Download or read book Anxiety and the Equation written by Eric Johnson and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2022-11-01 with total page 193 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A man and his equation: the anxiety-plagued nineteenth-century physicist who contributed significantly to our understanding of the second law of thermodynamics. Ludwig Boltzmann's grave in Vienna's Central Cemetery bears a cryptic epitaph: S = k log W. This equation was Boltzmann's great discovery, and it contributed significantly to our understanding of the second law of thermodynamics. In Anxiety and the Equation, Eric Johnson tells the story of a man and his equation: the anxiety-plagued nineteenth-century physicist who did his most important work as he struggled with mental illness. Johnson explains that “S” in Boltzmann's equation refers to entropy, and that entropy is the central quantity in the second law of thermodynamics. The second law is always on, running in the background of our lives, providing a way to differentiate between past and future. We know that the future will be a state of higher entropy than the past, and we have Boltzmann to thank for discovering the equation that underlies that fundamental trend. Johnson, accessibly and engagingly, reassembles Boltzmann's equation from its various components and presents episodes from Boltzmann's life—beginning at the end, with “Boltzmann Kills Himself” and “Boltzmann Is Buried (Not Once, But Twice).” Johnson explains the second law in simple terms, introduces key concepts through thought experiments, and explores Boltzmann's work. He argues that Boltzmann, diagnosed by his contemporaries as neurasthenic, suffered from an anxiety disorder. He was, says Johnson, a man of reason who suffered from irrational concerns about his work, worrying especially about opposition from the scientific establishment of the day. Johnson's clear and concise explanations will acquaint the nonspecialist reader with such seemingly esoteric concepts as microstates, macrostates, fluctuations, the distribution of energy, log functions, and equilibrium. He describes Boltzmann's relationships with other scientists, including Max Planck and Henri Poincaré, and, finally, imagines “an alternative ending,” in which Boltzmann lived on and died of natural causes.
Download or read book American Journal of Physics written by and published by . This book was released on 2001 with total page 676 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Exploring Black Holes written by Edwin F. Taylor and published by . This book was released on 2008 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Energy Research Abstracts written by and published by . This book was released on 1981 with total page 1740 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Understanding Materials Science written by Rolf E. Hummel and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2006-05-11 with total page 440 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This introduction for engineers examines not only the physical properties of materials, but also their history, uses, development, and some of the implications of resource depletion and materials substitutions.
Download or read book On Teaching Physics written by Melba Phillips and published by . This book was released on 1979 with total page 170 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book On Teaching Physics written by Melba Phillips and published by . This book was released on 1979 with total page 180 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Not Even Wrong written by Peter Woit and published by Random House. This book was released on 2011-08-31 with total page 306 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Not Even Wrong is a fascinating exploration of our attempts to come to grips with perhaps the most intellectually demanding puzzle of all: how does the universe work at its most fundamnetal level? The book begins with an historical survey of the experimental and theoretical developments that led to the creation of the phenomenally successful 'Standard Model' of particle physics around 1975. Despite its successes, the Standard Model does not answer all the key questions and physicists continuing search for answers led to the development of superstring theory. However, after twenty years, superstring theory has failed to advance beyond the Standard Model. The absence of experimental evidence is at the core of this controversial situation which means that it is impossible to prove that superstring theory is either right or wrong. To date, only the arguments of the theory's advocates have received much publicity. Not Even Wrong provides readers with another side of the story.
Download or read book Statistical Physics of Biomolecules written by Daniel M. Zuckerman and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 2010-06-02 with total page 356 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the hydrophobic effect to protein-ligand binding, statistical physics is relevant in almost all areas of molecular biophysics and biochemistry, making it essential for modern students of molecular behavior. But traditional presentations of this material are often difficult to penetrate. Statistical Physics of Biomolecules: An Introduction brin
Download or read book Imagery in Scientific Thought Creating 20th Century Physics written by MILLER and published by Birkhäuser. This book was released on 2013-12-21 with total page 364 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Black Holes written by Kip S. Thorne and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 1986-01-01 with total page 392 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A pedagogical introduction to the physics of black holes. The membrane paradigm represents the four-dimensional spacetime of the black hole's "event horizon" as a two-dimensional membrane in three-dimensional space, allowing the reader to understand and compute the behavior of black holes in complex astrophysical environments.
Download or read book Physics written by Peter Lindenfeld and published by Rutgers University Press. This book was released on 2011-03-02 with total page 385 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Today's physics textbooks have become encyclopedic, offering students dry discussions, rote formulas, and exercises with little relation to the real world. Physics: The First Science takes a different approach by offering uniquely accessible, student-friendly explanations, historical and philosophical perspectives and mathematics in easy-to-comprehend dialogue. It emphasizes the unity of physics and its place as the basis for all science. Examples and worked solutions are scattered throughout the narrative to help increase understanding. Students are tested and challenged at the end of each chapter with questions ranging from a guided-review designed to mirror the examples, to problems, reasoning skill building exercises that encourage students to analyze unfamiliar situations, and interactive simulations developed at the University of Colorado. With their experience instructing both students and teachers of physics for decades, Peter Lindenfeld and Suzanne White Brahmia have developed an algebra-based physics book with features to help readers see the physics in their lives. Students will welcome the engaging style, condensed format, and economical price.
Download or read book Critical Problems in Physics written by Val L. Fitch and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 1997-11-16 with total page 332 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this text, a group of scientists define and elaborate on possible new directions in physics that will take place in the next century and increase understanding of the natural world. Topics discussed include string physics, the future of particle physics and neutrino oscillations.
Download or read book A Century of Physics written by D. Allan Bromley and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2013-03-14 with total page 123 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this "Cook’s Tour" of developments in physics and realted fields, D. Allan Bromley, Science Advisor to President Bush during 1989-1983 and past president of the American Physical Society, conveys much of the excitement and wonder that research in physics generated in the 20th century and asks what new things are in store in the next century.
Download or read book Quantum Fluids and Solids written by S. Trickey and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-12-06 with total page 458 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The second International Symposium on Quantum Fluids and Solids came to pass during 23-27 Jan. 1977 as the fourth and con cluding part of the seventeenth consecutive running of the Sanibel Symposium Series. With approximately 120 participants from eleven countries (including, for the first time, the USSR), we found it easy to obtain a selection of papers which was fairly comprehen sive. Indeed, our problem was an embarrassment of riches; in spite of our solemn vows not to crowd the schedule, we ended up with an intense program! By far, the majority of the papers pre sented are represented in this volume. We are indebted to many persons and organizations for their contributions to the Symposia. First, we thank Prof. Per-Olov Lowdin, Director of the Quantum Theory Project and originator of the Sanibel Symposia. Without his patient, indulgent cooperation our task would have been vastly more difficult. We are grateful to Prof. F. Eugene Dunnam, Chairman of the Dept. of Physics and Astronomy, for providing Departmental support of our initial or ganlzlng expenses. Approximately one-half of the total cost of the Symposium was borne by a joint grant from the National Science Foundation and the U. S. Air Force Office of Scientific Research. We thank the program officers, Dr. C. Satterthwaite and Dr. D.
Download or read book A Love of Discovery written by Robert Karplus and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2002-01-31 with total page 364 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Robert Karplus, a professor of physics at the University of California, Berkeley, USA, became a leader in the movement to reform elementary school science in the 1960s. This book selects the enduring aspects of his work and presents them for the scientists and science educators of today. In an era when `science education for ALL students' has become the clarion call, the insights and works of Robert Karplus are as relevant now as they were in the 1960s, '70s, and '80s. This book tries to capture the essence of his life and work and presents selections of his published articles in a helpful context.
Download or read book Modern Introductory Physics written by Charles H. Holbrow and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2010-09-23 with total page 670 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Thisbookgrewoutof anongoing e?orttomodernizeColgate University’s three-term,introductory,calculus-level physicscourse. Thebookisforthe ?rst term of this course and is intended to help ?rst-year college students make a good transition from high-school physics to university physics. Thebookconcentrates onthephysicsthatexplainswhywebelievethat atoms exist and have the properties we ascribe to them. This story line, which motivates much of our professional research, has helped us limit the material presented to a more humane and more realistic amount than is presented in many beginning university physics courses. The theme of atoms also supports the presentation of more non-Newtonian topics and ideas than is customary in the ?rst term of calculus-level physics. We think it is important and desirable to introduce students sooner than usual to some of the major ideas that shape contemporary physicists’ views of the nature and behavior of matter. Here in the second decade of the twenty-?rst century such a goal seems particularly appropriate. The quantum nature of atoms and light and the mysteries associated with quantum behavior clearly interest our students. By adding and - phasizing more modern content, we seek not only to present some of the physics that engages contemporary physicists but also to attract students to take more physics. Only a few of our beginning physics students come to us sharply focused on physics or astronomy. Nearly all of them, h- ever, have taken physics in high school and found it interesting.
