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Atomic Histories (Masters of Modern Physics)
Rudolf E. Peierls
Manufacturer: American Institute of Physics
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Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 1563962438 |
Book Description
"His experience and insight, combined with a great honesty and clarity of vision, placed him among the most authoritative commentators in his field." Brian Cathcart, Deputy Editor, The Independent and author of Test of Greatness: Britain's Struggle for the Atom Bomb Highly respected physicist Rudolf Peierls offers an enlightening collection of essays, book reviews, and candid profiles of some of the most famous scientists of the 20th century. Many of the essays are concerned with the nuclear arms race, which Dr. Peierls has consistently opposed. The book reviews are most revealing and reflect Peierls's position on the Strategic Defense Initiative and his views on energy policy. Peierls also writes about mentor Wolfgang Pauli, the controversial figure of Werner Heisenberg, J. Robert Oppenheimer as a troubled young man, and personal friends Herbert Skinner, Niels Bohr, Max Planck, and others. About the Author In 1940, Rudolph Peierls, together with Otto Frisch, put forth the theory that if U-235 could be separated from U-238, an 11 pound bomb could be produced with the equivalent power of several tons of dynamite. Educated in Germany, Dr. Peierls went to Zurich in 1929 to assist the pioneering physicist Wolfgang Pauli. In 1932 he became a Rockefeller Fellow and went to England as a researcher. He remained in England after Hitler came to power and following World War II he taught at the University of Birmingham and later at Oxford.
Book Description
The book gives accounts of non-quantum optical phenomena and of instruments and technology based on them, at a level suitable for the last two years of an honours degree in physics and for graduates starting out. Topics covered include the conventional (diffraction, coherence, thin films, holography...) but also the less conventional (etendue, Gaussian beams, laser cavities, cd reader, confocal microscope...) which belong in today's university courses, for example, to support laser physics. Even the conventional material has frequently been given a fresh presentation by giving a tidier-than-usual route through a calculation, or finding insightful connections with other parts of physics, or simply avoiding common errors. Problems offer opportunities for checking the reader's basic understanding, or for taking a careful route through reasoning, or for checking orders of magnitude. But most problems contain exploratory and critical material: investigating possible alternative approaches, asking searching questions about fundamentals, or solving apparent paradoxes.
Customer Reviews:
Intermediate text, very readable, conversational tone..........2006-02-10
Born and Wolf is a classic, but tough sledding at times. If it is a common topic in optics, you probably will prefer reading about it here instead. This book has a nice conversational tone, gives insight, and is reasonably detailed (but not exhaustive). It includes a lot of practical advice in small-type paragraphs in margins throught book (for example, the chapter on thin films notes that the refractive index can often vary with deposition method, etc.).
Book Description
"I can think of few better ways of introducing students to the history of astronomy than by using The Eye of Heaven as a text....This is science at its best....Not only does Gingerich make you think, he also forces you back in time and makes you think as astronomers did then. Students need this inspiration." David Hughes, New Scientist
Astronomer and historian Owen Gingerich provides a fascinating introduction to three giants of early astronomy: Ptolemy, Copernicus, and Kepler. In these collected essays, Gingerich examines the revolution in man's conception of the universe brought about by the shift from the earth-centered cosmos of Ptolemy to the sun-centered model of Copernicus.
Customer Reviews:
The Eye of Heaven: Ptolemy, Copernicus, Kepler.......2007-06-27
I bought this book because I am hoping to write a book myself, giving a thumbnail sketch of history relevant to today's climate science (including Global Warming) from the Ancient Egyptians through Newton and Foucault and into the present. Real meteorology started 7 years after Foucault's work, as a direct result of what was learned from Foucault's pendulum.
I am a climate scientist, not an historian, so I have a steep learning curve to write such a book.I had previously obtained Toomer's magnificent translation of Ptolemy's "Almagest" (it shows Ptolemy to have been the world's first full-on theoretical physicist, and a magnificent teacher). I knew Toomer valued Gingerich highly, so I bought Gingerich's book. It has not disappointed. It has helped me to understand Ptolemy's fairly opaque book much better, and has also given me a much better appreciation of Copernicus the man.
I would have liked it if Gingerich had described Brahe in the same way -- we scientists value observations first, then theory -- and Ivar Peterson's "Newton's Clock" does a better job on Kepler. Nevertheless, I nearly gave this book five stars, not four.
Required reading!.......2001-06-08
This book is essential for anybody who wants to understand what Ptolemy, Copernicus and Kepler really did. It's a bit more technical than "The Great Copernicus Chase", but if you're serious, you'll appreciate it.
And if you're really serious, you'll get a copy of the paper by James Evans in Am. J. Phys 56 (Nov, 1988) 1009-1024. It answered tons of technical questions for me. Just do it, you'll thank me (and Jim Evans!).
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Of One Mind: The Collectivization of Science (Masters of Modern Physics, Vol 16)
John Ziman
Manufacturer: AIP Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 1563960656 |
Book Description
This superb collection by the eminent physicist and critic John Ziman, opens with an album of portraits of scientists--Albert Einstein, Freeman Dyson, Lev Landau, Mark Azbel, Andrei Sakharov. Ziman takes readers into the world of the contemporary scientist, showing how discoveries are made and how claims are tested. He then travels into the minds of scientists as they are drawn into competing directions. Here Ziman exposes the path of discovery, which is strewn with complex human needs, governmental restrictions, the desire for profits, and the exercise of technical virtuosity.
Book Description
Colleague and confidant of Einstein and Bohr and pioneer of nuclear fission -- John A. Wheeler is one of our most original and profound thinkers. In engaging essays formed of reminiscence, science, and conjecture, Wheeler writes of debates and discussions with Bohr, long talks with Einstein in his study at Princeton, and the eloquence and nobility of Hermann Weyl. With simple delight in "the machinery of existence" Wheeler exudes an enthusiasm that illuminates this collection. John Wheeler is one of the 20th century's most notable nuclear physicists and relativity theorists. In addition, he has played a leading role in research on pulsars, black holes, and nuclear reactor safety. Dr. Wheeler is Jan and Roland Blumberg Professor Emeritus at the University of Texas, Austin and Joseph Henry Professor of Physics Emeritus at Princeton University.
Customer Reviews:
Make yourself at home.............2000-10-21
John Archibald Wheeler is one of the landmark physicists of the 20th century. He has served as mentor to Richard Feynman, Kip Thorne and Hugh Everett (among others). He made significant contributions on the production of the A-bomb in WWII and also headed up the US efforts to make the H-bomb post WWII. He is, in a word, one of the most under-rated scientists of the current epoch.
In the present book, he spends most of his pages paying homage to people who dedicated their lives to science over the centuries. Such venerable names as Nicolaus Copernicus, Benjamin Franklin, Albert Einstein, Niels Bohr, Hideki Yukawa, Maria Sklodowska Curie, Hermann Weyl and others form the objects of Wheeler's praise. Much of the book is made up of snippets of terse speeches which Wheeler has made at various symposiums and celebrations during his lengthy sojourn at Princeton. For example, there is a brief poem which he wrote for Joseph Henry which is included, as well as an oration on the "colleagueship at Princeton" which he delivered in 1966.
Interspersed throughout the book are essays which Wheeler has written on quantum mechanics, black holes, cosmology & the like. These are not the easiest pieces to read; I would suggest that readers browse through some preliminary books on QM before attempting to read Wheeler ("Taking The Quantum Leap" by Fred Alan Wolf might be a good place to start). The essays are well written & Wheeler uses some helpful analogies, but the going is still pretty rough. One of Wheeler's quotes which I really like (not from this book, though) is "If you haven't found something strange during the day, it hasn't been much of a day." One is sure to find many-a-strange scientific phenomenom in this book.
This book lacks a central, cohesive theme & the order in which it was put together does not follow any specific chronology or format. However, I don't think this takes away from the book's superb picture of what one of the premiere scientists of the 20th century spends his days thinking about. There are several passages in which he compares and contrasts science with philosophy as well as with the pragmatism of everyday existence. I would recommend this book to anyone who has an interest in John Archibald Wheeler, physics, or the scientific community of Princeton university. Make yourself at home....
Not For The General Public.......2000-10-09
John A. Wheeler is not only of the world's leading physicists but he is a great teacher. Besides writing an excellent popular introduction to Relativity theory "Gravity And Spacetime" he is co-writer of the most popular academic work on General Relativity "Gravitation" and also of a superb textbook introducing undergraduates to Special Relativity "Spacetime Physics". Both Professor's Wheeler popular works and text books are clear, user friendly expositions of Relativity Theory. So it was with great anticipation that I started Wheeler's collections of essays "At Home In The Universe".
Unfortunately many of the essays are directed at the professional scientist and are beyond the level of even the well read amateur. Reading some of Professor Wheeler's discussions of the philosophy of science is like being thrown into a discussion being conducted by people who have known each other for a very long time and have developed a special language. For instance, "With a slight rewording of Bohr's formulation, we say, `The use of certain concepts in the description of nature automatically excludes the use of other concepts, which however, in another connection are equally necessary for the description of the phenomenon.'"
There are some gems in this book, though. John A. Wheeler seems to have personally known every great scientist of the Twentieth Century: Albert Einstein, Niels Bohr, Richard Feynman, Andrei Sakharov, Kurt Godel, John von Neumann, Steven Weinberg. His comments on them and their work are invaluable.
Wheeler also has some interesting comments on the risks of a nuclear energy. One does not need to accept his optimistic viewpoint in order to appreciate his insight.
"At Home In The Universe" is really two books: one for the professional scientist and another for the general public. If the volume was separated, we would have two excellent books instead of a single disappointing one.
Book Description
The importance and the beauty of modern quantum field theory resides in the power and variety of its methods and ideas, which find application in domains as different as particle physics, cosmology, condensed matter, statistical mechanics and critical phenomena. This book introduces the reader to the modern developments, assuming no previous knowledge of quantum field theory. Along with standard topics like Feynman diagrams, the book discusses effective lagrangians, renormalization group equations, the path integral formulation, spontaneous symmetry breaking and non-abelian gauge theories. The inclusion of more advanced topics will also make this a most useful book for graduate students and researchers.
Customer Reviews:
A Wonderful Book For Quickly Learning The Meat Of QFT.......2007-06-13
This book is short and to the point. The author has a good sense for the heart of the subject and how to present it in an efficient way. I would recommend this book to anybody who wants to either a.) learn the meat of QFT quickly or b.) wants a good reference which quickly reviews the most important parts of QFT. Since the technical details are important, I would highly recommend using this book in conjunction with a book with more technical details like the one by Peskin and Schroeder. (However, this book does have a lot of good information for its size.) Reading this book will help catalyze your understanding of the details in a more technical book.
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The Control and Censorship of Caroline Drama: The Records of Sir Henry Herbert, Master of the Revels, 1623-73
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0198122462 |
Book Description
This is a completely new edition of the records of Sir Henry Herbert, brother of the poet George Herbert and, as Master of the Revels, the official responsible for licensing and censoring plays from 1623 to 1642 and from 1660 to 1673. The only previous edition of Sir Henry's records appeared in 1917, edited by J. Q. Adams. Dr Bawcutts' edition contains much fresh material, including 49 hitherto unknown play licenses from the recently discovered Burn transcript. In the Restoration section of the records are sixty items not contained in Adams, most of which have never been published. Dr Bawcutt's substantial Introduction includes a new biography of Sir Henry, an account of the strange and complicated history of his private papers, and the fullest description available of his activities as Master of the Revels. The Control and Censorship of Caroline Drama will be an essential document for literary scholars and theatre historians interested in the governmental regulation of drama.
Book Description
As the head of the theory group at Los Alamos, Hans A. Bethe played a
Customer Reviews:
a towering figure in modern physics.......2005-03-01
An outstanding collection of essays, written over 50 years, by one of the giants of twentieth century physics. Hans Bethe won the Nobel Prize in physics for his work on stellar evolution. He is perhaps the most senior figure from the Manhattan Project still living.
The essays are nontechnical, and mostly discuss the nuclear arms race. Many were cowritten with other prominent scientists, like Richard Garwin. These essays span the Cold War, and most have a common theme of how to avoid a nuclear war.
The book concludes with essays by Bethe on other prominent physicists that he has known. Freeman Dyson. J Robert Oppenheimer. Richard Feynman [who got his PhD from Bethe]. The essay on Feynman echoes what Bethe said in a memorial lecture for Feynman, given at Los Alamos in 1988, shortly after Feynman's death. [I was fortunate to be present at the latter lecture.]
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Arms and the Physicist (Masters of Modern Physics)
Herbert F. York
Manufacturer: AIP Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 1563960990 |
Book Description
From the very start, at the age of twenty-one, Herbert York was swept into the century's most daring and dangerous technical achievement, the making of the atomic bomb. In Arms and the Physicist, York takes us backstage to witness key events of our time: to the Manhattan Project for the birth of the atomic bomb; to Lawrence Livermore where the H-bomb was built; to Washington to eavesdrop on how post-war history was being forged; and to Geneva where he tried to stem the madness. Readers will meet some of our greatest heros and villains--Lawrence, Oppenheimer, Weisskopf, Teller, General Groves, President Eisenhower, and a cast of hundreds--friends, colleagues, enemies, who for more than half a century, held the fate of the world in their hands.
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Modern Vacuum Physics (Master's Series in Physics and Astronomy, 4.)
Austin Chambers
Manufacturer: CRC
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0849324386 |
Book Description
Vacuum science has contributed significantly to progress in scientific research and manufacturing, and in recent decades those contributions have increased markedly. As vacuum technology continues to grow in its scope and sophistication, so does the need for users to have a clear understanding of its fundamental principles and practice. Modern Vacuum Physics illuminates those principles and practices along with a number of applications in research and industrial production. The first half of the book builds a foundation in gases and vapors under rarefied conditions, how they behave when they contact surfaces, and how they flow. This forms the basis for understanding how to produce and measure vacua, on which the second half of the book focuses. In these chapters, the author presents examples of the analysis of representative systems and describes some of the exciting developments in which vacuum plays an important role. The final chapter address practical matters, such as materials, components, and leak detection. Throughout the book, the author's explanations are presented in terms of first principles and basic physics, augmented by illustrative worked examples and numerous figures. The author's clear and engaging style, judicious choice of applications, and reasonably detailed look at the whys and wherefores of vacuum systems develop the background you need to understand and analyze the behavior of typical modern vacuum systems, and even to design simple systems for laboratory purposes. This book equips readers to approach vacuum systems with confidence, demonstrates the scope and value of vacuum technology, and prepares them well for more advanced studies.
Books:
- Bose-Einstein Condensation (The International Series of Monographs on Physics)
- Boundary-Layer Theory
- Chaos, Fractals, and Noise: Stochastic Aspects of Dynamics (Applied Mathematical Sciences)
- Classic Feynman: All the Adventures of a Curious Character
- Classical and Statistical Thermodynamics
- Classical Dynamics of Particles and Systems
- Close Encounters of the Sexy Kind
- Complex Electromagnetic Problems and Numerical Simulation Approaches (Ieee Press Series on Electromagnetic Wave Theory)
- Complex Electromagnetic Problems and Numerical Simulation Approaches (Ieee Press Series on Electromagnetic Wave Theory)
- Conceptual Physics
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