Great Physicists: The Life and Times of Leading Physicists from Galileo to HawkingHere 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, Cropper has grouped these biographies by discipline--mechanics, thermodynamics, particle physics, and others--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. Our understanding of the physical world has increased dramatically in the last four centuries. With Great Physicists, readers can retrace the footsteps of the men and women who led the way. |
From inside the book
Results 1-5 of 92
Page xii
... Concept of Temperature,'' by William H. Cropper, American Journal of Physics 55, 1987, pp. 120–129, copyright 1987 by the American Association of Physics Teachers. Used by permission of the American Institute of Physics; ''James Joule's ...
... Concept of Temperature,'' by William H. Cropper, American Journal of Physics 55, 1987, pp. 120–129, copyright 1987 by the American Association of Physics Teachers. Used by permission of the American Institute of Physics; ''James Joule's ...
Page 3
... concepts of mass, momentum, and force, and on three laws of motion. Newton also invented a mathematical language (the ... concept that all objects, small, large, and astronomical (with some exotic exceptions), attract one I. Mechanics ...
... concepts of mass, momentum, and force, and on three laws of motion. Newton also invented a mathematical language (the ... concept that all objects, small, large, and astronomical (with some exotic exceptions), attract one I. Mechanics ...
Page 21
... concepts by thinking about them for years, or even decades. Neither man could bear to acknowledge any influence from ... concept of centrifugal force. He pictured light as a train of wave fronts transmitted through a medium consisting of ...
... concepts by thinking about them for years, or even decades. Neither man could bear to acknowledge any influence from ... concept of centrifugal force. He pictured light as a train of wave fronts transmitted through a medium consisting of ...
Page 27
... Newton, the attraction forces he saw in his crucibles were of a piece with the gravitational force. There is no evidence that he equated the two kinds of forces, but some commentators have speculated that his concept of Isaac Newton 27.
... Newton, the attraction forces he saw in his crucibles were of a piece with the gravitational force. There is no evidence that he equated the two kinds of forces, but some commentators have speculated that his concept of Isaac Newton 27.
Page 32
... concepts of mechanics: Definition 1: The quantity of matter is the measure of the same arising from its density and ... concept: Law 2: The change of motion is proportional to the motive force impressed; and is made in the direction of ...
... concepts of mechanics: Definition 1: The quantity of matter is the measure of the same arising from its density and ... concept: Law 2: The change of motion is proportional to the motive force impressed; and is made in the direction of ...
Contents
41 | |
Historical Synopsis | 135 |
Historical Synopsis | 177 |
Historical Synopsis | 201 |
Historical Synopsis | 229 |
Historical Synopsis | 293 |
Historical Synopsis | 363 |
Historical Synopsis | 421 |
Chronology of the Main Events | 464 |
Glossary | 469 |
Invitation to More Reading | 478 |
Index | 485 |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
acceleration astronomer atomic became Berlin Bohr Bohr’s Boltzmann calculation called Cambridge Carnot’s Chandra charge chemical chemistry Clausius Clausius’s colleagues concept constant Curie Dirac discovery effect Einstein electric electromagnetic electron elements energy entropy experimental experiments Faraday Faraday’s Fermi Feynman field fission force function galaxy Galileo Gell-Mann Gibbs Gibbs energy Gibbs’s Glenlair Go¨ttingen gravitational Hahn Hawking heat engine Heisenberg Helmholtz Hubble Hubble’s hydrogen isospin Joule Joule’s laboratory later Laura Fermi lecture light Lise Meitner magnetic Marie mass mathematical mathematician matrix mechanics Maxwell Maxwell’s Mayer measured Meitner molecular molecules motion Nernst neutron Newton nuclear nucleus observed paper particles Pauli photons physicists Planck principle problem professor published quantum mechanics quantum number quantum theory quark radiation radioactive radium rays reaction Richard Feynman Rutherford Schro¨dinger scientific scientists speed statistical statistical mechanics temperature theoretical physics theorists thermodynamics Thomson tion University uranium wave writes wrote