Scientific American Presents: Nobel Prize Winners on Physics and Astronomy

by Scientific American

• ISBN13: 9781607144700
• ISBN10: 1607144700
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-10-06
• Publisher: Kaplan Publishing

Summary

In 1950, near the end of his storied scientific career, Albert Einstein was still publishing groundbreaking works on the fundamental forces of the universe, on the chemical reactions that power the stars, as well as the force that causes an apple to fall to the ground. In response to another scholarly article exploring the nature of gravitational forces, the editors at Scientific American asked Einstein to write an article summarizing his latest achievements and placing them in a historical and philosophical context. What Einstein produced was one of the gems of his last years: a fascinating discussion of the most complicated and difficult problems facing physicists, explained in such a lucid and engaging fashion that a reader might forget just how advanced the material actually is.

Table of Contents

On the Generalized Theory of Gravitation	p. 1
The Origin of the Earth	p. 17
Electricity in Space	p. 29
Tritium in Nature	p. 37
Albert Einstein: 1879-1955	p. 45
Deuterium in the Universe	p. 49
Radio Galaxies	p. 71
Artificial Satellites and the Theory of Relativity	p. 85
The Evolution of the Physicist's Picture of Nature	p. 99
Neutrinos from the Atmosphere and Beyond	p. 119
Pulsars	p. 135
The Astrophysics of Cosmic Rays	p. 155
The Origin of the Elements	p. 183
Gravitational Waves from an Orbiting Pulsar	p. 195
How a Supernova Explodes	p. 217
What is Happening at the Center of Our Galaxy?	p. 241
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