Black Bodies and Quantum Cats : Tales from the Annals of Physics

by Ouellette, Jennifer (Author); Chodos, Alan (Foreword by)

• ISBN13: 9780143036036
• ISBN10: 0143036033
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-12-27
• Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics)

Summary

Physics, once known as natural philosophy,” is the most basic science, explaining the world we live in, from the largest scale down to the very, very, verysmallest, and our understanding of it has changed over many centuries. In Black Bodies and Quantum Cats, science writer Jennifer Ouellette traces key developments in the field, setting descriptions of the fundamentals of physics in their historical context as well as against a broad cultural backdrop. Newton’s laws are illustrated via the film Addams Family Values, while Back to the Futuredemonstrates the finer points of special relativity. Poe’s The Purloined Letter” serves to illuminate the mysterious nature of neutrinos, and Jeanette Winterson’s novel Gut Symmetriesprovides an elegant metaphorical framework for string theory.An enchanting and edifying read, Black Bodies and Quantum Cats shows that physics is not an arcane field of study but a profoundly human endeavor—and a fundamental part of our everyday world.

Author Biography

Jennifer Ouellette writes APS News-'s popular -ôThis Month in Physics History-ö column, which she co-created with editor Alan Chodos in 2000. She also writes on science for such publications as Discover and Salon. She is a Jujitsu black belt.

Table of Contents

Foreword	xi
Alan Chodos
Preface	xiii
Renaissance Man
1509: Publication of De Divina Proportione	1	(8)
Talkin' `bout a Revolution
1542: Publication of De Revolutionibus	9	(9)
Lens Crafters
Circa 1590: Invention of the Microscope	18	(8)
Good Heavens
January 7, 1610: Galileo Discovers Moons of Jupiter	26	(8)
Gravity's Guru
July 1687: Publication of Newton's Principia	34	(9)
Drawing Down the Fire
June 1752: Franklin's Kite Experiment	43	(8)
Trompe I'Oeil
1807: Invention of the Camera Lucida	51	(9)
Rules of Attraction
1820: First Evidence of Electromagnetism	60	(7)
Ingenious Engines
Circa 1840s: Babbage's Analytical Engine	67	(7)
Emperors of the Air
September 24, 1852: First Dirigible Takes Flight	74	(8)
Disorderly Conduct
June 1871: Maxwell and His Demon	82	(7)
Queens of Science
November 1872: Death of Mary Somerville	89	(7)
Calling Mister Watson
March 10, 1876: First Documented Transmission of Human Speech	96	(8)
Thrill Seekers
1884: First U.S. Roller Coaster Opens at Coney Island	104	(8)
Current Affairs
May 1888: Tesla and Electric Power Generation	112	(8)
Shadow Casters
February 2, 1893: Edison Films a Sneeze	120	(9)
Radio Days
1895: Tesla Demonstrates Wireless Radio	129	(8)
Mysterious Rays
November 8, 1895: Roentgen Discovers X Rays	137	(7)
A Thousand Points of Light
October 1897: Discovery of the Electron	144	(8)
Quantum Leap
October 1900: Planck Introduces Quanta	152	(9)
It's All Relative
June 1905: Einstein Introduces Special Relativity	161	(9)
Rocket Man
March 16, 1926: Launch of the First Liquid-Fuel Rocket	170	(7)
That Darn Cat
1935: Schrodinger's Quantum Cat	177	(8)
Copy That
October 1938: First Xerographic Copy	185	(7)
Life During Wartime
July 1945: The Trinity Test	192	(8)
Gimme Shelter
June 2--4, 1947: The Shelter Island Conference	200	(8)
Tiny Bubbles
1948: Reddi-Wip Appears on the Market	208	(8)
Mimicking Mother Nature
May 13, 1958: Velcro Trademark Registered	216	(8)
Energize Me
December 1958: Invention of the Laser	224	(8)
Small World
December 29, 1959: Feynman's Classic Caltech Lecture	232	(8)
Contemplating Chaos
Circa January 1961: Lorenz and the Butterfly Effect	240	(7)
Kamikaze Cosmos
July 1963: Discovery of Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation	247	(7)
When Particles Collide
April 1994: Discovery of the Top Quark	254	(7)
Checkmate
May 1997: Deep Blue Defeats Kasparov	261	(8)
Much Ado About Nothing
December 1998: Discovery of the Accelerating Universe	269	(7)
The Case of the Missing Neutrinos
February 2001: Solution to Solar Neutrino Problem	276	(7)
Icarus Descending
September 2002: Schoen Found Guilty of Scientific Misconduct	283	(8)
String Section
October 2003: Nova Special on String Theory	291	(8)
Bibliography	299	(12)
Acknowledgments	311	(2)
Index	313