Absolutely Small: How Quantum Theory Explains Our Everyday World - Michael D. Fayer

Absolutely Small: How Quantum Theory Explains Our Everyday World

How Quantum Theory Explains Our Everyday World
Buch | Hardcover
288 Seiten
2010
Amacom (Verlag)
978-0-8144-1488-0 (ISBN)
26,20 inkl. MwSt
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Presents (and demystifies) the world of quantum science. This title explores scientific concepts from particles of light, to probability, to states of matter, to what makes greenhouse gases bad in considerable depth, but using examples from the everyday world.
Physics is a complex, even daunting topic, but it is also deeply satisfying even thrilling. And liberated from its mathematical underpinnings, physics suddenly becomes accessible to anyone with the curiosity and imagination to explore its beauty. Science without math? It's not that unusual. For example, we can understand the concept of gravity without solving a single equation. So for all those who may have pondered what makes blueberries blue and strawberries red; for those who have wondered if sound really travels in waves; and why light behaves so differently from any other phenomenon in the universe, it's all a matter of quantum physics. "Absolutely Small" presents (and demystifies) the world of quantum science like no book before. It explores scientific concepts from particles of light, to probability, to states of matter, to what makes greenhouse gases bad in considerable depth, but using examples from the everyday world. Challenging without being intimidating, accessible but not condescending, "Absolutely Small" develops the reader's intuition for the very nature of things at their most basic and intriguing levels.

Michael D. Fayer is the David Mulvane Ehrsam and Edward Curtis Franklin Professor of Chemistry at Stanford University and a member of the National Academy of Sciences. He has won major prizes and honors in the fields of physics, chemistry, and molecular spectroscopy. He is the author of Elements of Quantum Mechanics.

Contents



Preface vii



Chapter 1 Schro¨dinger’s Cat 1



Chapter 2 Size Is Absolute 8



Chapter 3 Some Things About Waves 22



Chapter 4 The Photoelectric Effect and Einstein’s Explanation 36



Chapter 5 Light: Waves or Particles? 46



Chapter 6 How Big Is a Photon and the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle 57



Chapter 7 Photons, Electrons, and Baseballs 80



Chapter 8 Quantum Racquetball and the Color of Fruit 96



Chapter 9 The Hydrogen Atom: The History 118



Chapter 10 The Hydrogen Atom: Quantum Theory 130



Chapter 11 Many Electron Atoms and the Periodic Tab le of Elements 151



Chapter 12 The Hydrogen Molecule and the Covalent Bond 178



Chapter 13 What Holds Atoms Together: Diatomic Molecules 196



Chapter 14 Bigger Molecules: The Shapes of Polyatomic Molecules 221



Chapter 15 Beer and Soap 250



Chapter 16 Fat, It’s All About the Double Bonds 272



Chapter 17 Greenhouse Gases 295



Chapter 18 Aromatic Molecules 314



Chapter 19 Metals, Insulators, and Semiconductors 329



Chapter 20 Think Quantum 349



Glossary 363



Index 375

Erscheint lt. Verlag 16.6.2010
Zusatzinfo Illustrations
Verlagsort New York
Sprache englisch
Maße 62 x 90 mm
Gewicht 2 g
Themenwelt Naturwissenschaften Physik / Astronomie Quantenphysik
ISBN-10 0-8144-1488-5 / 0814414885
ISBN-13 978-0-8144-1488-0 / 9780814414880
Zustand Neuware
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