Let there be light : the story of light from atoms to galaxies / Alex Montwill & Ann Breslin.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Montwill, Alex.

Contributor:

Breslin, Ann.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Light--Popular works.

Electromagnetic waves.

Physics--History.

Physical Description:

xxxiii, 595 p. : ill. (some col.), maps (some col.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

London : Imperial College Press ; Singapore ; Hackensack, NJ : Distributed by World Scientific Pub. Co., c2008.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

This book is the first of its kind to devote itself at this level to the key role played by light and electromagnetic radiation in the universe. Readers are introduced to philosophical hypotheses such as the economy, symmetry, and universality of natural laws, and are then guided to practical consequences such as the rules of geometrical optics and even Einstein's well-known but mysterious relationship, E = mc2. Most chapters feature a pen picture of the life and character of a relevant scientific figure. These "Historical Interludes" include, among others, Galileo's conflicts with the Inquisition, Fourier's taunting of the guillotine, Neils Bohr and World War II, and the unique character of Richard Feynman.

Contents:

ch. 1. Introducing light. 1.1. The perception of light through the ages. 1.2. Colours. 1.3. Measuring the speed of light. 1.4. The process of vision. 1.5. The nature of light. 1.6. The birth of quantum mechanics

ch. 2. Geometrical optics: reflection. 2.1. Fermat's law. 2.2. Mirrors

ch. 3. Geometrical optics: refraction. 3.1. Refraction. 3.2. Lenses. 3.4. Objects and images: converging lenses. 3.5. Lens combinations. 3.6. The eye. 3.7. Making visible what the eye cannot see. 3.8. Combinations of lenses. 3.9. A final note on Fermat's principle

ch. 4. Light from afar - astronomy. 4.1. The earth. 4.2. The Moon. 4.3. Sizes and distances. 4.4. The planets. 4.5. The Copernican revolution. 4.6. After Copernicus. 4.7. The solar system in perspective

ch. 5. Light from the past - astrophysics. 5.1. The birth of astrophysics. 5.2. The methods of astrophysics. 5.3. Other stars and their 'solar systems'. 5.4. Reconstructing the past. 5.5. The life and death of a star

ch. 6. Introducing waves. 6.1 Waves - the basic means of communication. 6.2. The mathematics of a travelling wave. 6.3. The superposition of waves. 6.4. Applying the superposition principle. 6.5. Forced oscillations and resonance. 6.6. Resonance - a part of life. 6.7. Diffraction - waves can bend around corners. 6.8. The magic of sine and the simplicity of nature

ch. 7. Sound waves. 7.1. Sound and hearing. 7.2. Sound as a tool. 7.3. Superposition of sound waves. 7.4. Sound intensity. 7.5. Other sensations. 7.6. Strings and pipes in music. 7.7. The Doppler effect

ch. 8. Light as a wave. 8.1. Light as a wave. 8.2. Wave properties which do not make reference to a medium. 8.3. Specifically light. 8.4. Is there a limit to what we can distinguish? 8.5. Other electromagnetic waves. 8.6. Light from two sources. 8.7. Interference as a tool. 8.8. Thin films. 8.9. Diffraction gratings. 8.10. Other 'lights'. 8.11. Coherence. 8.12. Polarisation

ch. 9. Making images. 9.1. Creating images. 9.2. Holography

ch. 10. There was electricity, there was magnetism, and then there was light ... 10.1. The mystery of 'action at a distance'. 10.2. 'Fields of force'. 10.3. Magnetism. 10.4. Electrodynamics. 10.5. Getting electric charges to move with the help of magnetism. 10.6. Maxwell's synthesis. 10.7. Then there was light

ch. 11. 'Atoms of light' - the birth of quantum theory. 11.1. Emission of energy by radiation. 11.2. Classical theoretical models of the blackbody radiation spectrum. 11.3. Max Planck enters the scene. 11.4. Planck's 'act of despair'. 11.5. From an idea to a formula - the mathematical journey

ch. 12. The development of quantum mechanics. 12.1. The development of quantum mechanics. 12.2. Matrix mechanics. 12.3. Order does matter. 12.4. Wave mechanics. 12.5. Generalised quantum mechanics. 12.6. Quantum reality

ch. 13. Atoms of light acting as particles. 13.1. The photoelectric effect. 13.2. The Compton effect - more evidence

ch. 14. Atoms of light behaving as waves. 14.1. Photons one at a time. 14.2. Feynman's 'strange theory of the photon'

ch. 15. Relativity pt. 1: how it began. 15.1. Space and time. 15.2. 'Dogmatic rigidity'. 15.3. Looking for the ether. 15.4. Symmetry. 15.5. The first postulate. 15.6. The second postulate. 15.7. The fourth dimension. 15.8. A philosophical interlude

ch. 16. Relativity pt. 2: verifiable predictions. 16.1. Time dilation. 16.2. E = mc2, the most famous result of all. 16.3. The steps from symmetry to nuclear energy. 16.4. Working with relativity

ch. 17. Epilogue. 17.1. Making matter out of energy. 17.2. A unified theory of weak and electromagnetic forces.

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

1-86094-851-0

OCLC:

922951781