From Clockwork to Crapshoot

A History of Physics

Roger G. Newton

352 pages, parution le 28/02/2007

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Résumé

Science is about 6000 years old while physics emerged as a distinct branch some 2500 years ago. As scientists discovered virtually countless facts about the world during this great span of time, the manner in which they explained the underlying structure of that world underwent a philosophical evolution. From Clockwork to Crapshoot provides the perspective needed to understand contemporary developments in physics in relation to philosophical traditions as far back as ancient Greece.

Roger Newton, whose previous works have been widely praised for erudition and accessibility, presents a history of physics from the early beginning to our day--with the associated mathematics, astronomy, and chemistry. Along the way, he gives brief explanations of the scientific concepts at issue, biographical thumbnail sketches of the protagonists, and descriptions of the changing instruments that enabled scientists to make their discoveries. He traces a profound change from a deterministic explanation of the world--accepted at least since the time of the ancient Greek and Taoist Chinese civilizations--to the notion of probability, enshrined as the very basis of science with the quantum revolution at the beginning of the twentieth century. With this change, Newton finds another fundamental shift in the focus of physicists--from the cause of dynamics or motion to the basic structure of the world. His work identifies what may well be the defining characteristic of physics in the twenty-first century.

L'auteur - Roger G. Newton

Newton, Roger G., Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA
He is Distinguished Professor Emeritus at Indiana University. He is editor of the Journal of Mathematical Physics and author of several books, including Scattering Theory of Waves and Particles, The Truth of Science, and What Makes Nature Tick?

Sommaire

Beginnings
The Greek Miracle
Science in the Middle Ages
The First Revolution
Newton's Legacy
New Physics
Relativity
Statistical Physics
Probability
The Quantum Revolution
Fields, Nuclei, and Stars
The Properties of Matter
The Constituents of the Universe

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Caractéristiques techniques

	PAPIER
Éditeur(s)	Harvard University Press
Auteur(s)	Roger G. Newton
Parution	28/02/2007
Nb. de pages	352
Format	14 x 21
Couverture	Relié
Poids	545g
Intérieur	Noir et Blanc
EAN13	9780674023376
ISBN13	978-0-674-02337-6