Seeking Ultimates: An Intuitive Guide to Physics, Second Edition

by Landsberg; Peter T.

• ISBN13: 9780750306577
• ISBN10: 0750306572
• Format: Nonspecific Binding
• Copyright: 1999-01-01
• Publisher: CRC Press

Summary

Who but a retired physics professor could create a book that combines explanations of physics concepts with philosophical discussions of happiness and scientific proofs of the existence of God? Emphasizing that our understanding is incomplete, Landsberg (emeritus physics, U. of Southhampton, UK) examines the nature of time and entropy, chaos, quantum theory, cosmology, and some aspects of mathematics. Each chapter highlights a hero of science (e.g. Count Rumford for temperature and energy and Mendeleev for elements and particles).

Table of Contents

Introduction	ix
Acknowledgments	x
What this book is about	1	(8)
Introduction	1	(1)
My story	1	(1)
Intuition	2	(1)
Incompleteness	3	(3)
Human aspects	6	(1)
Reasons for reading this book	7	(1)
Arrangement of the chapters	8	(1)
There is no free lunch. Temperature and energy: science for the environment	9	(20)
Count Rumford
Introduction	9	(1)
How cold can we get?	10	(3)
Historical notes on thermodynamics	13	(2)
What is the highest temperature?	15	(1)
What is energy conservation?	16	(2)
A marriage of energy and mass	18	(3)
Perpetual motion?	21	(3)
Energy for mankind	24	(4)
Summary	28	(1)
Painting by numbers. Elements and particles: science as prediction	29	(39)
Dmitri Mendeleev
Introduction	29	(1)
Chemistry in 1867	30	(3)
The Periodic Table and three predictions	33	(1)
Confirmations	34	(4)
The atom in the 1890s	38	(2)
The atom split	40	(1)
Incompleteness	41	(2)
Plum-pudding or planetary system?	43	(7)
A taxonomy of particles	50	(5)
Basic forces	55	(4)
Predictions of particles	59	(5)
Electrons yield modern electronics	64	(2)
Summary	66	(2)
Why you cannot unscramble an egg. Time and entropy: science and the unity of knowledge	68	(26)
Ludwig Boltzmann
What is entropy?	68	(7)
How can we move in time?	75	(6)
The first problem: can all molecular velocities be reversed?	81	(1)
A second problem: coarse-graining	82	(4)
Time's arrow as an illusion	86	(1)
Different arrows of time	87	(2)
Entropy as metaphor	89	(4)
Summary	93	(1)
How a butterfly caused a tornado. Chaos and life: science as synthesis	94	(28)
Charles Darwin
Introduction	94	(1)
Limits of predictability in Newtonian mechanics	95	(3)
Chemical and population chaos	98	(8)
Abrupt changes (`phase transitions')	106	(3)
Self-organization	109	(2)
Entropy is not always disorder	111	(4)
The origin of life	115	(3)
Summary	118	(4)
Now you see it, now you don't. Quantum theory: science and the invention of concepts	122	(46)
Max Planck
Introduction	122	(1)
Quantum mechanics: the elimination of unobservables	123	(4)
Wave mechanics: the optics-mechanics analogy	127	(6)
A brief history of the new mechanics	133	(3)
Wavefunctions and probabilities	136	(4)
Attempts to understand quantum mechanics	140	(8)
Comments on quantum mechanics	148	(1)
Quantum effects	148	(8)
Can gravity affect temperature or light?	156	(6)
Matter drained of heat	162	(2)
A look at superconductivity	164	(2)
Summary	166	(2)
The galactic highway. Cosmology: science as history	168	(37)
Albert Einstein
Ages	168	(3)
Hubble's law	171	(5)
Cosmological models	176	(8)
The `relic' radiation	184	(3)
Olbers' Paradox	187	(2)
The oscillating universe	189	(4)
The origin of the elements	193	(1)
Black holes	194	(3)
Some problems	197	(3)
Time machines	200	(3)
Summary	203	(2)
Weirdness or purity. Mathematics: science as numbers	205	(23)
Arthur Eddington
Introduction	205	(1)
Godel's theorem: consistency and incompleteness	206	(4)
Complexity and randomness	210	(3)
Infinites	213	(3)
The physical constants	216	(5)
Cosmical coincidences	221	(3)
The anthropic principle	224	(2)
The Copernican principle	226	(1)
Summary	227	(1)
The last question. Does God exist?	228	(16)
Blaise Pascal
Introduction	228	(2)
Godelian statements	230	(1)
The evidence of thermodynamics	231	(2)
The evidence from cosmology	233	(5)
The evidence from quantum mechanics	238	(3)
Conclusions	241	(3)
Love of my life. Science as human activity (Hero: readers are invited to choose their own)	244	(9)
Happiness	244	(2)
Limits of science	246	(1)
Distortions: science and the public	247	(3)
Science wars?	250	(2)
Concluding remarks	252	(1)
Glossary	253	(27)
References	280	(15)
Index	295	(12)
Name Index	307