids, the risk of meteor impacts on Earth, and how meteor showers may have seeded the Earth with ingredients that made life possible. All known meteor showers are identified, accompanied by fascinating details on the most important showers and their parent comets. The book predicts when exceptional meteor showers will occur over the next 50 years, making it a valuable resource for both amateur and professional astronomers.
Book Description: The Earth in Context: A Guide to the Solar System tells a tale of scientific discovery, with two interwoven strands - one tracing the development of understanding the Earth's geological history, and the other placing this in the context of processes at work on the other planets of the solar system. Although planetology is assigned half of the text, the primary focus of the book is the Earth. It is discussed in two parts, the first summing up our knowledge of the Earth as it is today and the other considering it as it was long ago.
Book Description: This revolutionary new book is written for practical amateur astronomers who not only want to observe, but want to know the details of exactly what they are looking at. The Moon is the most commonly observed of all astronomical objects. This is the first book to deal equally with the Moon itself - its formation, geology, and history - as well as the practical aspects of observation. The concept of the book - and of the series - is to present an up-to-date detailed description of the Moon, including its origins, history, and geology (part one); and then (part two) to consider how best to observe and record it successfully using commercially-available equipment. The Moon and How to Observe It is a mine of information for all levels of amateur observers, from the beginner to the experienced.
Book Description: Mars is the Solar System's other wild, wet, water world. Long believed to have become cold, dead, and dry aeons ago, we now having striking new proof, not only that Mars was a relatively warm and wet place in geologically recent times, but that even today there are vast reserves of water frozen beneath the planet's surface. This compelling new evidence may well boost the chances of a manned mission to Mars sooner, rather than later. The discovery is also forcing a complete rethink about the mechanisms of global planetary change. What does the drastic turn of events on Mars mean for Earth's climate system? Could life have thrived on Mars very recently, and might it survive today in short-term hibernation? Will humans soon be capable of living off the natural resources that Martian hydrogeology has naturally offered us? Will humans one day be capable of setting off the same chain of events that nature has repeatedly triggered to set off warm, wet episodes on Mars? How could Mars be terraformed into a New World? (And should we even contemplate doing so?) This book offers a visually beautiful, scientifically detailed and accurate presentation of the evidence that has forced this new revolution in Mars science.
Book Description: This book is a graduate-level text covering the fundamental physics and chemistry required for a modern understanding of the interstellar medium. Radiation mechanisms are comprehensively presented, and extensive examples are drawn from observations in the X-ray, ultraviolet, optical, infrared, mm/sub mm, and radio observations. This book goes beyond a phenomenological study of the interstellar medium to give a detailed quantitative treatment of the radiative and dynamical interactions between stars and the interstellar medium. With an emphasis on a physical understanding of these processes, the mathematical derivations are clean, elegant and easily understandable by anyone with an undergraduate background in physics.
Book Description: Space-Time, Relativity and Cosmology provides a historical introduction to modern relativistic cosmology and traces its historical roots and evolution from antiquity to Einstein. The topics are presented in a non-mathematical manner, with the emphasis on the ideas that underlie each theory rather than their detailed quantitative consequences. A significant part of the book focuses on the Special and General theories of relativity. The tests and experimental evidence supporting the theories are explained together with their predictions and their confirmation. Other topics include a discussion of modern relativistic cosmology, the consequences of Hubble's observations leading to the Big Bang hypothesis, and an overview of the most exciting research topics in relativistic cosmology. This textbook is intended for introductory undergraduate courses on the foundations of modern physics. It is also accessible to advanced high school students, as well as non-science majors who are concerned with science issues.
DVD Description: Every second, trillions of ghostly particles pass through our bodies without us feeling a thing. These particles, called neutrinos, are essential for the sun to shine and for the earth’s elements to form. Truly a poltergeist among particles - neutrinos have no electric charge, so they are invisible to all normal scientific equipment. But physicists John Bahcall and Ray Davis took on the seemingly impossible quest of hunting down the elusive particles. They searched for the neutrinos in a gold mine in South Dakota using a giant vat of cleaning fluid. But no matter how many times they tried, their results would not match their predictions. Against the odds and in the face of their colleagues’ disbelief, Bahcall and Davis persevered. Finally, the clues they needed came from detective work at the world’s deepest nickel mine in northern Canada and a giant tank of ultra-pure water inside a Japanese mountain. And their ultimate conclusion about the true nature of the ghost particle would prove even more bizarre than anyone had suspected.
Topics in the Theory of Solid Materials, J. M. Vail
Book Description: This book provides a clear and rigorous introduction to a wide selection of topics in solid materials, overlapping traditional courses in both condensed matter physics and materials science and engineering. It introduces both the continuum properties of matter, traditionally the realm of materials science courses, and the quantum mechanical properties that are more usually emphasized in solid state physics courses, and integrates them in a manner that will be of use to students of either subject. The book spans a good range of basic and more advanced topics, including stress and strain, wave propagation, thermal properties, surface waves, polarons, phonons, point defects, magnetism and charge density waves. Topics in the Theory of Solid Materials is eminently suitable for graduates and final year undergraduates in physics, materials science and engineering, as well as more advanced researchers in academia and industry studying solid materials.
Physical Methods for Materials Characterisation, P. E. J. Flewitt and R. K. Wild
Book Description: In the second edition of this popular text, the authors provide a comprehensive description of the range of techniques currently used for characterizing the microstructure of materials. Introductory chapters cover the basic physics required to describe the microstructure of materials and their interaction with various types of radiation. Much of the hardware involved in these techniques is dependent on a vacuum environment, so a full chapter is devoted to this topic. Characterization techniques are then divided on the basis of the interrogating radiation, with separate chapters dealing with optical and x-ray techniques, electron microscopy and spectroscopy, and ion and particle microscopy and spectroscopy. Within each chapter, material is given covering the radiation sources, the construction and layout of instrumentation and the analysis of data. Comprehensively revised throughout, this edition reflects the rapid changes that have taken place recently. It contains additional material on a range of methods, including scanning probe techniques that reflect the need for analysis of materials at the nanoscale, and a detailed review of recent developments in data analysis and computing techniques. Physical Methods for Materials Characterisation will be of interest to advanced undergraduates, postgraduates, and researchers in physics, materials science, and engineering.
The Theory of Magnetism Made Simple, D. C. Mattis
Book Description: The original edition of The Theory of Magnetism was the first book to develop the various relevant topics using modern methods adapted for the many-body problem and thus it became popular (reportedly the "most-stolen" book from the exhibition stalls at the March meeting of the American Physical Society!). It presented and taught the fermionic field theory central to Onsager's analysis of the statistical mechanics of the two-dimensional Ising model of magnetism. In its pages the Lieb–Mattis theorems on magnetic ordering of electronic energy levels and on the absence of ferromagnetism in one dimension were restated and proved in a form accessible to students. The exchange mechanism in insulators and the Ruderman–Kittel interaction in metals were some of the innovative topics presented to the reader. Spin waves and their interactions were analyzed in some detail. The first chapter, on the history of physics as seen through the prism of research in magnetism, co-authored with Dr Noémi Mattis, proved especially popular. In this new edition, while retaining much of the material in earlier editions, especially the first chapter, the author has eliminated some of the bulk (the most recent edition was in two volumes) and added a number of new subjects. Among these are the effects of lowering the dimensionality (exact solutions of some important models in zero and one dimension are exhibited and contrasted with the three-dimensional versions) and the importance of the two-body Coulomb interactions. The reader is introduced to the topic of critical exponents, which has been so marvelously worked out in recent decades. Quoting a novel theorem by Lieb and exotic band structures, the author re-examines the origins of ferromagnetism. In the presentation, physical principles come first, the mathematics second. Developing the reader's intuition and mastery of the subject takes precedence. Because of this the book was not renamed "bigger and better," just — made simple.
Springer Handbook of Nanotechnology, Bharat Bhushan (Ed.)
Book Description: As Nanotechnology has turned from marvelous vision into exciting reality, the need for an easily accessible source of application-oriented, authoritative and comprehensive information has grown. The single-volume Springer Handbook of Nanotechnology meets this requirement by integrating knowledge from key subfields. The authors have organized and synthesized a wealth of practical information on the fundamentals and applications of Nanotechnology. A clearly structured two-color layout makes the book user friendly and enjoyable to read. The integrity and authoritativeness of the information is guaranteed by an experienced editor and international team of more than 90 authors. The handbook is an invaluable resource for mechanical and electrical engineers, materials scientists, physicists and chemists who work either in the Nanotechnology area or in a field influenced by this new key technology.
Fundamentals of Nanoscale Film Analysis, T. Alford, L. Feldman, J. Mayer
Book Description: From materials science to integrated circuit development, much of modern technology is moving from the microscale toward the nanoscale. This book focuses on the fundamental physics underlying innovative techniques for analyzing surfaces and near-surfaces. New analytical techniques have emerged to meet these technological requirements, all based on a few processes that govern the interactions of particles and radiation with matter. This book addresses the fundamentals and application of these processes, from thin films to field effect transistors.
Nanotechnology for Electronic Materials and Devices, A. Korkin, et al. (Eds.)
Book Description: This book is designed as an introduction for graduate students, engineers, and researchers who want to understand the current status and future trends of micro- and nano-electronic materials and devices. It also serves as an essential reference for nanotechnology "gurus" who need to keep abreast of the latest directions and challenges in microelectronic technology. The viewpoints presented within the book can help to foster further research and cross-disciplinary interactions required to surmount the barriers facing future generations of technology design.
Solid-State Physics: Introduction to the Theory, James D. Patterson, Bernard C. Bailey
Book Description: Learning solid state physics involves a certain degree of maturity, since it involves tying together diverse concepts from many areas of physics. The objective is to understand, in a basic way, how solid materials behave. To do this one needs both a good physical and mathematical background. One definition of solid state physics is that it is the study of the physical (e.g. the electrical, dielectric, magnetic, elastic, and thermal) properties of solids in terms of basic physical laws. In one sense, solid state physics is more like chemistry than some other branches of physics because it focuses on common properties of large classes of materials. It is typical that solid state physics emphasizes how physics properties link to electronic structure. We have retained the term solid state physics, even though condensed matter physics is more commonly used. Condensed matter physics includes liquids and non-crystalline solids such as glass, which we shall not discuss in detail. Modern solid state physics came of age in the late thirties and forties, and had its most extensive expansion with the development of the transistor, integrated circuits, and microelectronics. Most of microelectronics, however, is limited to the properties of inhomogeneously doped semiconductors. Solid state physics includes many other areas of course; among the largest of these are ferromagnetic materials, and superconductors. Just a little less than half of all working physicists are in condensed matter. A course in solid state physics typically begins with three broad areas: (1) How and why atoms bind together to form solids, (2) Lattice vibrations and phonons, and (3) Electrons in solids. One would then typically apply the above to (4) Interactions especially of electrons with phonons, (5) Metals, the Fermi surface and alloys, (6) Semiconductors, (7) Magnetism, (8) Superconductivity, (9) Dielectrics and ferroelectrics, (10) Optical properties, (11) Defects, and (12) Certain other modern topics such as layered materials, quantum Hall effect, mesoscopics, nanophysics, and soft condensed matter. In this book, we will consider all of these.
Nanotechnology: Societal Implications -Maximising Benefits for Humanity (1) Individual Perspectives (2), M. Roco & W. Bainbridge (Eds.)
Book Description: Advances in nanoscience and nanotechnology promise to have major impacts on human health, wealth, and peace in the coming decades. Among the expected breakthroughs are orders of magnitude increases in computer efficiency, human organ restoration using engineered tissue, `designer' materials created from directed assembly of atoms and molecules, and the emergence of entirely new phenomena in chemistry and physics. This book includes a collection of essays by leading scientists, engineers, and social scientists reviewing the possible uses of these impending technical developments in various industrial, medical, and national security applications, and the corresponding ethical, legal, social, economic, and educational issues that they raise. The report outlines potential areas for research into societal implications of nanotechnology, as well as some preliminary suggestions for how potential positive impacts of nanotechnology can be maximized, while minimizing any possible negative impacts, real or imagined. This book also provides the beginning of a blueprint for how one should address second-order consequences of the new technology, either positive implications or potential risks.
Encyclopedia of Materials Characterization: Surfaces, Interfaces, Thin Films, C. Evans, R. Brundle
Book Description: Encyclopedia of Materials Characterization is a comprehensive volume on analytical techniques used in materials science for the characterization of surfaces, interfaces and thin films. This flagship volume in the Materials Characterization Series is a unique, stand-alone reference for materials science practitioners, process engineers, students and anyone with a need to know about the capabilities available in materials analysis. An encyclopedia of 50 concise articles, this book will also be a practical companion to the forthcoming books in the Series. It describes widely-ranging techniques in a jargon-free manner and includes summary pages for each technique to supply a quick survey of its capabilities.
Nanochemistry: A Chemical Approach to Nanomaterials, Geoffrey Ozin & Andre Arsenault
Book Description: International interest in nanoscience research has flourished in recent years, as it becomes an integral part in the development of future technologies. The diverse, interdisciplinary nature of nanoscience means effective communication between disciplines is pivotal in the successful utilization of the science. Nanochemistry: A Chemical Approach to Nanomaterials is the first textbook for teaching nanochemistry and adopts an interdisciplinary and comprehensive approach to the subject. It presents a basic chemical strategy for making nanomaterials and describes some of the principles of materials self-assembly over 'all' scales. It demonstrates how nanometre and micrometre scale building blocks (with a wide range of shapes, compositions and surface functionalities) can be coerced through chemistry to organize spontaneously into unprecedented structures, which can serve as tailored functional materials. Suggestions of new ways to tackle research problems and speculations on how to think about assembling the future of nanotechnology are given. Primarily designed for teaching, this book will appeal to graduate and advanced undergraduate students. It is well illustrated with graphical representations of the structure and form of nanomaterials and contains problem sets as well as other pedagogical features such as further reading, case studies and a comprehensive bibliography.
Fundamentals of Solid State Electronics, Chih-Tang Sah
Book Description: This is perhaps the most comprehensive undergraduate textbook on the fundamental aspects of solid state electronics. It presents basic and state-of-the-art topics on materials physics, device physics, and basic circuit building blocks not covered by existing textbooks on the subject. Each topic is introduced with a historical background and motivations of device invention and circuit evolution. Fundamental physics is rigorously discussed with minimum need of tedious algebra and advanced mathematics. Another special feature is a systematic classification of fundamental mechanisms not found even in advanced texts. It bridges the gap between solid state device physics covered here with what students have learnt in their first two years of study. Used very successfully in a one-semester introductory core course for electrical and other engineering, materials science and physics junior students, the second part of each chapter is also used in an advanced undergraduate course on solid state devices. The inclusion of previously unavailable analyses of the basic transistor digital circuit building blocks and cells makes this an excellent reference for engineers to look up fundamental concepts and data, design formulae, and latest devices such as the GeSi heterostructure bipolar transistors.
Introduction to Semiconductor Electronics, Holger T. Grahn
Book Description: This book covers the physics of semiconductors on an introductory level, assuming that the reader already has some knowledge of condensed matter physics. Crystal structure, band structure, carrier transport, phonons, scattering processes and optical properties are presented for typical semiconductors such as silicon, but III–V and II–VI compounds are also included. In view of the increasing importance of wide-gap semiconductors, the electronic and optical properties of these materials are dealt with too.
The Physics of Solar Cells, Jenny Nelson
Book Description: This book provides a comprehensive introduction to the physics of the photovoltaic cell. It is suitable for undergraduates, graduate students, and researchers new to the field. It covers: basic physics of semiconductors in photovoltaic devices; physical models of solar cell operation; characteristics and design of common types of solar cell; and approaches to increasing solar cell efficiency. The text explains the terms and concepts of solar cell device physics and shows the reader how to formulate and solve relevant physical problems. Exercises and worked solutions are included.
Concepts in Solids: Lectures on the Theory of Solids, P. W. Anderson
Book Description: These lecture notes constitute a course on a number of central concepts of solid state physics — classification of solids, band theory, the developments in one-electron band theory in the presence of perturbation, effective Hamiltonian theory, elementary excitations and the various types of collective elementary excitation (excitons, spin waves and phonons), the Fermi liquid, ferromagnetic spin waves, antiferromagnetic spin waves and the theory of broken symmetry. The book can be used in conjunction with a survey course in solid state physics, or as the basis of a first graduate-level course. It can be read by anyone who has had basic grounding in quantum mechanics.
Exploring Physics in the Classroom, George Amann
Book Description: The key to learning is student involvement! This AAPT/PTRA manual written by George Amann presents examples of two techniques that are proven to increase student involvement in your classroom. Based on the "5E" model of learning, exploratories are designed to get your students excited about the material they will explore in your classroom with you. Practicums are a unique method for measuring a class’s learning in an "authentic" manner that will ensure the whole class is excited and totally immersed in the process.
The Isaac Newton School of Driving, Barry Parker
Book Description: At the Isaac Newton school of driving every car is a laboratory on wheels and every drive an exciting journey into the world of physics. Parker’s first lesson describes the basic physics of driving: speed and acceleration; why you get thrown forward while braking or outward while turning; and why car advertisements boast about horsepower and torque. Whether you or your students drive a Pacer or a Porsche, The Isaac Newton School of Driving offers better−and better informed−driving through physics.
The Role of Toys in Teaching Physics, Jodi McCullogh & Roy McCullogh
Book Description: Written by Jodi and Roy McCullough, this AAPT/PTRA manual contains experiments, demonstrations, and displays involving toys that can be used to introduce most of the major topics covered in a typical introductory physics class. These activities provide a sense that everyday objects are closely related to the topics studied in physics. Using toys in teaching physics will certainly add excitement and enthusiasm to your classroom.
Used Math, Clifford E. Swartz
Book Description: Used Math is a reference work for the college science instructor or student in search of a quick explanation of the mathematics found in the first two years of the college science curriculum. The book provides numerous examples that are drawn from actual situations encountered in science courses. The book covers a broad range of subjects, including reporting and analyzing uncertainty, units and dimensions, graphs, the simple functions of applied math, statistics, quadratic and high power equations, and simultaneous equations. Other chapters are devoted to determinants, vectors, complex numbers, calculus-differentiation, integration, series and approximations, common differential equations, and differential operators. The book contains many useful reference tables and summaries of formulas and techniques.
Teaching About Color and Color Vision, Bill Franklin
Book Description: This AAPT/PTRA manual written by Bill Franklin deals with how the human eye perceives color and how that color perception is triggered by the light sources and objects of our world. The colors of soap bubbles and other thin films are treated in more than usual detail, and the approach used is extended to explain the colors of transparent materials sandwiched between polarizers. A tonic for lagging interest in the spring semester, the workshop incorporates many laboratory activities and demonstrations, including some new ones, commercially important applications, sample questions, and Physics Olympics events.
Teaching Light & Color, T. D. Rossing and C. J. Chiaverina (eds.)
Book Description: This collection of scientific papers, articles, and brief excerpts from books is intended to provide teachers with source material for teaching light and color. It also contains references to some 281 books, papers and websites.
Safety in Physics Education, AAPT Committee on Apparatus
Book Description: Safety in Physics Education is intended to create an awareness of safety, to encourage safe habits, and to teach respect for potential safety hazards. This manual is intended for a broad audience in the physics teaching community. It can be used across the spectrum of experimental and demonstration activities -- from elementary to advanced undergraduate laboratories.
Homework and Test Questions for Introductory Physics Teaching, Arnold B. Arons
Book Description: This collection is confined to an extremely fundamental level of subject matter common to the great majority of introductory physics courses. Questions range from simple to fairly sophisticated, extending over a variety of modes that emerge as essential components in the learning and understanding of physics. These modes include forming and applying basic concepts, operational definition, verbalization, connection of abstractions to everyday experience, checking for internal consistency and interpreting results.
Physics Demonstrations: A Sourcebook for Teachers of Physics, Julien Clinton Sprott
Book Description: Wow! How? Few techniques are as effective at generating interest in science as dramatic demonstrations. This fully illustrated sourcebook and two-DVD set describes eighty-five physics demonstrations suitable for performance both in and outside the classroom. These demonstrations will fascinate and amaze while teaching the wonders and practical science of physics. Dr. Sprott shares demonstrations tested by years of teaching in his popular lecture series, "The Wonders of Physics." Science teachers at all levels will find a wealth of detail showing how to present these demonstrations to students with flair. Science professionals will find indispensable information for developing educational presentations for the public. Organized to teach the six major areas of classical physics—motion, heat, sound, electricity, magnetism, and light—Physics Demonstrations includes: a brief description of each demonstration, materials lists, with sources for common materials, preparation procedures, discussions of the physics principles demonstrated, potential safety hazards, andreferences for further information Dr. Sprott's demonstrations will appeal to general audiences and students from grade school to graduate school. This book should be on the shelf of every educator who wants to make science come to life in the minds and hearts of students.
Teaching Physics, Laurence Viennot
TBook Description: This book seeks to narrow the current gap between educational research and classroom practice in the teaching of physics. Research is now moving beyond the recording of the specific forms of common thought to construct and evaluate teaching interventions appropriate to conventional institutional contexts. The approach adopted here makes a detailed analysis of research findings derived from experiments involving pupils, students and teachers in the field. Clear guidelines are laid down for the development and evaluation of sequences, drawing attention to "critical details" of the practice of teaching that may spell success or failure for the project. Five sequences illustrate the discussion with the following topics: contact, friction and propulsion, pressure in fluids, superposition of electric fields, superposition of coherent waves and optical imaging, and colour phenomena. This all feeds into a discussion of sequence evaluation procedures, underlining the vital importance of teachers' reactions to the detailed aspects of practice proposed to them.
Book Description: Measurement shapes scientific theories, characterises improvements in manufacturing processes and promotes efficient commerce. In concert with measurement is uncertainty, and students in science and engineering need to identify and quantify uncertainties in the measurements they make. This book introduces measurement and uncertainty to second and third year students of science and engineering. Its approach relies on the internationally recognised and recommended guidelines for calculating and expressing uncertainty (known by the acronym GUM). The statistics underpinning the methods are considered and worked examples and exercises are spread throughout the text. Detailed case studies based on typical undergraduate experiments are included to reinforce the principles described in the book. This guide is also useful to professionals in industry who are expected to know the contemporary methods in this increasingly important area.
Book Description: Categories—On the Beauty of Physics is the first in a series of multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary educational books that will use imagery from emerging and well-known artists, and information from a variety of disciplines—categories—to facilitate the reader's encounter with challenging material. Categories—On the Beauty of Physics is not a physics textbook, it is a book about physics that uses literature and art to stimulate the wonder and interest of the reader. It is intended to promote scientific literacy, foster an appreciation of the humanities, and encourage readers to make informed and imaginative connections between the sciences and the arts. The book can be used as a cooperative learning tool through which people (especially educators and students) can engage in academic and value-oriented discussions. The Categories series of creative curriculum materials is intended for general audiences. It will be of particular value to students, families, and teachers. These materials can be used in homes, schools, museums, and by community organizations.
Book Description: This collection of reprinted articles and accompanying resource letter takes a look at today's popular sports -- tennis, basketball, and track and field -- and presents the physics involved.
Book Description: Quantoons combines challenging physics problems with wild illustrations, mixing Isaac Newton and Marie Antoinette with Romeo, Juliet and Einstein. The book is a compilation of 58 contest problems that were published in Quantum magazine between 1991 and 2001. NSTA’s publication of Quantum was co-sponsored by AAPT. Quantoons is a one-of-a-kind source of brain-teasing challenges and hours of entertainment for scientists, students, and yourself.
Book Description: Whether are you are a science undergraduate or graduate student, post-doc or senior scientist, you need practical career development advice. Put Your Science to Work: The Take-Charge Career Guide for Scientists can help you explore all your options and develop dynamite strategies for landing the job of your dreams. Completely revised and updated from the best-selling To Boldly Go: A Practical Career Guide for Scientists, this second edition offers expert help from networking to negotiating a job offer. This is the book you need to start moving your career in the right direction.
Book Description: From Victor Frankenstein to Dr. Moreau to Doc Brown in Back to the Future, the scientist has been a puzzling, fascinating, and threatening presence in popular culture. From films we have learned that scientists are either evil maniacal geniuses or bumbling saviors of society. Mad, Bad and Dangerous? puts this dichotomy to the test, offering a wholly engaging yet not uncritical history of the cinematic portrayal of scientists. Christopher Frayling traces the genealogy of the scientist in film, showing how the scientist has often embodied the predominant anxieties of a particular historical moment. The fear of nuclear holocaust in the 1950s gave rise to a rash of radioactive-mutant horror movies, while the possible dangers of cloning and biotechnology in the 1990s manifested themselves in Jurassic Park. During these eras, the scientist's actions have been viewed through a lens of fascination and fear. In the past few decades, with increased public awareness of environmental issues and of the impact of technology on nature, the scientist has been transformed once again—into a villainous agent of money-hungry corporate powers. Mad, Bad and Dangerous? also examines biographical depictions of actual scientists, illuminating how they are often portrayed as social misfits willing to sacrifice everything to the interests of science. Drawing on such classic and familiar films as Frankenstein, Metropolis, and The Wizard of Oz, Frayling brings social and film history together to paint a much larger picture of the evolving value of science and technology to society. A fascinating study of American culture and film, Mad, Bad and Dangerous? resurrects the scientists of late night movies and drive-in theaters and gives them new life as cultural talismans.
Book Description: Candid Science IV: Conversations with Famous Physicists contains 36 interviews with well-known physicists, including 20 Nobel laureates, Templeton Prize winners, Wolf Prize winners, and other luminaries. Physics has been one of the determining fields of science in the past 100 years, playing a conspicuous role not only in science but also in world politics and economics. These in-depth conversations provide a glimpse into the greatest achievements of physics during the past few decades, featuring stories of the discoveries, and showing the human drama behind them. The greatest physicists are brought into close human proximity as if readers were having a conversation with them. The interviewees span a wide range of scientists, from such early giants as Eugene Wigner and Mark Oliphant to members of the youngest generation such as the 2001 Nobel laureate Wolfgang Ketterle. The list includes famous personalities of our time, such as Steven Weinberg, Leon Lederman, Norman Ramsey, Edward Teller, John Wheeler, Mildred Dresselhaus, Maurice Goldhaber, Benoit Mandelbrot, John Polkinghorne, and Freeman Dyson.
Book Description: Candid Science V: Conversations with Famous Scientists contains 36 interviews with well-known scientists, including 19 Nobel laureates, Wolf Prize winners, and other luminaries. These in-depth conversations provide a glimpse into the greatest achievements in science during the past few decades, featuring stories of the discoveries, and showing the human drama behind them. The greatest scientists are brought into close human proximity as if readers were having a conversation with them. This volume departs from the previous ones in that it contains interviews with mathematicians in addition to physicists, chemists, and biomedical scientists. Another peculiarity of this volume is that it includes nine interviews from another project, the collection of the late Clarence Larson, former Commissioner of the Atomic Energy Commission and his wife, Jane (“Larson Tapes”). The 36 interviewees include famous personalities of our time, such as Donald Coxeter, John Conway, Roger Penrose, Alan Mackay, Dan Shechtman, Charles Townes, Arthur Schawlow, Leon Cooper, Alexei Abrikosov, Luis Alvarez, William Pickering, William Fowler, Vera Rubin, Neta Bahcall, Rudolf Peierls, Emilio Segrè, Harold Agnew, Clarence Larson, Nelson Leonard, Princess Chulabhorn, Linus Pauling, Miklós Bodánszky, Melvin Calvin, Donald Huffman, Alan MacDiarmid, Alan Heeger, Jens Christian Skou, Paul Lauterbur, Gunther Stent, John Sulston, Renato Dulbecco, Baruch Blumberg, Arvid Carlsson, Oleh Hornykiewicz, Paul Greengard, and Eric Kandel.
Book Description: 2004 marked the centennial of the birth of J Robert Oppenheimer, and brought historians and scholars, former students, nuclear physicists, and politicians together to celebrate this event. Oppenheimer's life and work became central to 20th century history as he spearheaded the development of the atomic bomb that ended World War II. This book provides a spectrum of interpretations of Oppenheimer's life and scientific achievements. It approaches the extraordinary scientist and teacher from many perspectives, chronicling the years from his boyhood through his role as director of the Los Alamos National Laboratory and afterwards. The book also discusses Oppenheimer's connection to New Mexico, which hosted two of the Manhattan Project's most crucial sites, and addresses his lasting impact on contemporary science, international politics, and the postwar age.
Book Description: During World War II, nations raced to construct the world’s first nuclear weapon that would determine the future of the world. The Manhattan Project, one of the most significant achievements of the 20th century, was the culmination of America’s war effort. Today, although the issue of nuclear weapons frequently dominates world politics, few are aware of the history behind its development. Part I of this book, comprised of papers from the Atomic Heritage Foundation’s Symposium on the Manhattan Project, recounts the history of this remarkable effort and reflects upon its legacy. Most of the original structures of the Manhattan Project have been inaccessible to the public and in recent years, have been stripped of their equipment and slated for demolition. Part II proposes a strategy for preserving these historical artifacts for the public and future generations.
Book Description: Fred Hoyle made an impressive contribution to many important problems in astronomy. Based on a meeting held in recognition of his work, this book contains chapters by many of Hoyle's scientific collaborators. It concentrates on his scientific legacy, and examines the influence of his research on others as well as on advances in astronomy and cosmology. The wide-ranging collection of essays will interest researchers in astrophysics and cosmology, as well as professional historians of science.
Book Description: The twentieth-century witnessed the development of astrophysics and cosmology from subjects which scarcely existed to two of the most exciting and demanding areas of contemporary scientific inquiry. In this book Malcolm Longair reviews the historical development of the key areas of modern astrophysics, linking the strands together to show how they have led to the extraordinarily rich panorama of modern astrophysics and cosmology. While many of the great discoveries were derived from pioneering observations, the emphasis is upon the development of theoretical concepts and how they came to be accepted. These advances have led astrophysicists and cosmologists to ask some of the deepest questions about the nature of our Universe and have pushed astronomical observations to the very limit. This is a fantastic story, and one which would have defied the imaginations of even the greatest story-tellers.
Book Description: Every year, millions of Americans visit planetariums and are captivated by their strikingly realistic portrayal of the night sky. Today, it is indeed difficult to imagine astronomy education without these magnificent celestial theaters. But projection planetariums, first developed in Germany, have been a part of American museum pedagogy only since the early twentieth century and were not widespread until the 1960s. In this unique social history, former planetarium director and historian of science Jordan D. Marché II offers the first complete account of the community of individuals and institutions that, during the period between 1930 and 1970, made planetariums the popular teaching aids they are today. Marché addresses issues such as the role of gender and social developments within the planetarium community, institutional patronage, and the popularization of science. He reveals how, at different times, various groups, including financial donors, amateur scientists, and government officials, viewed the planetarium as an instrument through which they could shape public understanding and perceptions of astronomy and space science. Offering an insightful, wide-ranging look into the origins of an institution that has fascinated millions, Theaters of Time and Space brings new perspectives to how one educational community changed the cultural complexion of science, helped shape public attitudes toward the U.S. space program, and even contributed to policy decisions regarding allocations for future space research.
Book Description: The Pendulum: A Case Study in Physics describes one physical system-the pendulum-and it's manifestations in classical and modern physics. While being a technical work, this remarkable study is set within the context of the technological, historical and cultural developments to which the pendulum has contributed.
Book Description: Why are there so few prominent female physicists? Traditionally women have faced barriers in higher education, denying them access to higher learning and scientific laboratories. Today many of these barriers have been breached, but the female pioneers who overcame discrimination and became major players in their fields remain largely in the shadows. Their names deserve to be known and the importance of their work, achievements and contributions to science warrant recognition. Out of the Shadows provides an accurate and authoritative description of the women who made original and important contributions to physics in the twentieth century, documenting their major discoveries and putting their work into its historical context. Each chapter concentrates on a different woman, and is written by a physicist with considerable experience in their field. The book is an ideal reference for anyone with an interest in science and social history.
Book Description: There is hardly another principle in physics with wider scope of applicability and more far-reaching consequences than Pauli's exclusion principle. This book explores the principle's origin in the atomic spectroscopy of the early 1920s, its subsequent embedding into quantum mechanics, and later experimental validation with the development of quantum chromodynamics. Reconstruction of the crucial historic episode provides an excellent foil to reconsider Kuhn's view on incommensurability. The variety of themes skillfully interwoven will appeal to philosophers, historians, scientists and anyone interested in philosophy.
Book Description: Spurred by the current development of numerous large-scale projects for detecting gravitational radiation, with the aim to open a completely new window to the observable Universe, numerical relativity has become a major field of research over the past years. Indeed, numerical relativity is the standard approach when studying potential sources of gravitational waves, where strong fields and relativistic velocities are part of any physical scenario. This book can be considered a primer for both graduate students and non-specialist researchers wishing to enter the field. Starting from the most basic insights and aspects of numerical relativity, Elements of Numerical Relativity develops coherent guidelines for the reliable and convenient selection of each of the following key aspects: evolution formalism, gauge, initial and boundary conditions as well as various numerical algorithms. The tests and applications proposed in this book can be performed on a standard PC.
Book Description: This is a book that sings about the beauty of the fundamental laws of nature. Clear, accurate descriptions for general science readers (no equations in sight!) are punctuated with original, scintillating verses. The reader is taken on a journey through the contemporary understanding of the building blocks of nature and their interactions — the current status of that age-old, intriguing quest. The central role of symmetry is explained in a manner suitable for general science readers, and its splendor is celebrated in verse. The book facilitates understanding of the background and significance of today's scientific discoveries in atomic, nuclear and particle physics. Many of the poems appear as interludes that reinforce the discussions as they amuse the reader, making this informative book a delight to read.
Book Description: This book is an introduction to the theory of supersymmetry, which is a cornerstone to understanding the physics of elementary particles beyond the so-called "Standard Model". Supersymmetry is the first introductory book on this modern and increasingly popular subject.
Book Description: To cope with modern developments, especially in nuclear physics research, this textbook presents nuclear and particle physics from a unifying point of view. The first part, Analysis, is devoted to disentangling the substructure of matter. The second part, Synthesis, shows how the elementary particles may be combined to build hadrons and nuclei. A section on neutrino oscillations and one on nuclear matter at high temperatures bridge the field of "nuclear and particle physics" and "modern astrophysics and cosmology". New developments are also covered. This concise text has become a standard reference for advanced and undergraduate courses.
Book Description: Progressing from the fundamentals of quantum mechanics (QM) to more advanced topics, Quantum Mechanics: Foundations and Applications provides a comprehensive examination of many applications that pertain to modern physics and engineering. With nearly 200 problems, the book begins with an introductory chapter that reviews historical landmarks, discusses classical theory, and establishes a set of postulates. The next chapter demonstrates how to find the appropriate wave functions for a variety of physical systems in one dimension by solving the Schrödinger equation where for time-independent cases, the total energy is an eigenvalue. The following chapter extends this method to three dimensions, focusing on partial differential equations. In subsequent chapters, the author develops the appropriate operators, eigenvalues, and eigenfunctions for angular momentum as well as methods for examining time-dependent systems. The final chapters address special systems of interest, such as lasers, quarks, and hadrons. Appendices offer additional material, exploring matrices, functions, and physical constants. Relating theory with experiment, Quantum Mechanics: Foundations and Applications provides basic and complex information for physicists and engineers.
Book Description: The third edition of this well-received book is a readable introduction to the world of particle physics. It bridges the gap between traditional textbooks on the subject and popular accounts that assume little or no background knowledge. Carefully revised and updated, this new edition covers all of the important concepts in our modern understanding of particle physics. The theoretical development of the subject is traced from the foundations of quantum mechanics and relativity through to the most recent particle discoveries and the formulation of modern string theory. It includes a full description of the prospects for the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, which will allow many key ideas to be tested. The book is intended for anyone with a background in the physical sciences who wishes to learn more about particle physics. It is also valuable to students of physics wishing to gain an introductory overview of the subject.
Book Description: Electrical and mechanical engineers, materials scientists and applied physicists will find Levi's uniquely practical explanation of quantum mechanics invaluable. This updated and expanded edition of the bestselling original text now covers quantization of angular momentum and quantum communication, and problems and additional references are included. Using real-world engineering examples to engage the reader, the author makes quantum mechanics accessible and relevant to the engineering student. Numerous illustrations, exercises, worked examples and problems are included.
Book Description: Consciousness is one of the major unsolved problems in science. How do the feelings and sensations making up conscious experience arise from the concerted actions of nerve cells and their associated synaptic and molecular processes? Can such feelings be explained by modern science, or is there an entirely different kind of explanation needed? And how can this seemingly intractable problem be approached experimentally? How do the operations of the conscious mind emerge out of the specific interactions involving billions of neurons? This multi-authored book seeks answers to these questions within a range of physically based frameworks, i.e, the underlying assumption is that consciousness can be understood using the intellectual potential of modern physics and other sciences. There are a number of theories of consciousness in existence, some of which are based on classical physics while some others require the use of quantum concepts. The latter ones have drawn a lot of criticism from the present-day scientific establishment while simultaneously claiming that classical approaches are doomed to failure. This book presents the reader with a spectrum of opinions from both sides of this on-going scientific debate, letting him/her decide which of these approaches are most likely to succeed.
Book Description: At what point does theory depart the realm of testable hypothesis and come to resemble something like aesthetic speculation, or even theology? The legendary physicist Wolfgang Pauli had a phrase for such ideas: He would describe them as "not even wrong," meaning that they were so incomplete that they could not even be used to make predictions to compare with observations to see whether they were wrong or not. In Peter Woit's view, superstring theory is just such an idea. In Not Even Wrong, he shows that what many physicists call superstring "theory" is not a theory at all. It makes no predictions, even wrong ones, and this very lack of falsifiability is what has allowed the subject to survive and flourish. Not Even Wrong explains why the mathematical conditions for progress in physics are entirely absent from superstring theory today and shows that judgments about scientific statements, which should be based on the logical consistency of argument and experimental evidence, are instead based on the eminence of those claiming to know the truth. In the face of many books from enthusiasts for string theory, this book presents the other side of the story.
Book Description: Not since Richard Feynman has a Nobel Prize-winning physicist written with as much panache as Robert Laughlin does in this revelatory and essential book. Laughlin proposes nothing less than a new way of understanding fundamental laws of science. In this age of superstring theories and Big-Bang cosmology, we’re used to thinking of the unknown as being impossibly distant from our everyday lives. The edges of science, we’re told, lie in the first nanofraction of a second of the Universe’s existence, or else in realms so small that they can’t be glimpsed even by the most sophisticated experimental techniques. But we haven’t reached the end of science, Laughlin argues-only the end of reductionist thinking. If we consider the world of emergent properties instead, suddenly the deepest mysteries are as close as the nearest ice cube or grain of salt. And he goes farther: the most fundamental laws of physics-such as Newton’s laws of motion and quantum mechanics -are in fact emergent. They are properties of large assemblages of matter, and when their exactness is examined too closely, it vanishes into nothing. A Different Universe takes us into a universe where the vacuum of space has to be considered a kind of solid matter, where sound has quantized particles just like those of light, where there are many phases of matter, not just three, and where metal resembles a liquid while superfluid helium is more like a solid. It is a universe teeming with natural phenomena still to be discovered. This is a truly mind-altering book that shows readers a surprising, exquisitely beautiful and mysterious new world.
Book Description: This book presents the essential aspects of relativistic quantum field theory, with minimal use of mathematics. It covers the development of quantum field theory from the original quantization of electromagnetic field to the gauge field theory of interactions among quarks and leptons. Aimed at both scientists and non-specialists, it requires only some rudimentary knowledge of the Lagrangian and Hamiltonian formulation of Newtonian mechanics and a basic understanding of the special theory of relativity and quantum mechanics.
Book Description: The most important question addressed in this book is "what is the nature (the ontological status) of spacetime?" or, equivalently, "what is the dimensionality of the world at the macroscopic level?" The answer to this question is developed via a thorough analysis of relativistic effects and explicitly asking whether the objects involved in those effects are three-dimensional or four-dimensional. This analysis clearly shows that if the world and the physical objects were three-dimensional, none of the kinematic relativistic effects and the experimental evidence supporting them would be possible. The implications of this result for physics, philosophy, and our entire world view are discussed.
Book Description: Presenting the history of space-time physics, from Newton to Einstein, as a philosophical development DiSalle reflects our increasing understanding of the connections between ideas of space and time and our physical knowledge. He suggests that philosophy’s greatest impact on physics has come about, less by the influence of philosophical hypotheses, than by the philosophical analysis of concepts of space, time, and motion and the roles they play in our assumptions about physical objects and physical measurements. This way of thinking leads to new interpretations of the work of Newton and Einstein and the connections between them. It also offers new ways of looking at old questions about a priori knowledge, the physical interpretation of mathematics, and the nature of conceptual change. Understanding Space-Time will interest readers in philosophy, history and philosophy of science, and physics, as well as readers interested in the relations between physics and philosophy.
Book Description: The theory of relativity is tackled directly in this book, dispensing with the need to establish the insufficiency of Newtonian mechanics. This book takes advantage from the start of the geometrical nature of the relativity theory. The reader is assumed to be familiar with vector calculus in ordinary three-dimensional Euclidean space.
Book Description: This book provides an accessible introduction to stochastic processes in physics and describes the basic mathematical tools of the trade: probability, random walks, and Wiener and Ornstein-Uhlenbeck processes. It includes end-of-chapter problems and emphasizes applications. An Introduction to Stochastic Processes in Physics builds directly upon early-twentieth-century explanations of the "peculiar character in the motions of the particles of pollen in water" as described, in the early nineteenth century, by the biologist Robert Brown. Lemons has adopted Paul Langevin's 1908 approach of applying Newton's second law to a "Brownian particle on which the total force included a random component" to explain Brownian motion. This method builds on Newtonian dynamics and provides an accessible explanation to anyone approaching the subject for the first time. Students will find this book a useful aid to learning the unfamiliar mathematical aspects of stochastic processes while applying them to physical processes that he or she has already encountered.
Book Description: This book is an elaboration of the author's lecture notes in a graduate course in statistical physics and thermodynamics, augmented by some material suitable for self-teaching as well as for undergraduate study. The first 4 or 5 chapters are suitable for an undergraduate course for engineers and physicists in Thermodynamics and Statistical Physics and include detailed study of the various ensembles and their connections to applied thermodynamics. The Debye law of specific heats and reasons for deviations from the Debye formulas are covered, as are the Einstein theories of Brownian motion, black-body radiation and specific heat of solids. Van der Waals gases and the reason for the apparent failure of his Law of Corresponding States are discussed. The last 5 chapters treat topics of recent interest to researchers, including: the Ising and Potts models, spin waves in ferromagnetic and anti-ferromagnetic media, sound propagation in non-ideal gases and the decay of sound waves, introduction to the understanding of glasses and spin glasses, superfluidity and superconductivity.
Book Description: This book presents the basics of mathematics that are needed for learning the physics of today. It describes briefly the theories of groups and operators, finite- and infinite-dimensional algebras, concepts of symmetry and supersymmetry, and then delineates their relations to theories of relativity and black holes, classical and quantum physics, electroweak fields and Yang–Mills. It concludes with a chapter on (the complex theory of) strings and superstrings and their link to black holes — an idea that fascinates both the physicist and the mathematician.
Book Description: Almost all real systems are nonlinear. For a nonlinear system the superposition principle breaks down: The system's response is not proportional to the stimulus it receives; the whole is more than the sum of its parts. The three parts of this book contains the basics of nonlinear science, with applications in physics. Part I contains an overview of fractals, chaos, solitons, pattern formation, cellular automata and complex systems. In Part II, 14 reviews and essays by pioneers, as well as 10 research articles are reprinted. Part III collects 17 students projects, with computer algorithms for simulation models included. The book can be used for self-study, as a textbook for a one-semester course, or as supplement to other courses in linear or nonlinear systems. The reader should have some knowledge in introductory college physics. No mathematics beyond calculus and no computer literacy are assumed.
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Lyle Ford
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Department of Physics and Astronomy
(715)836-5046
Last Updated: February 27, 2007