Nobel Laureates and Twentieth-Century Physics


Book Description

In this richly-illustrated 2004 book the author combines history with real science. Using an original approach he presents the major achievements of twentieth-century physics - for example, relativity, quantum mechanics, atomic and nuclear physics, the invention of the transistor and the laser, superconductivity, binary pulsars, and the Bose-Einstein condensate - each as they emerged as the product of the genius of those physicists whose labours, since 1901, have been crowned with a Nobel Prize. Here, in the form of a year-by-year chronicle, biographies and revealing personal anecdotes help bring to life the main events of the past hundred years. The work of the most famous physicists of the twentieth century - great names, like the Curies, Bohr, Heisenberg, Einstein, Fermi, Feynman, Gell-Mann, Rutherford, and Schrödinger - is presented, often in the words and imagery of the prize-winners themselves.




A Century of Nobel Prize Recipients


Book Description

Celebrating a century of revolutionary contributions to our understanding of life, the world, and the universe, this encyclopedic desk reference traces the discoveries that earned nearly 500 distinguished scientists Nobel honors in the areas of chemistry, physics, and medicine. The School of Library Journal called it "...eye-catching... Original artwork, colorful captioned drawings of models and structures, and diagrams illustrate complex scientific principles and may invite browsing. ...great graphics and appealing format..." This book includes over 550 full color illustrations and photographs, and is a must for the library of any public, university, business, or personal library.




Strange Beauty


Book Description

With a New Afterword "Our knowledge of fundamental physics contains not one fruitful idea that does not carry the name of Murray Gell-Mann."--Richard Feynman Acclaimed science writer George Johnson brings his formidable reporting skills to the first biography of Nobel Prize-winner Murray Gell-Mann, the brilliant, irascible man who revolutionized modern particle physics with his models of the quark and the Eightfold Way. Born into a Jewish immigrant family on New York's East 14th Street, Gell-Mann's prodigious talent was evident from an early age--he entered Yale at 15, completed his Ph.D. at 21, and was soon identifying the structures of the world's smallest components and illuminating the elegant symmetries of the universe. Beautifully balanced in its portrayal of an extraordinary and difficult man, interpreting the concepts of advanced physics with scrupulous clarity and simplicity, Strange Beauty is a tour-de-force of both science writing and biography.




Twentieth Century Physics


Book Description

Twentieth Century Physics, Second Edition is a major historical study of the scientific and cultural development of physics in the twentieth century. This unique three-volume work offers a scholarly but highly readable overview of the development of physics, addressing both the cultural and the scientific aspects of the discipline. The three volumes deal with the major themes of physics in a quasi-chronological manner. The first volume covers the early part of the century while the second and third volumes discuss more recent issues. In each case, the development of the theme is traced from its inception to the present day. The list of contributors includes Nobel laureates, fellows of the Royal Society, and other distinguished international physicists. Where appropriate, specialists in the history of physics have written their own commentaries, providing a valuable counterpoint to the physicists' perspectives.




The Martians of Science


Book Description

Hargittai tells the story of five remarkable Hungarians: Wigner won a Nobel Prize in theoretical physics; Szilard was the first to see that a chain reaction based on neutrons was possible, initiated the Manhattan Project, but left physics to try to restrict nuclear arms; von Neumann could solve difficult problems in his head and developed the modern computer for more complex problems; von Kármán became the first director of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, providing the scientific basis for the U.S. Air Force; and Teller was the father of the hydrogen bomb, whose name is now synonymous with the controversial "Star Wars" initiative of the 1980s.




Chen Ning Yang


Book Description

In 1992, many scientists gathered to honour C.N. Yang on his 70th birthday. This volume documents the scientific contributions resulting from that conference, and features several biographical and historical contributions that discuss the impact that C.N. Yang has had on research.




Twentieth Century Physics


Book Description

This is a major historical study of the scientific and cultural development of physics in the 20th century. Its list of contributors includes four Nobel Laureates, 12 Fellows or Foreign Members of the Royal Society, and many other physicists of world renown.




A Career in Theoretical Physics


Book Description

Theory of ferroelectric behaviour of barium titanate. Use of stochastic methods in line broadening problems. Theory of dirty superconductors.




Out of the Shadows


Book Description

Publisher description




From X-rays to Quarks


Book Description

A Nobel Laureate offers impressions of the development of modern physics, emphasizing complex but less familiar personalities. Offers fascinating scientific background and compelling treatments of topics of current interest. 1980 edition.