Seeking Ultimates An Intuitive Guide to Physics.pdf

‘[Landsberg]...offers us his vision of a great spectrum of topics, rang-

ing from fundamental particles to models of the universe, from the

periodic table to the origins of life, from the global energy supply to

Gödel’s theorem. We go on a...ride starting with thermodynamics

(...mass, perpetual motion), moving on to...elements, particles, for-

ces...continuing to time and entropy...(self-organization,...chaos

and...the origins of life), and quantum theory (waves and particles,

wave functions and probabilities, quantum gravity, nonlocality,

Schrödinger’s cat...), arriving ﬁnally at cosmology (...black holes,

...physical constants, the anthropic principle), mathematics (...com-

plexity), and even religion. Landsberg treats all of this and more in

his inimitable style: terse, concise, and to the point, but chock full of

insights and humor.’

‘This book is not only illuminating but also entertaining. It is embel-

lished throughout by illustrations,...examples of correspondence be-

tween scientists, and anecdotes.... Each chapter is given a

hero...Pascal, Rumford, Mendeleev, Boltzmann, Darwin, Planck,

Einstein, Eddington. These serve...to show how important a love of

science for its own sake is to genuine progress in understanding.’

‘I heartily recommend this book.... If you have not been waiting for

this book, you should have been, and if you have not read it yet, you

should.’

American Journal of Physics

October 2000

Seeking Ultimates

An Intuitive Guide to Physics

Peter T Landsberg

University of Southampton

Institute of Physics Publishing

Bristol and Philadelphia

IOP Publishing Ltd 2000

stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any

means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or other-

wise, without the prior permission of the publisher. Multiple copying

is permitted in accordance with the terms of licences issued by the

the Committee of Vice-Chancellors and Principals.

IOP Publishing Ltd and the author have attempted to trace the copy-

right holders of all the material reproduced in this publication and

apologize to copyright holders if permission to publish in this form

has not been obtained.

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN 0 7503 0657 2

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data are available

Reprinted with corrections 2001

Production Editor: Joanna Thorn

Production Control: Sarah Plenty and Jenny Troyano

Commissioning Editors: Kathryn Cantley and Ann Berne

Editorial Assistant: Victoria Le Billon

Cover Design: Kevin Lowry

Marketing Executive: Colin Fenton

Published by Institute of Physics Publishing, wholly owned by The

Institute of Physics, London

Institute of Physics Publishing, Dirac House, Temple Back, Bristol

BS1 6BE, UK

US Ofﬁce: Institute of Physics Publishing, The Public Ledger Build-

ing, Suite 1035, 150 South Independence Mall West, Philadelphia,

PA 19106, USA

Printed in the UK by J W Arrowsmith Ltd, Bristol

Plik z chomika:

Inne pliki z tego folderu:

Inne foldery tego chomika: