Theoretical Concepts in Physics - Malcolm S. Longair

Theoretical Concepts in Physics

An Alternative View of Theoretical Reasoning in Physics
Buch | Hardcover
636 Seiten
2020 | 3rd Revised edition
Cambridge University Press (Verlag)
978-1-108-48453-4 (ISBN)
62,30 inkl. MwSt
This original and integrated approach to theoretical reasoning in physics illuminates the subject from the perspective of real physics as practised by research scientists. It is aimed at advanced students with a firm grounding in physics, who wish to consolidate their understanding of how physics works in practice.
In this original and integrated approach to theoretical reasoning in physics, Malcolm Longair illuminates the subject from the perspective of real physics as practised by research scientists. Concentrating on the basic insights, attitudes and techniques that are the tools of the modern physicist, this approach conveys the intellectual excitement and beauty of the subject. Through a series of seven case studies, an undergraduate course in classical physics and the discovery of quanta are reviewed from the point of the view of how the great discoveries and changes of perspective came about. This approach illuminates the intellectual struggles needed to attain understanding of some of the most difficult concepts in physics. Longair's highly acclaimed text has been fully revised and includes new studies on the physics of fluids, Maxwell's great paper on equations for the electromagnetic field and problems of contemporary cosmology and the very early universe.

Malcolm Longair, CBE, FRS, FRSE, was Astronomer Royal for Scotland from 1980 to 1990 and Head of the Cavendish Laboratory from 1997 to 2005. His books with Cambridge University Press include High Energy Astrophysics (2011), The Cosmic Century (2006), Quantum Concepts in Physics (2013), and Maxwell's Enduring Legacy (2016), a scientific history of the Cavendish Laboratory.

Preface and acknowledgements; 1. Introduction; Case Study I. The Origins of Newton's Laws of Motion and of Gravity: 2. From Ptolemy to Kepler: the Copernican Revolution; 3. Galileo and the nature of the physical sciences; 4. Newton and the law of gravity; Case Study II. Maxwell's Equations: 5. The origin of Maxwell's equations; 6. Maxwell (1865): A Dynamical Theory of the Electromagnetic Field; 7. How to rewrite the history of electromagnetism; Case Study III. Mechanics and Dynamics: Linear and Non-Linear; 8. Approaches to mechanics and dynamics; 9. The motion of fluids; 10. Dimensional analysis, chaos and self-organised criticality; Case Study IV. Thermodynamics and Statistical Physics: 11. Basic thermodynamics; 12. Kinetic theory and the origin of statistical mechanics; Case Study V. The Origins of the Concepts of Quantisation and Quanta: 13. Black-body radiation up to 1895; 14. 1895–1900: Planck and the spectrum of black-body radiation; 15. Planck's theory of black-body radiation; 16. Einstein and the quantisation of light; 17. The triumph of the light quantum hypothesis; Case Study VI. Special and General Relativity: 18. Special relativity: a study in invariance; 19. An introduction to general relativity; Case Study VII. Cosmology and Physics: 20. Cosmology; 21. Dark matter, dark energy and the inflationary paradigm; Notes; Author index; Subject index.

Erscheinungsdatum
Zusatzinfo Worked examples or Exercises; 32 Halftones, black and white; 193 Line drawings, black and white
Verlagsort Cambridge
Sprache englisch
Maße 193 x 253 mm
Gewicht 1510 g
Themenwelt Naturwissenschaften Physik / Astronomie Thermodynamik
ISBN-10 1-108-48453-0 / 1108484530
ISBN-13 978-1-108-48453-4 / 9781108484534
Zustand Neuware
Haben Sie eine Frage zum Produkt?
Mehr entdecken
aus dem Bereich
Von Energie und Entropie zu Wärmeübertragung und Phasenübergängen

von Rainer Müller

Buch | Softcover (2023)
De Gruyter Oldenbourg (Verlag)
49,95