| Description |
1 online resource (xii, 500 pages) : illustrations |
| Contents |
Mechanics. Historical synopsis. How the heavens go / Galileo Galilei -- A man obsessed / Isaac Newton. Thermodynamics. Historical synopsis. A tale of two revolutions / Sadi Carnot -- On the dark side / Robert Mayer -- A holy undertaking / James Joule -- Unities and a unifier / Hermann Helmholtz -- The scientist as virtuoso / William Thomson -- The road to entropy / Rudolf Clausius -- The greatest simplicity / Willard Gibbs -- The last law / Walther Nernst. Electromagnetism. Historical synopsis. A force of nature / Michael Faraday -- The scientist as magician / James Clerk Maxwell. Statistical mechanics. Historical synopsis. Molecules and entropy / Ludwig Boltzmann. Relativity. Historical synopsis. Adventure in thought / Albert Einstein. Quantum mechanics. Historical synopsis. Reluctant revolutionary / Max Planck -- Science by conversation / Niels Bohr -- The scientist as critic / Wolfgang Pauli -- Matrix mechanics / Werner Heisenberg -- Wave mechanics / Erwin Schrödinger, Louis de Broglie. Nuclear physics. Historical synopsis. Opening doors / Marie Curie -- On the crest of a wave / Ernest Rutherford -- Physics and friendships / Lise Meitner -- Complete physicist / Enrico Fermi. Particle physics. Historical synopsis. i[gamma] · [delta] [psi] = m [psi] / Paul Dirac -- What do you care? / Richard Feynman -- Telling the tale of the quarks / Murray Gell-Mann. Astronomy, astrophysics, and cosmology. Historical synopsis. Beyond the galaxy / Edwin Hubble -- Ideal scholar / Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar -- Affliction, fame, and fortune / Stephen Hawking |
| Summary |
Here is a lively history of modern physics, as seen through the lives of thirty men and women from the pantheon of physics. William H. Cropper vividly portrays the life and accomplishments of such giants as Galileo and Isaac Newton, Marie Curie and Ernest Rutherford, Albert Einstein and Niels Bohr, right up to contemporary figures such as Richard Feynman, Murray Gell-Mann, and Stephen Hawking. We meet scientists--all geniuses--who could be gregarious, aloof, unpretentious, friendly, dogged, imperious, generous to colleagues or contentious rivals. As Cropper captures their personalities, he also offers vivid portraits of their great moments of discovery, their bitter feuds, their relations with family and friends, their religious beliefs and education. In addition, since scientists in a particular field often inspire those who follow, Cropper has grouped these biographies by discipline--mechanics, thermodynamics, particle physics, and so on--each section beginning with a historical overview. Thus in the section on quantum mechanics, readers can see how the work of Max Planck influenced Niels Bohr, and how Bohr in turn influenced Werner Heisenberg.; By sequencing the biographies in this way, Cropper gives us an overall portrait of each field. Our understanding of the physical world has increased dramatically in the last four centuries, starting with Galileo and his telescope and stretching to Stephen Hawking's work on black holes and cosmology. With Great Physicists, readers can retrace the footsteps of the men and women who led the way |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references and index |
| Notes |
Print version record |
| Subject |
Physicists -- Biography.
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SCIENCE -- Physics -- General.
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SCIENCE -- Mechanics -- General.
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BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY -- Science & Technology.
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SCIENCE -- Energy.
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Physicists
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| Genre/Form |
Biographies
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| Form |
Electronic book
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| ISBN |
9780195350272 |
|
0195350278 |
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9780195137484 |
|
0195137485 |
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1280473738 |
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9781280473739 |
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0195302427 |
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9780195302424 |
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