E=mc2 A Biography of the World's Most Famous Equation

by Bodanis, David

• ISBN13: 9780802713520
• ISBN10: 0802713521
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2000-09-01
• Publisher: Walker Books

Summary

Generations have grown up knowing that the equation E=mc2 changed the shape of our world, but never understanding what it actually means, why it was so significant, and how it informs our daily lives todaygoverning, as it does, everything from the atomic bomb to a television's cathode ray tube to the carbon dating of prehistoric paintings. In this book, David Bodanis writes the "biography" of one of the greatest scientific discoveries in historythat the realms of energy and matter are inescapably linkedand, through his skill as a writer and teacher, he turns a seemingly impenetrable theory into a dramatic human achievement and an uncommonly good story.

Author Biography

David Bodanis designed and gave the "Intellectual Tool-kit" course lectures for many years at Oxford University in England. He is the author of several books, including The Secret Family and the best-seller The Secret House. A native of Chicago, he lives in London, England.

Table of Contents

Preface	vii
PART 1 Birth
Bern Patent Office, 1905	3	(8)
PART 2 Ancestors of E=mc2
E Is for Energy	11	(12)
=	23	(4)
m Is for mass	27	(10)
c Is for celeritas	37	(18)
2	55	(18)
PART 3 The Early Years
Einstein and the Equation	73	(20)
Into the Atom	93	(7)
Quiet in the Midday Snow	100	(17)
PART 4 Adulthood
Germany's Turn	117	(17)
Norway	134	(9)
America's Turn	143	(20)
8:16 A.M.-Over Japan	163	(10)
PART 5 Till the End of Time
The Fires of the Sun	173	(11)
Creating the Earth	184	(11)
A Brahmin Lifts His Eyes Unto the Sky	195	(9)
Epilogue: What Else Einstein Did	204	(17)
Appendix: Follow-Up of Other Key Participants	221	(16)
Notes	237	(64)
Guide to Further Reading	301	(18)
Acknowledgments	319	(6)
Index	325