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 31
... problems.” The reader must meet the challenge of each proposition in sequence to grasp the full argument. Modern readers ... problem. Newton could not use the fluxion language he had invented twenty years earlier for the practical reason ...
... problems.” The reader must meet the challenge of each proposition in sequence to grasp the full argument. Modern readers ... problem. Newton could not use the fluxion language he had invented twenty years earlier for the practical reason ...
Page 33
... problem of motion in a resisting medium. This book was something of an afterthought, originally intended as part of book 1. It is more specialized than the other two books, and less important in Newton's grand scheme. Book 3 brings the ...
... problem of motion in a resisting medium. This book was something of an afterthought, originally intended as part of book 1. It is more specialized than the other two books, and less important in Newton's grand scheme. Book 3 brings the ...
Page 34
... problem of three or more bodies. The Moon's orbit is largely, but not entirely, determined by the Earth-Moon gravitational attraction. The full calculation is a “three-body” problem, including the slight effect of the Sun. In book 3 ...
... problem of three or more bodies. The Moon's orbit is largely, but not entirely, determined by the Earth-Moon gravitational attraction. The full calculation is a “three-body” problem, including the slight effect of the Sun. In book 3 ...
Page 37
... problem: he studied it. He bought books on economics, commerce, and finance, asked searching questions, and wrote volumes of notes. It was fortunate for England that he did. The master of the Mint, under whom the warden served, was ...
... problem: he studied it. He bought books on economics, commerce, and finance, asked searching questions, and wrote volumes of notes. It was fortunate for England that he did. The master of the Mint, under whom the warden served, was ...
Page 43
... problem that had hardly even been imagined by his predecessors. He hoped to discover the general operating principles of steam engines and other heat engine devices that supply work output from heat input. He did not quite realize his ...
... problem that had hardly even been imagined by his predecessors. He hoped to discover the general operating principles of steam engines and other heat engine devices that supply work output from heat input. He did not quite realize his ...
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