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This Elibron Classics book is a facsimile reprint of a 1877 edition by Lee & Shepard, Boston. ... Read more

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In Physicists Look Back: Studies in the History of Physics, various international contributors ranging from physicists, engineers, theoreticians, experimentalists, and information scientists to educationalists, science historians, sociologists, and physics teachers discuss the history of physics. They describe their own research developments, demonstrate ways the history of physics can be helpful in teaching physics and in clearing up difficult concepts, and offer professional advice about resources and methods. This diversified book provides a historical background to modern physics and illustrates how an appreciation of the historical context of physics can lead to a better understanding of modern physics. It covers the history of ozone, the ionosphere, plasma physics, the technical developments of the electron microscope and crystallographic x-ray photography, and the history of the Josephson effect. Well illustrated and containing some autobiographical research not previously published, this resource is valuable reading for professional physicists, physics teachers, educationalists, historians and philosophers of science, and physicists. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Josephson wrote a chapter
I get the nagging feeling that the only people who will ever read this book are physicists. Even for a book on the history of science, it is awfully specialised.

But if you are indeed a physicist, you may find the book interesting, with possible insights. The chapters are written by various prominent physicists. Most notably Brian Josephson, who won a Nobel for his eponymous junction. In his chapter, he writes of the events leading up to his discovery. Quite eloquent. Even if he later, after winning the Nobel, went deeply into mysticism. ... Read more

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The late J. D. Bernal's lectures given to first-year students in physics at Birkbeck College, University of London, are presented here in their entirety, tracing the history of physics up to the end of the classical era at the end of 19th century, just before the discoveries of the subatom and relatively were made. In view of the prestige and profundity of the newer discoveries, Bernal felt that the classical era was being largely forgotten. In this book, he attributes a greater relevance to the work of men from the distant past than is usually given. For instance, the idea of "atom" not only retains the language of the Greek, Democritus, who first postulated it, but there is also an absolutely unbroken connection between the atom of the Greek and that of the modern physicist. Bernal felt that the historical method would be a suitable introduction to the fundamental concepts of physics, and it is hoped that the readers of the book will be able to see something of the interplay between the theoretical and practical aspects of the subject. ... Read more

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This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

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Transmuted Past follows the development of theories of stellar evolution and nucleosynthesis in the twentieth century and describes radiometric methods for estimating the age of the Earth. Professor Brush also offers perspectives on the changing reputation of planetary science relative to the "pure" sciences, such as physics, anda comparison of history and geology as ways of studying the past. ... Read more

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In 1884 Sir William Thomson (later Lord Kelvin) delivered a significant series of lectures on physics at the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. The lectures remain important because, through their explicit presentation of the theories and metaphysical assumptions of the Newtonian mechanistic tradition, they illuminate the roots of the revolution in physics that began around 1900.This book presents the twenty lectures in their original form for the first time. (A greatly revised version of the lectures appeared in 1904.) In addition, it contains ten original essays in which well-known historians and philosophers of science discuss the physical issues raised in the Baltimore Lectures and developments in theoretical physics since they were delivered.Several of the accompanying essays deal with differences between Kelvin's views of molecular dynamics and the wave theory of light and the ultimately more successful electromagnetic concepts of James Clerk Maxwell. Others consider G. F. FitzGerald's approach to the question of mechanical models and Ernest Rutherford's attitudes toward theoretical matters.The philosophical context of the Baltimore Lectures is taken up, along with the subsequent development of theoretical physics. Several essays reflect upon issues important in the era of relativity and quantum theory - among them the quantum-measurement problem, space-time and action at a distance, parts and wholes, locality and nonlocality, and the transition from natural philosophy to the metaphilosophy of science.Following an introduction by Robert W Kargon, the essayists who address theoretical physics in Kelvin's time and after are P. M. Harmon, Bruce J. Hunt, M. Norton Wise, Crosbie Smith, Howard Stein, Lawrence Badash, Abner Shimony, Paul Teller, John Earman, Arthur Fine, and Thomas Nickles.The editors are affiliated with the Center for the History and Philosophy of Science at the Johns Hopkins University. This volume is the second in a series published by The MIT Press for the Center. The first volume, Observation, Experiment, and Hypothesis in Modern Physical Science, edited by Peter Achinstein and Owen Hannaway, was published in 1985. A Bradford Book. ... Read more

Product Description
This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process.We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide.We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Product Description
This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Product Description
This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process.We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide.We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

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The early twentieth century saw the replacement of the Nebular Hypothesis with the Chamberlain-Moulton theory that the solar system resulted from the encounter of the Sun with a passing star. Fruitful Encounters follows the eventual refutation of the encounter theory and the subsequent revival of a modernized Nebular Hypothesis. Professor Brush also discusses the role of findings from the Apollo space program, especially the analysis of lunar samples, culminating in the establishment of the "giant impact" theory of the Moon's origin in the 1980s. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Nobel stats
For those of us unable to make the trip to Stockholm to view the Nobel archives, Crawford has compiled an excellent reference guide for historical study of the Nobel prizes in chemistry and physics. The Nobel Population 1901-1950 is an updated version of her 1987 census, identifying every nominee and nominator by name, date of birth, nationality, and institutional affiliation. It includes an introduction detailing the nomination and selection process and explaining the rational behind the information included in the census. The book concludes with a useful and (as far as this reader could ascertain) accurate name index of everyone mentioned in the Nobel committee's secretaries' lists from 1901-1950. Also included is a user-friendly CD-ROM. This interactive tool provides all the information in the book, and allows researchers to organize and sift through the information in a variety of ways. It is easy to view entire lists of nominations for and by individuals and reorganize the entire database by nominator or nominee country of origin, year, or science. In the computerized database, prize recipients are clearly noted by a golden coin next to their name. The Nobel Population, and especially its accompanying CD-ROM, should be an essential companion for any scholar studying the Nobel Prize in the first half of the 20th century, or any reader with in an interest in the statistics behind the scientific award. ... Read more