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 86
Page 3
... principle,” which tells us, among other things, that an object projected along an infinite, frictionless plane will continue forever at a constant velocity. His observations were the beginnings of the science of motion we now call ...
... principle,” which tells us, among other things, that an object projected along an infinite, frictionless plane will continue forever at a constant velocity. His observations were the beginnings of the science of motion we now call ...
Page 5
... principle was clearly violated anyway, and that, the young professor told his audience, was the lesson. The students cheered, and the philosophy professors were skeptical. The hero of this tale was Galileo Galilei. He did not actually ...
... principle was clearly violated anyway, and that, the young professor told his audience, was the lesson. The students cheered, and the philosophy professors were skeptical. The hero of this tale was Galileo Galilei. He did not actually ...
Page 16
... principle.” In one version, Galileo put it this way: “Imagine any particle projected along a horizontal plane without friction; then we know . . . that this particle will move along this plane with a motion which is uniform and ...
... principle.” In one version, Galileo put it this way: “Imagine any particle projected along a horizontal plane without friction; then we know . . . that this particle will move along this plane with a motion which is uniform and ...
Page 27
... principles extracted from them, a “spirit of sulfur” and a “philosophic mercury.” The alchemist's goal was to extract ... principle of sociability” and in others “an endeavor to recede.” This was, as Westfall writes, “arguably the most ...
... principles extracted from them, a “spirit of sulfur” and a “philosophic mercury.” The alchemist's goal was to extract ... principle of sociability” and in others “an endeavor to recede.” This was, as Westfall writes, “arguably the most ...
Page 44
... principles had no need for the details. Lazare Carnot's main conclusion, which Gillispie calls the “principle of continuity of power,” asserts that accelerations and shocks in the moving parts of machinery are to be avoided because they ...
... principles had no need for the details. Lazare Carnot's main conclusion, which Gillispie calls the “principle of continuity of power,” asserts that accelerations and shocks in the moving parts of machinery are to be avoided because they ...
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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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