The Second Physicist

Author : Christa Jungnickel,Russell McCormmach
Publisher : Springer
Page : 460 pages
File Size : 40,5 Mb
Release : 2017-06-10
Category : Science
ISBN : 9783319495651

Get Book

The Second Physicist by Christa Jungnickel,Russell McCormmach Pdf

This book explores the rise of theoretical physics in 19th century Germany. The authors show how the junior second physicist in German universities over time became the theoretical physicist, of equal standing to the experimental physicist. Gustav Kirchhoff, Hermann von Helmholtz, and Max Planck are among the great German theoretical physicists whose work and career are examined in this book. Physics was then the only natural science in which theoretical work developed into a major teaching and research specialty in its own right. Readers will discover how German physicists arrived at a well-defined field of theoretical physics with well understood and generally accepted goals and needs. The authors explain the nature of the work of theoretical physics with many examples, taking care always to locate the research within the workplace. The book is a revised and shortened version of Intellectual Mastery of Nature: Theoretical Physics from Ohm to Einstein, a two-volume work by the same authors. This new edition represents a reformulation of the larger work. It retains what is most important in the original work, while including new material, sharpening discussions, and making the research more accessible to readers. It presents a thorough examination of a seminal era in physics.

Author : Paul Steinhardt
Publisher : Simon & Schuster
Page : 400 pages
File Size : 41,5 Mb
Release : 2020-01-07
Category : Science
ISBN : 9781476729930

Get Book

The Second Kind of Impossible by Paul Steinhardt Pdf

*Shortlisted for the 2019 Royal Society Insight Investment Science Book Prize* One of the most fascinating scientific detective stories of the last fifty years, an exciting quest for a new form of matter. “A riveting tale of derring-do” (Nature), this book reads like James Gleick’s Chaos combined with an Indiana Jones adventure. When leading Princeton physicist Paul Steinhardt began working in the 1980s, scientists thought they knew all the conceivable forms of matter. The Second Kind of Impossible is the story of Steinhardt’s thirty-five-year-long quest to challenge conventional wisdom. It begins with a curious geometric pattern that inspires two theoretical physicists to propose a radically new type of matter—one that raises the possibility of new materials with never before seen properties, but that violates laws set in stone for centuries. Steinhardt dubs this new form of matter “quasicrystal.” The rest of the scientific community calls it simply impossible. The Second Kind of Impossible captures Steinhardt’s scientific odyssey as it unfolds over decades, first to prove viability, and then to pursue his wildest conjecture—that nature made quasicrystals long before humans discovered them. Along the way, his team encounters clandestine collectors, corrupt scientists, secret diaries, international smugglers, and KGB agents. Their quest culminates in a daring expedition to a distant corner of the Earth, in pursuit of tiny fragments of a meteorite forged at the birth of the solar system. Steinhardt’s discoveries chart a new direction in science. They not only change our ideas about patterns and matter, but also reveal new truths about the processes that shaped our solar system. The underlying science is important, simple, and beautiful—and Steinhardt’s firsthand account is “packed with discovery, disappointment, exhilaration, and persistence...This book is a front-row seat to history as it is made” (Nature).

Author : S. D'Agostino
Publisher : Springer Science & Business Media
Page : 325 pages
File Size : 51,7 Mb
Release : 2012-12-06
Category : Science
ISBN : 9789401090346

Get Book

A History of the Ideas of Theoretical Physics by S. D'Agostino Pdf

This book presents a perspective on the history of theoretical physics over the past two hundreds years. It comprises essays on the history of pre-Maxwellian electrodynamics, of Maxwell's and Hertz's field theories, and of the present century's relativity and quantum physics. A common thread across the essays is the search for and the exploration of themes that influenced significant con ceptual changes in the great movement of ideas and experiments which heralded the emergence of theoretical physics (hereafter: TP). The fun. damental change involved the recognition of the scien tific validity of theoretical physics. In the second half of the nine teenth century, it was not easy for many physicists to understand the nature and scope of theoretical physics and of its adept, the theoreti cal physicist. A physicist like Ludwig Boltzmann, one of the eminent contributors to the new discipline, confessed in 1895 that, "even the formulation of this concept [of a theoretical physicist] is not entirely without difficulty". 1 Although science had always been divided into theory and experiment, it was only in physics that theoretical work developed into a major research and teaching specialty in its own right. 2 It is true that theoretical physics was mainly a creation of tum of-the century German physics, where it received full institutional recognition, but it is also undeniable that outstanding physicists in other European countries, namely, Ampere, Fourier, and Maxwell, also had an important part in its creation.

Author : L G Aslamazov,A A Varlamov
Publisher : World Scientific Publishing Company
Page : 288 pages
File Size : 53,5 Mb
Release : 2004-09-09
Category : Science
ISBN : 9789813106437

Get Book

The Wonders of Physics by L G Aslamazov,A A Varlamov Pdf

The book in your hands develops the best traditions of the Russian scientific popular literature. Written in a clear and captivating manner by working theoretical physicists, who are, at the same time, dedicated popularizers of scientific knowledge, it brings to the reader the latest achievements in quantum solid-state physics, but along the way it also shows how the laws of physics reveal themselves even in seemingly trivial episodes concerning the natural phenomena around us. And most importantly, it shows that we live in the world, where scientists are capable of “proving harmony with algebra”. — A A Abrikosov, 2003 Nobel Prize Winner in Physics

Author : Michael Spivak
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 733 pages
File Size : 53,7 Mb
Release : 2010
Category : Mechanics
ISBN : 0914098322

Get Book

Physics for Mathematicians by Michael Spivak Pdf

Author : Einstein
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 326 pages
File Size : 50,8 Mb
Release : 1971-11-30
Category : Science
ISBN : 0521083710

Get Book

The Evolution of Physics by Einstein Pdf

Author : Jan W Dash
Publisher : World Scientific Publishing Company
Page : 1000 pages
File Size : 53,7 Mb
Release : 2016-05-10
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 9789814571258

Get Book

Quantitative Finance and Risk Management by Jan W Dash Pdf

Written by a physicist with extensive experience as a risk/finance quant, this book treats a wide variety of topics. Presenting the theory and practice of quantitative finance and risk, it delves into the "how to" and "what it's like" aspects not covered in textbooks or papers. A "Technical Index" indicates the mathematical level for each chapter. This second edition includes some new, expanded, and wide-ranging considerations for risk management: Climate Change and its long-term systemic risk; Markets in Crisis and the Reggeon Field Theory; "Smart Monte Carlo" and American Monte Carlo; Trend Risk — time scales and risk, the Macro–Micro model, singular spectrum analysis; credit risk: counterparty risk and issuer risk; stressed correlations — new techniques; and Psychology and option models. Solid risk management topics from the first edition and valid today are included: standard/advanced theory and practice in fixed income, equities, and FX; quantitative finance and risk management — traditional/exotic derivatives, fat tails, advanced stressed VAR, model risk, numerical techniques, deals/portfolios, systems, data, economic capital, and a function toolkit; risk lab — the nuts and bolts of risk management from the desk to the enterprise; case studies of deals; Feynman path integrals, Green functions, and options; and "Life as a Quant" — communication issues, sociology, stories, and advice.

Author : Tsvi Piran,Steven Weinberg
Publisher : World Scientific
Page : 248 pages
File Size : 52,9 Mb
Release : 1986-12-01
Category : Electronic
ISBN : 9789813201781

Get Book

Physics In Higher Dimensions - Proceedings Of The 2nd Jerusalem Winter School For Theoretical Physics - Volume 2 by Tsvi Piran,Steven Weinberg Pdf

In the last few years there has been a revival of interest in the old idea that spacetime may have more than four dimensions, all but four having been curled up into a small circumference. In this view the various particles and interactions we see at ordinary energies arise from a simple, perhaps purely geometrical, theory in higher dimensions. This idea has profound implications for elementary particle physics and cosmology, and raises challenging problems of mathematics. These matters were the topic of the Second Jerusalem Winter School of Theoretical Physics.

Author : Anonyme
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 163 pages
File Size : 50,6 Mb
Release : 2016-09
Category : Physicists
ISBN : 9781782403876

Get Book

30-Second Einstein by Anonyme Pdf

The 50 fundamentals of his work, life and legacy, each explained in half a minute Spend 30 seconds a day in the company of a colossus from the world of science, and you will soon have his whole story-both his scientific attainments and his extraordinary life-in your head. Einstein was not only an unparalleled scientific genius, but also a human rights campaigner, a political activist, and the iconic archetype of the mad professor. Is it any wonder that he continues to fascinate scientists and non-scientists alike? 30-Second Einstein will show you why at approximately the speed of light. An internationally bestselling series presents essential concepts in a mere 30 seconds, 300 words, and one image Einstein's complex life and theories, explained concisely and without jargon The quickest way to understand einstein's starring role in the history of science

Author : Jimena Canales
Publisher : Princeton University Press
Page : 488 pages
File Size : 48,6 Mb
Release : 2015-06-09
Category : Science
ISBN : 9781400865772

Get Book

The Physicist and the Philosopher by Jimena Canales Pdf

The explosive debate that transformed our views about time and scientific truth On April 6, 1922, in Paris, Albert Einstein and Henri Bergson publicly debated the nature of time. Einstein considered Bergson's theory of time to be a soft, psychological notion, irreconcilable with the quantitative realities of physics. Bergson, who gained fame as a philosopher by arguing that time should not be understood exclusively through the lens of science, criticized Einstein's theory of time for being a metaphysics grafted on to science, one that ignored the intuitive aspects of time. The Physicist and the Philosopher tells the remarkable story of how this explosive debate transformed our understanding of time and drove a rift between science and the humanities that persists today. Jimena Canales introduces readers to the revolutionary ideas of Einstein and Bergson, describes how they dramatically collided in Paris, and traces how this clash of worldviews reverberated across the twentieth century. She shows how it provoked responses from figures such as Bertrand Russell and Martin Heidegger, and carried repercussions for American pragmatism, logical positivism, phenomenology, and quantum mechanics. Canales explains how the new technologies of the period—such as wristwatches, radio, and film—helped to shape people’s conceptions of time and further polarized the public debate. She also discusses how Bergson and Einstein, toward the end of their lives, each reflected on his rival’s legacy—Bergson during the Nazi occupation of Paris and Einstein in the context of the first hydrogen bomb explosion. The Physicist and the Philosopher is a magisterial and revealing account that shows how scientific truth was placed on trial in a divided century marked by a new sense of time.

Author : Carlo Rovelli
Publisher : Penguin
Page : 258 pages
File Size : 42,7 Mb
Release : 2018-05-08
Category : Science
ISBN : 9780735216105

Get Book

The Order of Time by Carlo Rovelli Pdf

One of TIME’s Ten Best Nonfiction Books of the Decade "Meet the new Stephen Hawking . . . The Order of Time is a dazzling book." --The Sunday Times From the bestselling author of Seven Brief Lessons on Physics, Reality Is Not What It Seems, Helgoland, and Anaximander comes a concise, elegant exploration of time. Why do we remember the past and not the future? What does it mean for time to "flow"? Do we exist in time or does time exist in us? In lyric, accessible prose, Carlo Rovelli invites us to consider questions about the nature of time that continue to puzzle physicists and philosophers alike. For most readers this is unfamiliar terrain. We all experience time, but the more scientists learn about it, the more mysterious it remains. We think of it as uniform and universal, moving steadily from past to future, measured by clocks. Rovelli tears down these assumptions one by one, revealing a strange universe where at the most fundamental level time disappears. He explains how the theory of quantum gravity attempts to understand and give meaning to the resulting extreme landscape of this timeless world. Weaving together ideas from philosophy, science and literature, he suggests that our perception of the flow of time depends on our perspective, better understood starting from the structure of our brain and emotions than from the physical universe. Already a bestseller in Italy, and written with the poetic vitality that made Seven Brief Lessons on Physics so appealing, The Order of Time offers a profoundly intelligent, culturally rich, novel appreciation of the mysteries of time.

Author : Chandre Dharma-wardana
Publisher : World Scientific
Page : 520 pages
File Size : 49,8 Mb
Release : 2013-03-20
Category : Science
ISBN : 9789814425438

Get Book

A Physicist's View of Matter and Mind by Chandre Dharma-wardana Pdf

This is a highly interdisciplinary book straddling physics and complex systems such as living organisms. The presentation is from the perspective of physics, in a manner accessible to those interested in scientific knowledge integrated within its socio-cultural and philosophical backgrounds. Two key areas of human understanding, namely physics and conscious complex systems, are presented in simple language. An optional technical presentation is also given in parallel where it is needed. Contents:Part I. The Nature of Physical Law:A Bird's Eye View of Our QuestAn Epistemic Hunt for Scientific TruthThe Laws of Nature and the Supremacy of SymmetryMaxwell's Magical Trinity — Electricity, Magnetism and LightThe Theory of RelativityThe Quantum World and 'Reality'Entanglement, Measurement and Quantum ParadoxesMany Particle Systems and the Classical LimitEnergy, Entropy and Emergent PropertiesPart II. Complex Systems and Consiousness:Bio-Molecules, the Sub-Slime of AstrochemistryThe Cell as the Basic Unit of LifeSpecialized Cells for Sight, Insight, and InformationExotic, Quantum Explanations of ConsciousnessAddressing the Enigmatic Questions Readership: General audience with interest in physics and complex systems biology as well as science academics. Keywords:Laws of Physics;Epistemology of Science;Scientific Revolutions;Relativity;Quantum Theory;Bohmian Picture;Paradoxes in Physics;Density Functional Theory;Decoherence;Thermodynamics;Determinism and Free Will;Emergent Properties;Evolution;Origin of life;Memory;ConsciousnessKey Features:The book traces developments in astrochemistry and the origin of life, and it provides the reader with our modern understanding of memory and consciousness

Author : H Gutfreund,G Toulouse
Publisher : World Scientific
Page : 868 pages
File Size : 53,5 Mb
Release : 1994-03-04
Category : Science
ISBN : 9789814504140

Get Book

Biology and Computation: A Physicist's Choice by H Gutfreund,G Toulouse Pdf

This book provides a comprehensive review of the works in the rapidly evolving field of neural networks and brain studies. Its purpose is two-fold: to help physicists entering this field to get a broader view of the context of the domain, and to help scientists of other disciplines to reach a better understanding of the physicists' contributions within a context of perspectives they can relate to. Included in the volume are 68 carefully selected, high quality reprints to provide the volume with both breadth and depth. It is organized into 5 sections and 22 chapters, both the sections and chapters being preceded by introductory comments by the editors. Contents:Setting the Stage:Forewords; Introductory WarningsPhysics, Biology, ComputationComputer and Brain; Logic and StatisticsSome Perceptual Facts and IssuesBiological Concepts and Methods; Computational Goals and Means:Mental RepresentationsInformation Theory and PerceptionNeuroanatomyAspects of BiocomputationModes of Computation; Processing and Learning:Neural NetworksParallel AlgorithmsGeneralization; Learning a RuleEarly Sensory ProcessingNeural CodesBrain Areas, Circuits and Dynamics:Sensory and Motor PathwaysBridges between Psychophysics and PhysiologyStructures and Functions of Various Brain AreasRepresentations of Space in the BrainOscillations and SynchronyDebates and Speculations:Theory-Experiment InterplayRoles of RetroactivationComputational StrategiesLanguage and Consciousness Readership: Neuroscientists, physicists and biologists. keywords:Algorithms;Behaviour;Brain;Coding;Cognition;Computation;Learning;Memory;Mind;Neural Networks;Perception “This is a valuable collection of important reprints of articles related to neural computation, compiled and edited by two physicists who have made significant personal contributions to the statistical physics of neural networks and other complex strongly interacting many-body systems … The book represents a very valuable cultural cross-field collection to assist scientists in any one of the sub-disciplines of neural networks to appreciate the important aspects of the others. As such it has a clear place in the library of any institution where neuroscience is practiced, by scientists from whatever discipline.” Network: Computation in Neural Systems

Author : Vlatko Vedral
Publisher : World Scientific
Page : 192 pages
File Size : 49,8 Mb
Release : 2018-02-08
Category : Science
ISBN : 9789813229532

Get Book

From Micro To Macro: Adventures Of A Wandering Physicist by Vlatko Vedral Pdf

This is a popular science book exploring the limits of scientific explanation. In particular, it debates if all sciences will ultimately be reducible to physics. The journey starts with physics itself, where there is a gap between the micro (quantum) and the macro (classical) and moves into chemistry, biology and the social sciences. Written by a practising scientist, this volume offers a personal perspective on various topics and incorporates the latest research.

Author : Thomas Grissom
Publisher : JHU Press
Page : 326 pages
File Size : 40,6 Mb
Release : 2011-06-02
Category : Science
ISBN : 9781421400846

Get Book

The Physicist's World by Thomas Grissom Pdf

Thomas Grissom explains what physics really is: the science of understanding how everything in the universe works. This book tells the unfolding story of our attempt to quantify the material world and to conceptualize the nature of physical laws.