Simple Search

Query:

Enter a query and click »Search«...

Format:

Display: entries per page entries

first | last | previous | next Result: 1 - 3 of 871

1
Zbl 1260.00020
Cheng, Ta-Pei
Einstein's physics. Atoms, quanta, and relativity. Derived, explained, and appraised. (English)
[B] Oxford: Oxford University Press. xx, 350~p. \sterling~29.00 (2013). ISBN 978-0-19-966991-2/hbk

The present book is written in the same style as the book by the same author [{\it T.-P. Cheng}, Relativity, gravitation, and cosmology. Oxford Master Series in Physics 11. Particle Pysics, Astrophysics, and Cosmology. Oxford: Oxford University Press. (2005; Zbl 1082.83001), and for the 2nd edition (2010; Zbl 1184.83001)]. This means: physical topics are very carefully explained, and the necessary mathematical structures are developed at that place where they are needed for the physics phenomenon under discussion. \par The general leading idea of the book is to explain all those phenomena in physics, to which Albert Einstein contributed in an essential manner. This covers much more than the special and the general relativity theory, the quantum theory and the photon-related results as one would expect from the outside. Moreover, Cheng succeeded to find 17 physics topics to which Einstein contributed, (among them are Brownian motion and specific heat) and so he put them into 17 chapters of this book. \par These 17 topics are the following ones: 1. Molecular size from classical fluids, 2. Brownian motion, 3. Blackbody radiation, 4. Light quanta, 5. Quantum theory of specific heat, 6. Wave-particle duality, 7. Bose-Einstein statistics, 8. Einstein-Bohr debate, 9. Special relativity, 10. $E=mc^2$, 11. Geometric formulation of relativity, 12. Towards general relativity theory, 13. Curved space-time as a gravitational field, 14. Einstein field equation, 15. Cosmology, 16. Gauge theories, and 17. Kaluza-Klein theory. \par The appendices cover the following topics: Appendix A: vector calculus, the Gaussian integral, Stirlings approximation to the Gamma function, and the Euler-Lagrange equation. Appendix B: List of those of Einstein's papers, which are cited in the text; the titles of the original German language papers are all given in an English language translation. Bibliography and index close this valuable book. \par And here is the publisher's description: ``Many regard Albert Einstein as the greatest physicist since Newton. What exactly did he do that is so important in physics? We provide an introduction to his physics at a level accessible to an undergraduate physics student. All equations are worked out in detail from the beginning. Einstein's doctoral thesis and his Brownian motion paper were decisive contributions to our understanding of matter as composed of molecules and atoms. Einstein was one of the founding fathers of quantum theory: his photon proposal through the investigation of blackbody radiation, his quantum theory of photoelectric effect and specific heat, his calculation of radiation fluctuation giving the first statement of ave-particle duality, his introduction of probability in the description of quantum radiative transitions, and finally the quantum statistics and Bose-Einstein condensation. Einstein's special theory of relativity gave us the famous $E=mc^2$ relation and the new kinematics leading to the idea of the 4-dimensional spacetime as the arena in which physical events take place. Einstein's geometric theory of gravity, general relativity, extends Newton's theory to time-dependent and strong gravitational fields. It laid the ground work for the study of black holes and cosmology. This is a physics book with material presented in the historical context. We do not stop at Einstein's discovery, but carry the discussion onto some of the later advances: Bell's theorem, quantum field theory, gauge theories and Kaluza-Klein unification in a spacetime with an extra spatial dimension. Accessibility of the material to a modern-day reader is the goal of our presentation. Although the book is written with primarily a physics readership in mind (it can also function as a textbook), enough pedagogical support material is provided that anyone with a solid background in introductory physics can, with some effort, understand a good part of this presentation."
[Hans-Jürgen Schmidt (Potsdam)]

MSC 2000:: *00A79 Physics
83-01 Textbooks (relativity)
81-01 Textbooks (quantum theory)
00A09
97M50
85A30 Hydrodynamic and hydromagnetic problems in astrophysics
83F05 Relativistic cosmology
83A05 Special relativity
83-03 Historical (relativity)
62P35 Applications of statistics to physics
76P05 Molecular or atomic structure
01A70 Biographies, obituaries, personalia, bibliographies
01A60 Mathematics in the 20th century
81T20 Quantum field theory on curved space backgrounds
83E15 Higher-dimensional field theories

Keywords: Brownian motion; photoelectric effect; specific heat; quantum field theory; gauge theories; Kaluza-Klein unification in a spacetime; special relativity theory; general relativity theory

Citations: Zbl 1082.83001; Zbl 1184.83001

Comment on this Item PDF MathML XML ASCII DVI PS BibTeX Online Ordering

2
Zbl 1252.83002
Topper, David R.
How Einstein created relativity out of physics and astronomy. (English)
[B] Astrophysics and Space Science Library 394. New York, NY: Springer. xv, 254~p. EUR~129.95/net; SFR~173.00; \sterling~117.00/hbk (2013). ISBN 978-1-4614-4781-8/hbk; ISBN 978-1-4614-4782-5/ebook

This book contains not much mathematics, but it is interesting to read if one wants to see in which historical background the theory of relativity and its cosmological consequences have been developed. \par Publisher's description: ``This book tracks the history of the theory of relativity through Einstein's life, with in-depth studies of its background as built upon by ideas from earlier scientists. The focus points of Einstein's theory of relativity include its development throughout his life; the origins of his ideas and his indebtedness to the earlier works of Galileo, Newton, Faraday, Mach and others; the application of the theory to the birth of modern cosmology; and his quest for a unified field theory. Treading a fine line between the technical and popular (but not shying away from the occasional equation), this book explains the entire range of relativity and weaves an up-to-date biography of Einstein throughout. The result is an explanation of the world of relativity, based on an extensive journey into earlier physics and a simultaneous voyage into the mind of Einstein, written for the curious and intelligent reader."
[Hans-Jürgen Schmidt (Potsdam)]

MSC 2000:: *83-01 Textbooks (relativity)
83A05 Special relativity
83C05 Einstein's equations
83F05 Relativistic cosmology
85A40 Nonrelativistic cosmology
83-03 Historical (relativity)
01A55 Mathematics in the 19th century
01A60 Mathematics in the 20th century
01A70 Biographies, obituaries, personalia, bibliographies
83D05 Relativistic gravitational theories other than Einstein's
81V22 Unified theories of elementary partcles

Keywords: modern cosmology; Einstein's theory of relativity

Comment on this Item PDF MathML XML ASCII DVI PS BibTeX Online Ordering Article

3
Zbl pre06144398
Parsons, Paul; Dixon, Gail
(Gribbin, John)
3-minute Stephen Hawking. His life, theories, his influence. Transl. from the English by Carl Freytag. With a foreword by John Gribbin. (Stephen Hawking im 3-Minuten-Takt. Sein Leben, sein Werk, sein Einfluss.) (German)
[B] Heidelberg: Springer Spektrum. 160~p. EUR~14.99 (2013). ISBN 978-3-642-33003-2/hbk; ISBN 978-3-0348-0469-1/ebook

Preliminary review / Publisher's description: Stephen Hawking ist der wohl brillanteste Physiker seit Einstein, und viele halten für ihn das grösste lebende Genie unter den Naturwissenschaftlern. Zugleich besitzt er die Gabe, kniffligste Probleme für Laien verständlich darzustellen. Und er tritt engagiert für soziale und politische Gerechtigkeit ein, insbesondere für die Rechte von Behinderten. \par Stephen Hawking im 3-Minuten-Takt bietet eine kompakte Einführung in Leben und Werk dieses beeindruckenden Wissenschaftlers. \par -- Das Buch gliedert sich in drei Teile: Hawkings Leben, seine Theorien, sein Einfluss. Jeder Teil bietet faszinierenden Lesestoff für eine Stunde. -- So sind Sie nach nur drei Stunden Lektüre quasi schon Experte für Stephen Hawking und wissen Bescheid über sein Leben und die Höhepunkte seiner Karriere. -- Die Teilthemen des Buches werden Ihnen zudem in praktischen 3-Minuten-Portionen serviert, die Sie leicht konsumieren können. \par Tauchen Sie also einfach ein in die faszinierende Geschichte dieses grossen Denkers -- und beginnen Sie, das Universum ein wenig besser zu verstehen, ohne dabei gross nachdenken zu müssen.

MSC 2000:: *01-02 Research monographs (history)
01A70 Biographies, obituaries, personalia, bibliographies
01A60 Mathematics in the 20th century
00A79 Physics
83-03 Historical (relativity)
85-03 Historical (astronomy and astrophysics)

Comment on this Item PDF MathML XML ASCII DVI PS BibTeX Online Ordering Article

first | last | previous | next Result: 1 - 3 of 871

	Scientific prize winners of the ICM 2010
	Overhang
	Lie groups, physics and geometry. An introduction for physicists, engineers and chemists.

Simple Search

Zentralblatt MATH Berlin [Germany]