Looks at the history of elementary particle physics, and explains what these particles have revealed to scientists about the creation of the universe

Abraham Pais's life of Albert Einstein was one of the finest scientific biographies ever written. When it first appeared in 1982, Christian Science Monitor called it "an extraordinary biography of an extraordinary man," and Timothy Ferris, in The New York Times Book Review, said it was "the biography of Einstein he himself would have liked best," adding that "it is a work against which future scientific biographies will be measured." As a respected physicist himself, Pais was the first biographer to give Einstein's thinking its full due, yet despite the occasional high level of science needed to discuss Einstein's ideas, the book was a national bestseller. Indeed, it was one of The New York Times's Best Books of the Year, and the winner of the 1983 American Book Award for Science. Now Pais turns to Niels Bohr, to illuminate the life and thought of another giant of 20th-century physics. Bohr was the first to understand how atoms were put together, he played a major role in shaping the theory of the atomic nucleus, he decoded the atomic spectrum of hydrogen, an achievement which marks him as the founder of the quantum dynamics of atoms, and his concept of complementarity (which provides the philosophical underpinning for quantum theory) qualifies him as one of the twentieth century's greatest philosophers. Pais covers all of these achievements with sophistication and clarity, but he also reveals the many other facets of the man. Perhaps most important, he shows that Bohr was not only a great scientist, but also a great nurturer of young scientific talent, acting as father figure extraordinaire for several generations of physicists. Bohr's Institute of Theoretical Physics, which he founded in Copenhagen and for which he tirelessly raised funds, was the world's leading center for physics all through the 1920s and 1930s, the birthplace of Heisenberg's papers on the uncertainty relations, Dirac's first paper on quantum electrodynamics, and other pivotal works. And Pais reveals as well the personal side of Bohr, the avid reader and crossword puzzle solver (Bohr loved Icelandic sagas, Goethe and Schiller, Dickens and Mark Twain--while studying in England early in his career, he improved his English by reading The Pickwick Papers with a dictionary to one side); his aid to Jews and other refugees in the 1930s and during the war; the tragic loss of his son Christian (who died in a sailing accident right before Bohr's eyes); and his attempts during and after the war to promote openness between East and West, meeting with both Roosevelt and Churchill (the former was quite courteous, the latter lectured Bohr like a schoolboy). Bohr's research, his teaching, his friendships with the major scientists of our time, his aid to refugees, his role as philosopher, administrator, and fund raiser, his devotion to science and to his family--all these qualities are illuminated by Pais in a marvelous biography that captures the essence of one of the best-loved figures of this century.

Science. Physics

No Dust Jacket. Boards edgeworn. Spine title rubbed. Endpapers yellowed. Former owner's sticker on ffep.

This is a collection of important lecture and original articles and commentaries by Martin Perl, discoverer of the tau lepton and the third generation of elementary particles, and this year's Nobel Prize winner. This book contains a fascinating and realistic picture of experimental science based on the high energy physics research work carried out by him. Using reprints of his articles with his commentaries, the author presents the various aspects of experimental research in science: the pleasures and risks of experimental work; the pain and frustration with experiments that are useless or fail; the dreaming about experiments that were not carried out; the constant search for innovation and creativity in the work; and the special joy of discovery. The articles and commentaries range from the early days of bubble chambers and spark chambers in the 1950's to the author's present research, experiments at an electron-positron collider and a search for free quarks. The book is for the general reader as well as the scientist.

Kinetic Theory in the Expanding Universe is a self-contained exposition of the applications of kinetic theory to basic problems in modern cosmology, such as the role of stable and unstable massive neutrinos and the theory of cosmological helium production. There has been rapid development of the theory of the origin and evolution of the universe in recent years, stimulated, in large part, by new observations and theories in astrophysics and particle physics. Bernstein takes a different approach and studies what can be concluded from the application of kinetic theory, and in particular the Boltzmann equation and its solutions, to cosmological problems. He begins with a brief survey of the necessary relativity, cosmodynamics, and kinetic theory, before going on to discuss specific problems, such as the role of stable and unstable massive neutrinos, electron-positron annihilation and the theory of cosomological helium production. The focus is in obtaining both a theoretical understanding and concrete numerical results.

Very good clean copy ,dust cover is missing , no page damage ,no highlighting or writing.

In the 1950s, the distinguished theoretical physicist Wolfgang Pauli delivered a trademark series of lectures at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich. His comprehensive coverage of the fundamentals of classical and modern physics was painstakingly recorded not only by his students but also by a number of collaborators whose carefully edited transcriptions resulted in a remarkable six-volume work. This volume, the second of the series, focusing on optics and the theory of electrons, examines geometrical optics, the theory of interference and diffraction, Maxwell's Theory, crystal optics, and molecular optics. As does each volume in the series, this book includes an index and a wealth of helpful figures, and can be read independently of the series by those who wish to focus on a particular topic.

"This little book originated from a course of lectures I had given at the Dublin Institute of Advanced Studies for the physics and chemistry students of the two Dublin universities. It served as an introduction to a subsequent course on the theory of chemical bond" preface by W. Heitler

Simply put, quantum calculus is ordinary calculus without taking limits. This undergraduate text develops two types of quantum calculi, the q-calculus and the h-calculus. As this book develops quantum calculus along the lines of traditional calculus, the reader discovers, with a remarkable inevitability, many important notions and results of classical mathematics. This book is written at the level of a first course in calculus and linear algebra and is aimed at undergraduate and beginning graduate students in mathematics, computer science, and physics. It is based on lectures and seminars given by Professor Kac over the last few years at MIT. Victor Kac is Professor of Mathematics at MIT. He is an author of 4 books and over a hundred research papers. He was awarded the Wigner Medal for his work on Kac-Moody algebras that has numerous applications to mathematics and theoretical physics. He is a honorary member of the Moscow Mathematical Society. Pokman Cheung graduated from MIT in 2001 after three years of undergraduate studies. He is presently a graduate student at Stanford University.

Angular momentum is a basic concept used in classical physics. Examples of phenomena that are related to angular momentum are: 1) Why a moving bicycle does not fall over and 2) why the currents in the ocean of the rotating earth tend to follow circular motions. Designed as a learning tool for those with limited background in quantum mechanics and to compliment Zare's Angular Momentum, this book provides examples, problems, & solutions in angular momentum in quantum mechanics and its applications to chemistry and physics.

Rapid advances in the physical and biological sciences and in related technologies have brought about equally farreaching changes in mathematical research. Focusing on control theory, invariant imbedding, dynamic programming, and quasilinearization, Mr. Bellman explores with ease and clarity the mathematical research problems arising from scientific questions in engineering, physics, biology, and medicine. Special attention is paid in these essays to the use of the digital computer in obtaining the numerical solution of numerical problems, its influence in the formulation of new and old scientific problems in new terms, and to some of the effects of the computer revolution on educational and social systems. The new opportunities for mathematical research presage, Bellman concludes, a renaissance of mathematics in human affairs by involving it closely in the problems of society.

The present volume makes available in one convenient place all the research papers published by Raymond D. Mindlin in the course of a half-century of professional activity. Included, in addition, is the full text of three of his extended review articles, because these remain timely as well as historically important. Also to be found here is a brief sketch, written by one of us, his student and co-author, colleague and friend. It contains Mindlin's basic biographical data, although it dwells primarily on an analysis of his work and a chronicling of his accomplishments. The papers reprinted herein are reproduced photographically as they ap peared originally. We have excluded several short review articles; moreover, to our regret, because of constraints of space we have been unable to print three extended reviews. These are: "The photoelastic method of stress analy sis," published in volume 10 of the Journal of Applied Physics; a short mono graph, "Dynamics of package cushioning," which may be found in volume 24 of the Bell System Technical Journal; and the chapter entitled "Analogies," written for the Handbook of Experimental Stress Analysis.

Principles and Applications of Quantum Contro Over the past fifteen years, significant developments have been made in utilizing quantum attributes of light and matter to assume unprecedented control over the dynamics of atomic and molecular systems. This growth reflects a confluence of factors including the maturation of quantum mechanics as a tool for chemistry and physics, the development of new laser devices increasing our ability to manipulate light, and the recognition that coherent laser light can be used to imprint information on atoms and molecules for practical purposes. Written by two of the world’s leading researchers in the field, Principles of the Quantum Control of Molecular Processes offers a systematic introduction to the fundamental principles of coherent control, and to the physics and chemistry necessary to master it Designed as both a resource for self-study and as a graduate textbook, this survey of the subject provides a step-by-step discussion of light-matter interactions along with coverage of such essential topics as: Molecular dynamics and control LI>The dynamics of photodissociation LI>Bimolecular collision processes LI>The control of chirality and asymmetric synthesis LI>Application of control using moderate and strong fields LI>Tuning the system and laser parameters to achieve optimal control LI>Decoherence and methods for countering it P>Both authoritative and comprehensive, this first in-depth treatment of coherent control is destined to become the standard reference in an increasingly influential field PAUL W. BRUMER, PhD, is University Professor–Theoretical Chemical Physics and holds the Roel Buck Chair in Chemical Physics at the University of Toronto. He received his BSc. from Brooklyn College and his PhD from Harvard University. MOSHE SHAPIRO, PhD, is the Jacques Mimran Professor of Chemical Physics at the Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel, and a Professor of Chemistry and Physics at the University of British Columbia. He received his BSc, MSc, and PhD from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem The authors are among the cofounders of the field of coherent control. They have published extensively on this and related subjects in chemical physics, and have received numerous awards and worldwide recognition for their research contributions.

Originally published in 1969. Since the seventeenth century the kind of knowledge afforded by mathematical physics has come more and more to furnish mankind with an ideal for all knowledge. The ideal also carries with it a new conception of the nature of things: all things whatsoever are held to be intelligible ultimately in terms of the laws of inanimate nature. This reductionist formula can be overcome only by the fundamental rethinking of our philosophical premises. To contribute towards thsi rethinking was the aim of the Study Group at whose meetings this collection originated. The essayists come from a wide range of disciplines but all want to address the conflict in our culture. The first part consists of discussions of various fundamental problems in the sciences. There are essays on the inter-relation of physics and psychology, on the possible reduction of biology to physics and chemistry, on new approaches to experimental psychology, against the possibility of giving a purely 'factual' account of social and political life, and for a fundamental reform of our concept of responsibility. The second section of the book suggests lines of philosophical inquiry which might help to resolve the epistemological and ethical problems arising at the foundations of physics, biology, psychology and the social sciences.

In 1953, reflecting on early ventures in quantum theory, J. Robert Oppenheimer spoke of terror and exaltation, of history happening in a realm so remote from common experience that it was "unlikely to be known to any poet or historian." Yet now, anyone can Google "quantum theory" and find more than 34 million entries--from poets and historians, certainly, as well as film critics and Buddhist monks. How--and how pervasively--quantum mechanics has entered the general culture is the subject of this book, an engaging, eclectic, and thought-provoking look at the curious, boundlessly fertile intersection of scientific thought and everyday life. Including recollections of encounters with the theory and the people responsible for it, Jeremy Bernstein's account ranges from the cross-pollination of quantum mechanics with Marxist ideology and Christian and Buddhist mysticism to its influence on theater, film, and fiction. Along the way, Bernstein focuses on those--such as Niels Bohr, the Dalai Lama, W. H. Auden, and Tom Stoppard--who have made quantum physics; who have argued over it, pondered it, or taken literary inspiration from it, and who have misunderstood, misconstrued, or misapplied it. One person in particular supplies a narrative thread: John Bell, a notable yet underappreciated physicist who did groundbreaking research in quantum physics. In Bell's story, Bernstein provides a uniquely readable account of what physicists call the "measurement problem." Quantum Leaps is a lively, erudite book on a subject that Bernstein has lived with for most of its history. His experience and deep understanding are apparent on every page.

A book of questions and answers about everyday phenomena in biology, chemistry, physics, mathematics, and astronomy.

How We Write: The Varieties of Writing Experience is based on the series of "How I Write" public conversations with faculty and other advanced writers conducted by Hilton Obenzinger at Stanford University since 2002. These conversations explored the nuts and bolts, pleasures and pains, of all types of writing. "How I Write" conversations were informal, with no pretense of plumbing the depths of anyone's scholarly expertise or art, although much was revealed. Rather, these talks probed what the writing part of these scholars' and artists' work entailed-whether their field was physics or anthropology or fiction-in an easygoing fashion. Participants included such authors as Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Adam Johnson and historian David Kennedy, physicist Leonard Susskind, poets Evan Boland, Gwyneth Lewis, and Diane di Prima, literary critics and biographers Arnold Rampersad and Diane Middlebrook, novelists Abraham Verghese, Valerie Miner and Irvin Yalom, playwrights David Henry Hwang and Amy Freed, philosopher Richard Rorty, historian Ian Morris, environmental scientist Terry Root, cultural critic Rebecca Solnit, anthropologist Renato Rosaldo, and neuroscientist Robert Sapolsky. The chapters of How We Write follow the major line of topics that came up in the conversations: Chapter One, the different ways people learned how to write; Chapter Two, their attitudes and feelings toward writing and what motivates them; Chapter Three, what happens when a writer gets blocked; Chapter Four, the different ways people work-their physical environment and how they handle time, relationships, and more; Chapter Five, how writers get ideas and how they launch into a project; Chapter Six, the ways writers fashion arguments or create ideas, images, and stories; Chapter Seven, how style is driven by field or genre; Chapter Eight, how research connects to style; Chapter Nine, the different approaches writers employ to revise their work; and Chapter Ten, a final reflection. How We Write: The Varieties of Writing Experience is not a textbook or a handbook on how to become a writer. It's primarily a conversation, a medley of voices celebrating a craft that delights and dismays each of us, and a conversation the reader is invited to join.

THE old saying that small causes give rise to great effects has been confirmed more than once in the history of physics. For, very frequently, inconspicuous differences be- tween theory and experiment (which did not, however, escape the vigilant eye of the investigator) have become starting- points of new and important researches. Out of the well-known Michelson-Morley experiment, which, in spite of the application of the most powerful methods of exact optical measurement, failed to show an influence of the earth's movement on the propagation of light as was predicted by classical theory, there arose the great structure of Einstein's Theory of Eelativity. In the same way the trifling difference between the measured and calculated values of black-body radiation gave rise to the Quantum Theory which, formulated by Max Planck, was destined to revolutionise in the course of time almost all departments of physics. The quantum theory is yet comparatively young. It is therefore not surprising that we are confronted with an unfinished theory still in process of development which, changing constantly in many directions, must often destroy what it has built up a short time before. But under such circumstances as these, in which the theory is continually deriving new nourishment from a fresh stream of ideas and suggestions, there is a peculiar fascination in attempting to review the life-history of the quantum theory to the present time and in disclosing the kernel which will certainly out- last changes of form, 1 CHAPTER I The Origin of the Quantum Hypothesis § I. Black-Body Radiation and its Realisation in Practice THE Quantum Theory &st saw light in 1900. When, in the years immediately preceding (1897-1899), Lummer and Pringsheim made their fundamental measurements ' of black-body radiation at the Beichsanstalt, they could ba.ve had no premonition that their careful experiments would become the starting-point of a revolution such as has seldom occurred in physics. In the field of heat radiation chief interest at that time was centred in the radiation of a black body (briefly called " black- body " radiation), that is, of a body which absorbs completely all radiation which falls on it and which thus reflects, trans- mits, and scatters 2 none. We may shortly call to mind the following facts. It is known that any body at a given temperature sends out energy in the form of radiation into the surrounding space. This radiation is not energy in a single simple form but is made up of a number of single radiations of different colours, i.e. of different wave-lengths X or of different frequencies s v. In other words, it forms in general a spectrum in which radiations of all frequencies between v = and v = oo are represented. Further, these radiations are present in varying " intensities." We define this term thus. Consider the radiation emitted from unit surface of the body per second in a certain direction ; break it up spectrally and cut out of the spectrum a small frequency interval dv such that it contains all frequencies between v and V + dv. The energy of radiation E^ thus sliced out (namely, the emissivity of the body for the frequency v)