Physics & Electronics: New books

Sound is integral to how we experience the world, in the form of noise as well as music. But what is sound? What is the physical basis of pitch and harmony? And how are sound waves exploited in musical instruments? In this book Mike Goldsmith looks at the science of sound and explores sound in different contexts, covering the audible and inaudible, sound underground and underwater, acoustic and electric, and hearing in humans and animals. He also considers the problem of sound out of place - noise and its reduction

Examines the superstrings theory, following the major breakthroughs of the 1990s that offer critical insight into how subatomic particles work, and thus all the forces of nature. By the author of In Search of Schrödinger's Cat. Since Einstein's time, a theory of everything, one coherent mathematical model that would encompass all the forces and particles of nature, has become the Holy Grail of physics, and its pursuit has resulted in some of the most extraordinary ideas in the history of science. This invaluable primer at last enables all of us to understand these ideas. John Gribbin provides a brief, succinct, accessible overview of the hundred year saga of particle physics, explaining everything from the basics, how subatomic particles work, to the cutting edge research that has produced dazzling new models of the universe, among them the radical theories of superstrings, the hypothesis that particles are loops of vibrating string and super symmetry.

Nuclear physics began long before the identification of fundamental particles, with J.J. Thomson's discovery of the electron at the end of the 19th century, which implied the existence of a positive charge in the atom to make it neutral.

Science has never been more important, yet science education faces serious challenges. At present, science education research only sees half the picture, focusing on how students learn and their changing conceptions. Both teaching practice and what is taught, science knowledge itself, are missing. This book offers new, interdisciplinary ways of thinking about science teaching that foreground the forms taken by science knowledge and the language, imagery and gesture through which they are expressed. This book brings together leading international scholars from Systemic Functional Linguistics, a long-established approach to language, and Legitimation Code Theory, a rapidly growing sociological approach to knowledge practices.

The laws of thermodynamics drive everything that happens in the universe. From the expansion of a cloud of gas to the cooling of hot metal, and from the unfurling of a leaf to the course of life itself - everything is directed and constrained by four simple laws. Peter Atkins' powerful introduction explains what the laws are and how they work. -;The laws of thermodynamics drive everything that happens in the universe. From the sudden expansion of a cloud of gas to the cooling of hot metal, and from the unfurling of a leaf to the course of life itself - everything is directed and constrained by four simple laws. They establish fundamental concepts such as temperature and heat, and reveal the arrow of time and even the nature of energy itself.

Special and General Relativity are concisely developed together with essential aspects of nuclear and particle physics. Problem sets are provided for many chapters, making the book ideal for a course on the physics of white dwarf and neutron star interiors.

Two leading physicists discuss the importance of the Higgs Boson, the future of particle physics, and the mysteries of the universe yet to be unraveled.On July 4, 2012, the long-sought Higgs Boson--aka "the God Particle"--was discovered at the world's largest particle accelerator, the LHC, in Geneva, Switzerland. On March 14, 2013, physicists at CERN confirmed it. This elusive subatomic particle forms a field that permeates the entire universe, creating the masses of the elementary particles that are the basic building blocks of everything in the known world--from viruses to elephants, from atoms to quasars.Starting where Nobel Laureate Leon Lederman's bestsellerThe God Particleleft off, this incisive new book explains what's next.

How did life start? Is the evolution of life describable by any physics-like laws? Stuart Kauffman's latest book offers an explanation-beyond what the laws of physics can explain-of the progression from a complex chemical environment to molecular reproduction, metabolism and to early protocells, and further evolution to what we recognize as life. Among the estimated one hundred billion solar systems in the known universe, evolving life is surely abundant. That evolution is a process of "becoming" in each case. Since Newton, we have turned to physics to assess reality. But physics alone cannot tell us where we came from, how we arrived, and why our world has evolved past the point of unicellular organisms to an extremely complex biosphere.

Antimatter explores a strange mirror world, where particles have identical yet opposite properties to those that make up the familiar matter we encounter everyday; where left becomes right, positive becomes negative; and where, should matter and antimatter meet, the two annihilate in a blinding flash of energy that makes even thermonuclear explosions look feeble by comparison.It is an idea long beloved of science-fiction stories--but here, renowned science writer Frank Close shows that the reality of antimatter is even more fascinating than the fiction itself.We know that once, antimatter and matter existed in perfect counterbalance, and that antimatter then perpetrated a vanishing act on a cosmic scale that remains one of the greatest mysteries of the universe.

A brief introduction to gravity through Einstein's general theory of relativity Of the four fundamental forces of nature, gravity might be the least understood and yet the one with which we are most intimate. From the months each of us spent suspended in the womb anticipating birth to the moments when we wait for sleep to transport us to other realities, we are always aware of gravity. In On Gravity, physicist A. Zee combines profound depth with incisive accessibility to take us on an original and compelling tour of Einstein's general theory of relativity. Inspired by Einstein's audacious suggestion that spacetime could ripple, Zee begins with the stunning discovery of gravity waves.

Isaac Newton had an extraordinary idea. He believed the physical universe and everything in it could be described in exact detail using mathematical relationships. He formulated a law of gravity that explained why objects fall downwards, how the moon causes the tides, and why planets and comets orbit the sun. While Newton’s work has been added to over the years, his basic approach remains at the heart of the scientific worldview. Yet Newton’s own had little in common with that of a modern scientist.

It was the universe’s most elusive particle, the linchpin for everything scientists dreamed up to explain how physics works. It had to be found. But projects as big as CERN’s Large Hadron Collider don’t happen without incredible risks – or occasional skulduggery. In the definitive account of the greatest science story of our time, acclaimed physicist Sean Carroll reveals the insights, rivalry, and wonder that fuelled the Higgs discovery, and takes us on a riveting and irresistible ride to the very edge of physics today.

Before the Higgs boson, there was a maddening search for another particle - the ghostly neutrino. First detected in 1956, its fleeting appearances have teased answers to many mysteries: How did the Big Bang happen? Why is antimatter so rare? What might dark matter be made of? And could faster-than-light travel be possible, overturning Einstein's theory of special relativity? But the quest for the neutrino also encompasses adventure, from Cold War defectioBefore the Higgs boson, there was a maddening search for another particle - the ghostly neutrino. First detected in 1956, its fleeting appearances have teased answers to many mysteries: How did the Big Bang happen? Why is antimatter so rare? What might dark matter be made of? And could faster-than-light travel be possible, overturning Einstein's theory of special relativity?

This title provides the latest information on nuclear physics. Based on a course entitled Applications of Nuclear Physics. Written from an experimental point of view this text is broadly divided into two parts, firstly a general introduction to Nuclear Physics and secondly its applications. Includes chapters on practical examples and problems Contains hints to solving problems which are included in the appendix Avoids complex and extensive mathematical treatments A modern approach to nuclear physics, covering the basic theory, but emphasising the many and important applications.

The new edition of the best-selling, calculus-based introductory Physics text. * Robust online homework system includes ALL end of chapter problems in the book plus more online * Chapters were restructured into modules based on a primary concept. * Based on his active teaching, Jearl Walker has identified material that students have been particularly challenged by (eg Gauss law and electric potential) and has rewritten this information so that the presentations are now smoother and more direct to the key points