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A biography of the scientist considered to be the father of nuclear physics for his development of the nuclear theory of the atom in 1911 and discovery of alpha and beta rays and protons.
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• Introduction Gordon Fraser
• Part I. Matter and the Universe: 1. Cosmology Wendy Freedman and Rocky Kolb
• 2. Gravity Ronald Adler
• 3. Astrophysics Arnon Dar
• 4. Particles and the standard model Chris Quigg
• 5. Superstrings Michael Green
• Part II. Quantum Matter: 6. Atoms and photons Claude Cohen-Tannoudji and Jean Dalibard
• 7. The quantum world of ultra-cold atoms Christopher Foot and William Phillips
• 8. Superfluidity Henry Hall
• 9. Quantum phase transitions Subir Sachdev
• Part III. Quanta in Action: 10. Quantum entanglement Anton Zeilinger
• 11. Quanta, ciphers and computers Artur Ekert
• 12. Small-scale structure and nanoscience Yoseph Imry
• Part IV. Calculation and Computation: 13. Nonlinearity Henry Abarbanel
• 14. Complexity Antonio Politi
• 15. Collaborative physics, e-science and the grid Tony Hey and Anne Trefethen
• Part V. Science in Action: 16. Biophysics Cyrus Safinya
• 17. Medical physics Nicolaj Pavel
• 18. Physics and materials Robert Cahn
• 19. Physics and society Ugo Amaldi.
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Underpinning all the other branches of science, physics affects the way we live our lives, and ultimately how life itself functions. Recent scientific advances have led to dramatic reassessment of our understanding of the world around us, and made a significant impact on our lifestyle. In this book, leading international experts, including Nobel prize winners, explore the frontiers of modern physics, from the particles inside an atom to the stars that make up a galaxy, from nano-engineering and brain research to high-speed data networks. Revealing how physics plays a vital role in what we see around us, this book will fascinate scientists of all disciplines, and anyone wanting to know more about the world of physics today.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)

• 1. Preface
• 2. Historical Survey
• 3. Fluids: Classical Theory
• 4. Light Scattering and Correlations: Classical Theory
• 5. The Onsager Revolution
• 6. Reconciliation
• 7. Renormalization Group
• 8. Appendix: Related Topics
• 9. References
• 10. Index Contents Preface Foreword: About the Author and the Subject 1 Historical Survey 1.1 The Development of Statistical Mechanics 1.2 Gibbs Ensembles 1.3 Non-interacting and Interacting Systems 1.4 The Classical Period 1.5 The Onsager Revolution 1.6 Reconciliation 1.7 Renormalization Group: Respectability General Notation References 2 Fluids: Classical Theory 2.1 Thermodynamic Background 2.2 Stability of a Phase: First-order Transitions 2.3 Theory of van der Waals 2.4 Critical Behaviour of a van der Waals Fluid (T > Tc) 2.5 Critical Behaviour of a van der Waals Fluid (T.
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The relationship between liquids and gases engaged the attention of a number of distinguished scientists in the mid 19th Century. In a definitive paper published in 1869, Thomas Andrews described experiments he performed on carbon dioxide and from which he concluded that a critical temperature exists below which liquids and gases are distinct phases of matter, but above which they merge into a single fluid phase. During the years which followed, other natural phenomena were discovered to which the same critical point description can be applied - such as ferromagnetism and solutions. This book provides an historical account of theoretical explanations of critical phenomena which ultimately led to a major triumph of statistical mechanics in the 20th Century - with the award of the Nobel Prize for Physics.
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The oscillation of neutrinos from one variety to another has long been suspected, but was confirmed only about 15 years ago. In order for these oscillations to occur, neutrinos must have a mass, no matter how slight. Since neutrinos have long been thought to be massless, in a very real way, this phenomena is a clear signal of physics beyond the known. In this video, Fermilab's Dr Don Lincoln explains how we know it occurs and hints at the rich experimental program at several international laboratories designed to understand this complex mystery.

How does the physics we know today - a highly professionalised enterprise, inextricably linked to government and industry - link back to its origins as a liberal art in Ancient Greece? John Heilbron's crisp and witty book tells the 2500-year story and highlights the implications for humankind's self-understanding.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)

• Introduction
• 1. Invention and Diversity in Greece and Rome
• 2. Selection and Development in Islam
• 3. Domestication in the West
• 4. A Second Creation
• 5. Classical Physics and its Cure
• 6. From Old World to New
• 7. By Way of Conclusion
• References and Further Reading
• Index.
• (source: Nielsen Book Data)

How does the physics we know today - a highly professionalised enterprise, inextricably linked to government and industry - link back to its origins as a liberal art in Ancient Greece? What is the path that leads from the old philosophy of nature and its concern with humankind's place in the universe to modern massive international projects that hunt down fundamental particles and industrial laboratories that manufacture marvels? John Heilbron's fascinating history of physics introduces us to Islamic astronomers and mathematicians, calculating the size of the earth whilst their caliphs conquered much of it; to medieval scholar-theologians investigating light; to Galileo, Copernicus, Kepler, and Newton, measuring, and trying to explain, the universe. We visit the 'House of Wisdom' in 9th-century Baghdad; Europe's first universities; the courts of the Renaissance; the Scientific Revolution and the academies of the 18th century; the increasingly specialised world of 20th and 21st century science. Highlighting the shifting relationship between physics, philosophy, mathematics, and technology - and the implications for humankind's self-understanding - Heilbron explores the changing place and purpose of physics in the cultures and societies that have nurtured it over the centuries.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)

• Introduction The History of Physics and Its Relevance to Our Lives Today Assessment and Division into Epochs Elements of the Philosophy of Science The Dynamism of History The Classical Heritage The Greek Inheritance The Harmonious, Beautiful Order Matter and Motion: The Aristotelian Synthesis The Greatest Achievements of the Ancient Sciences The Twilight of Hellenism The Stewards of the Heritage The Thousand-Year Balance Sheet The Salvage of Ancient Knowledge The Indian and Arab Worlds The West Awakens Medieval Natural Philosophy The Renaissance and Physics Demolition and the Construction of a New Foundation The World in 1600 Numerology and Reality Galileo and Those Who Stood in His Shadow The New Philosophy: Doubt Becomes Method Light, Vacuum, and Matter through the Middle of the Seventeenth Century After Descartes and before Newton: Huygens Newton and the Principia: The Newtonian Worldview The Completion of Classical Physics Starting Capital for the Eighteenth Century Worthy Successors: d'Alembert, Euler, and Lagrange The Century of Light From Effluvium to the Electromagnetic Field Heat and Energy The Structure of Matter and Electricity: The Classical Atom The Physics of the Twentieth Century "Clouds on the Horizon of Nineteenth-Century Physics" The Theory of Relativity Quantum Theory Nuclear Structure, Nuclear Energy Law and Symmetry Mankind and the Universe.
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While the physical sciences are a continuously evolving source of technology and of understanding about our world, they have become so specialized and rely on so much prerequisite knowledge that for many people today the divide between the sciences and the humanities seems even greater than it was when C. P. Snow delivered his famous 1959 lecture, "The Two Cultures." In A Cultural History of Physics, Hungarian scientist and educator Karoly Simonyi succeeds in bridging this chasm by describing the experimental methods and theoretical interpretations that created scientific knowledge, from ancient times to the present day, within the cultural environment in which it was formed. Unlike any other work of its kind, Simonyi's seminal opus explores the interplay of science and the humanities to convey the wonder and excitement of scientific development throughout the ages. These pages contain an abundance of excerpts from original resources, a wide array of clear and straightforward explanations, and an astonishing wealth of insight, revealing the historical progress of science and inviting readers into a dialogue with the great scientific minds that shaped our current understanding of physics. Beautifully illustrated, accurate in its scientific content and broad in its historical and cultural perspective, this book will be a valuable reference for scholars and an inspiration to aspiring scientists and humanists who believe that science is an integral part of our culture.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)

Science is about 6000 years old while physics emerged as a distinct branch some 2500 years ago. As scientists discovered virtually countless facts about the world during this great span of time, the manner in which they explained the underlying structure of that world underwent a philosophical evolution. "From Clockwork to Crapshoot" provides the perspective needed to understand contemporary developments in physics in relation to philosophical traditions as far back as ancient Greece. Roger Newton, whose previous works have been widely praised for erudition and accessibility, presents a history of physics from the early beginning to our day - with the associated mathematics, astronomy and chemistry. Along the way, he gives brief explanations of the scientific concepts at issue, biographical thumbnail sketches of the protagonists, and descriptions of the changing instruments that enabled scientists to make their discoveries. He traces a profound change from a deterministic explanation of the world - accepted at least since the time of the ancient Greek and Taoist Chinese civilisations - to the notion of probability, enshrined as the very basis of science with the quantum revolution at the beginning of the 20th Century. With this change, Newton finds another fundamental shift in the focus of physicists - from the cause of dynamics or motion to the basic structure of the world. His work identifies what may well be the defining characteristic of physics in the 21st Century.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)