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 3
... mass, momentum, and force, and on three laws of motion. Newton also invented a mathematical language (the “fluxion” method, closely related to our present-day calculus) to express his mechanics, but in an odd historical twist, rarely ...
... mass, momentum, and force, and on three laws of motion. Newton also invented a mathematical language (the “fluxion” method, closely related to our present-day calculus) to express his mechanics, but in an odd historical twist, rarely ...
Page 32
... mass,” “quantity of motion” in our terms is “momentum,” “bulk” can be measured as a volume, and “density” is the mass per unit volume (lead is more dense than water, and water more dense than air). Translated into algebraic language ...
... mass,” “quantity of motion” in our terms is “momentum,” “bulk” can be measured as a volume, and “density” is the mass per unit volume (lead is more dense than water, and water more dense than air). Translated into algebraic language ...
Page 34
... masses are m1 and m2, m m 1 2 F G , (16) 2r where r is the distance separating the centers of the two objects, and G, called the “gravitational constant,” is a universal constant. With a few exceptions, involving such bizarre objects as ...
... masses are m1 and m2, m m 1 2 F G , (16) 2r where r is the distance separating the centers of the two objects, and G, called the “gravitational constant,” is a universal constant. With a few exceptions, involving such bizarre objects as ...
Page 52
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Contents
xi | |
3 | |
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