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. |
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Page 7
... effect. Galileo soon accepted an astonishing offer from Florence: a salary equivalent to that of the highest-paid court official, no lecturing duties—in fact, no duties of any kind—and the title of chief mathematician and philosopher ...
... effect. Galileo soon accepted an astonishing offer from Florence: a salary equivalent to that of the highest-paid court official, no lecturing duties—in fact, no duties of any kind—and the title of chief mathematician and philosopher ...
Page 33
... effects), Newton's first law tells us that the car will continue coasting with its original momentum and direction forever. With the engine turned on, and your foot on the accelerator, the car is driven by the engine's force, and ...
... effects), Newton's first law tells us that the car will continue coasting with its original momentum and direction forever. With the engine turned on, and your foot on the accelerator, the car is driven by the engine's force, and ...
Page 34
... effect of the Sun. In book 3, Newton develops an approximate method of calculation in which the Earth-Moon problem is first solved exactly and is then modified by including the “perturbing” effect of the Sun. The strategy is one of ...
... effect of the Sun. In book 3, Newton develops an approximate method of calculation in which the Earth-Moon problem is first solved exactly and is then modified by including the “perturbing” effect of the Sun. The strategy is one of ...
Page 35
... effects in what are now called “Newton's rings.” In the demonstration experiment, two slightly convex prisms are pressed together, with a thin layer of air between them; a striking pattern of colored concentric rings appears ...
... effects in what are now called “Newton's rings.” In the demonstration experiment, two slightly convex prisms are pressed together, with a thin layer of air between them; a striking pattern of colored concentric rings appears ...
Page 39
... effect, accused Leibniz of plagiarism. Leibniz complained to the secretary of the Royal Society, Hans Sloane, about Keill's “impertinent accusations.” This gave Newton the opportunity as president of the society to appoint a committee ...
... effect, accused Leibniz of plagiarism. Leibniz complained to the secretary of the Royal Society, Hans Sloane, about Keill's “impertinent accusations.” This gave Newton the opportunity as president of the society to appoint a committee ...
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 |
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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