Publication is planned for December 2003
| Hardback | 400
pages 55 half-tones | ISBN: 0-521-81687-4
Publication is planned for December 2003
| Paperback| 400 pages
55 half-tones | ISBN: 0-521-01706-8
The 250 years from the second half of the
17th century saw the
birth of modern physics and its growth into
one of the most
successful of the sciences. The reader will
find here the lives
of 55 of the most remarkable physicists from
that era described
in brief biographies. All the characters
profiled have made
important contributions to physics, either
through their ideas,
through their teaching or in other ways.
The emphasis is on their
varied life-stories, not on the details of
their achievements,
but when read in sequence the biographies,
which are organised
chronologically, convey in human terms something
of the way in
which physics was created. Scientific and
mathematical detail is
kept to a minimum, so the reader who is interested
in physics,
but perhaps lacks the background to follow
technical accounts,
will find this collection an inviting and
easy path through the
subject's modern development.
Contents
Prologue; 1. From Galileo to Daniel Bernoulli;
2. From Franklin
to Laplace; 3. From Rumford to Oersted; 4.
From Somerville to
Henry; 5. From Helmholtz to Rayleigh; 6.
From Boltzmann to
Volterra; 7. From Bragg to Langevin; 8. From
Meitner to Born; 9.
From Bohr to Simon; 10. From Bose to Heisenberg;
11. From Dirac
to Yukawa; Epilogue; Further reading; Acknowledgements.
December 2003 | Hardback | 254 pages 60 line
diagrams | ISBN:
0-521-83267-5
December 2003 | Paperback| 254 pages 60 line
diagrams | ISBN: 0-521-54031-3
This book describes a striking connection
between topology and
algebra, namely that 2D topological quantum
field theories are
equivalent to commutative Frobenius algebras.
The precise
formulation of the theorem and its proof
is given in terms of
monoidal categories, and the main purpose
of the book is to
develop these concepts from an elementary
level, and more
generally serve as an introduction to categorical
viewpoints in
mathematics. Rather than just proving the
theorem, it is shown
how the result fits into a more general pattern
concerning
universal monoidal categories for algebraic
structures.
Throughout, the emphasis is on the interplay
between algebra and
topology, with graphical interpretation of
algebraic operations,
and topological structures described algebraically
in terms of
generators and relations. The book will prove
valuable to
students or researchers entering this field
who will learn a host
of modern techniques that will prove useful
for future work.
Contents
1. Cobordisms and TQFTs; 2. Frobenius algebras;
3. Monoids and
monoidal categories; Appendix. Vocabulary
from category theory.
December 2003 | Hardback | 588 pages 130
line diagrams 37 half-tones
15 tables | ISBN: 0-521-82126-6
December 2003 | Paperback| 588 pages 130
line diagrams 37 half-tones
15 tables | ISBN: 0-521-52878-X
A highly original, and truly novel, approach
to theoretical
reasoning in physics. This book illuminates
the subject from the
perspective of real physics as practised
by research scientists.
It is intended to be a supplement to the
final years of an
undergraduate course in physics and assumes
that the reader has
some grasp of university physics. By means
of a series of seven
case studies, the author conveys the excitement
of research and
discovery, highlighting the intellectual
struggles to attain
understanding of some of the most difficult
concepts in physics.
Case studies include the origins of Newtonfs
law of
gravitation, Maxwellfs equations, mechanics
and dynamics,
linear and non-linear, thermodynamics and
statistical physics,
the origins of the concepts of quanta, special
relativity,
general relativity and cosmology. The approach
is the same as
that in the highly acclaimed first edition,
but the text has been
completely revised and many new topics introduced.
Contents
Preface; 1. Introduction; Case Study 1. The
Origins of Newtonfs
Law of Gravitation: 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
2. Maxwellfs
Equations: 5. The origin of Maxwellfs equations;
6. How to
rewrite the history of electromagnetism;
Case Study 3. Mechanics
and Dynamics - Linear and Non-linear: 7.
Approaches to mechanics
and dynamics; 8. Dimensional analysis, chaos
and self-organised
criticality; Case Study 4. Thermodynamics
and Statistical Physics:
9. Basic thermodynamics; 10. Kinetic theory
and the origin of
statistical mechanics; Case Study 5. The
Origins of the Concept
of Quanta: 11. Black-body radiation up to
1895; 12. 1895?1900:
Planck and the spectrum of black-body radiation;
13. Planckfs
theory of black-body radiation; 14. Einstein
and the quantisation
of light; 15. The triumph of the quantum
hypothesis; Case Study 6.
Special Relativity: 16. Special relativity
- a study of
invariance; Case Study 7. General Relativity
and Cosmology: 17.
An introduction to general relativity; 18.
The technology of
cosmology; 19. Cosmology; 20. Epilogue.