From Atoms to Galaxies: A Conceptual Physics Approach to Scientific Awareness

by Hassani; Sadri

• ISBN13: 9781439808498
• ISBN10: 143980849X
• Edition: CD
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2010-05-07
• Publisher: CRC Press

Summary

College students in the United States are becoming increasingly incapable of differentiating between proven facts delivered by scientific inquiry and the speculations of pseudoscience. In an effort to help stem this disturbing trend, From Atoms to Galaxies: A Conceptual Physics Approach to Scientific Awareness teaches heightened scientific acuity as it educates students about the physical world and gives them answers to questions large and small. Written by Sadri Hassani, the author of several mathematical physics textbooks, this work covers the essentials of modern physics, in a way that is as thorough as it is compelling and accessible.Some of you might want to know '¦ . . . How is it that Galileo came to even think about the first law of motion? . . . If Newton actually discovered gravity by way of an apple and an accident? Or perhaps you simply want to know '¦ . . . Is it possible for Santa Claus to deliver all his toys? . . . Or if it's possible to prove that Elvis does not visit Graceland every midnight?} Or perhaps you've even wondered '¦ . . . If ancient Taoism really parallels modern physics? . . . If psychoanalysis can actually be called a science? . . . Or how it is that some philosophies of science are willing to imply that a 650-year-old woman can give birth to a child?No Advanced Mathematics Required Serving as a primary textbook for those undergraduate students not majoring in physics, From Atoms to Galaxies examines physical laws and their consequences from a conceptual perspective that requires no advanced mathematics. Half of its content explains quantum physics, relativity, nuclear and particle physics, gauge theory, quantum field theory, quarks and leptons, and cosmology. Encouraging students to subscribe to proven causation rather than dramatic speculation, most of the other half '”Defines the often obscured difference between science and technology, discussing how this confusion taints both common culture and academic rigor Explores the various philosophies of science, demonstrating how errors in our understanding of scientific principles can adversely impact humankind's well-being Exposes how pseudoscience advances unproven conjectures as dangerous alternatives to proven scienceEach chapter includes a glossary, review questions, and exercises as well as asides, which use the material developed in that chapter to debunk misconceptions, clarify the nature of science, and explore the history of physics as it relates to the development of ideas. The book also includes an accompanying CD-ROM, which provides algebraic details for the readers who have the background and the desire to see the concepts of physics through the beautiful poetry of mathematics.Based on courses taught by the author for over 15 years, this textbook has been developed to raise the scientific awareness of the untrained reader who lacks a technical or mathematical background. To accomplish this, the book lays the foundation of the laws that govern our universe in a nontechnical way. For those capable of and desiring a deeper understanding, the author provides a healthy dose of technical detail in the accompanying CD, which emphasizes topics that excite the mind, namely those taken from modern physics, and exposes the abuses made of them by the New Age gurus and other mystagogues.Whenever possible, the author uses physics to expose the sand upon which most unscientific and pseudoscientific beliefs stand. He ou

Author Biography

Peter Beinart is Associate Professor of journalism and political science at the City University of New York and a Senior Fellow at the New America Foundation. He is the Senior Political Writer for The Daily Beast and a contributor to Time. Beinart is a former fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and is the author of The Good Fight. He lives with his family in Washington, D.C.