The Great Design
Particles, Fields, and Creation
Published on 26. July 1990
Book
Paperback/Softback
384 pages
978-0-19-506069-0 (ISBN)
Description
This introductory volume emphasises our understanding of the fundamental forces - gravitation, electromagnetism - and the fundamental particles on which they act and which go to build atoms and molecules. There are chapters on concepts; invariance and conservation laws; covariance scalars, vectors, tensors; the electromagnetic field; cosmology; and much more.
Reviews / Votes
' a straightforward, unfussy and well-ordered account of the core concepts of relativistic particle physics.' Nature' Adair is a long-time outstanding researcher and teacher in the field of particle physics. He has digested many of the seemingly impossible-to-understand concepts for general readers, and has presented these concepts in the book...Excellent illustrations are used throughout. Highly recommended for all libraries.' Choice
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Illustrations
159 line illustrations
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Thickness: 23 mm
Weight
628 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-19-506069-0 (9780195060690)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Robert K. Adair is Eugene Higgins Professor of Physics at Yale University. He is the author of Concepts in Physics and (with Earle C. Fowler) Strange Particles.
Content
Concepts of physics; Invariance and conservation laws; Covariance, scalars, vectors and tensors; The discrete in nature - the atoms of Demokritos; The continuum in nature - Faraday's fields; The nature of space and time - the special theory of relativity; The equivalence principle and the general theory of relativity; The electro-magnetic field - the first unified field theory; The problem of change - the second law of thermodynamics; Quantum mechanics - determinism to probablility; The atom - a quantum laboratory; Fundamental particles and forces - an introduction; Symmetries and conservation laws - CPT; The strong interactions; The weak interactions; Cosmology - the world's beginning and end; Gauge invariance - the unification of fields; To the ultimate theory - through a glass darkly.