Unearthing Fermi's geophysics : based on Enrico Fermi's geophysics lectures of 1941 / Gino Segrè and John Stack.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Segrè, Gino, author.

Stack, John (Physicist), author.

Contributor:

Fermi, Enrico, 1901-1954

Edward Potts Cheyney Memorial Fund.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Geophysics.

Physical Description:

xiii, 285 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Chicago ; London : University of Chicago Press, 2021.

Summary:

"Nobel Prize-winning physicist Enrico Fermi (1901-1954) is known for his work on experimental particle physics, quantum theory, and statistical mechanics; his contributions to the Manhattan Project during World War II; and for his particular ability to condense complicated problems into approximations for understanding and testing theory in a variety of scientific disciplines. This book is unusual for two reasons; first it is essentially a reconstructed course book from Fermi's notes by two physics professors, Gino Segrè and John Stack, including photographic facsimiles of Fermi's handwritten calculations. Second, it is on a topic, geophysics, that we do not usually associate with Fermi"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Machine generated contents note: 1. Introduction

1.1. Fermi's Notes

1.2. Plan of the Book

2. Gravity and the Earth

2.1. The Earth's Gravity

2.2. Earth's Gravitational Potential

2.3. Pressure at the Center of the Earth

2.4. The Moments of Inertia of the Earth

2.5. Motions of the Earth's Axis

2.6. Equinoxes and Solstices

2.7. Precession of the Equinoxes

2.8. Free Rotational Motion

3. Heat and the Atmosphere

3.1. First Law of Thermodynamics

3.2. State Variables

3.3. The Second Law of Thermodynamics

3.4. Ideal Gas

3.5. Chemical Potential

3.6. The Boundary between Phases

3.7. Moist Air

3.8. Atmospheric Composition and Temperature

3.9. Temperature vs. Altitude

3.10. The Upper Atmosphere

4. Atmospheric Loss

4.1. Maxwell Distribution

4.2. Escape Velocity

4.3. Lifetime of Atmosphere

4.4. Magnitude of Particle Losses

4.5. Helium

4.6. Speed of Sound

5. Liquid Drop Physics

5.1. Vapor Pressure and Raindrops

5.2. Liquid Drops Affect Vapor Pressure

5.3. Properties of Falling Raindrops

6. Coriolis Effects

6.1. The Coriolis Force

6.2. Coriolis Effects in the Atmosphere

6.3. Hurricanes

7. Radiation at the Surface

7.1. Surface of the Earth

7.2. Crust of the Earth

7.3. Composition of the Oceans

7.4. Surface Temperature Equilibrium

7.5. Black Body Radiation

7.6. Planck's Formula

7.7. Special Cases

8. Ocean Properties

8.1. Heat Current

8.2. The Heat Equation

8.3. Diurnal Temperature Variation

8.4. Temperature of Seawater

8.5. Ocean Circulation

9. Gravity Waves

9.1. Dispersion Relations

9.2. Euler's Equation

9.3. Small Amplitude Surface Waves

10. Tide Physics

10.1. Effects of the Moon

10.2. The Tidal Potential

10.3. Water-Covered Earth

10.4. Time Dependence of Tides

10.5. Tides on Lakes and Seas

11. Earthquake Properties

12. Seismic Waves

12.1. Elementary Seismographs

12.2. Seismic Waves

12.3. Strain and the Strain Tensor

12.4. Stress and the Stress Tensor

12.5. Hooke's Law

12.6. Young's Modulus and Poisson's Ratio

12.7. Stress and Strain

12.8. Newton's Law in a Solid

12.9. The Equation of Motion for Displacement

12.10. Longitudinal and Transverse

12.11. Snell's Law for Elastic Waves

13. Surface Seismic Waves

13.1. Surface Waves

13.2. Oscillations of the Earth

13.3. Breather Mode

14. Radioactivity

14.1. Historical Note

14.2. The Sixth Washington Conference

14.3. The Earth's Density

14.4. Estimates of the Age of the Earth

14.5. Radioactive Decay Equation

14.6. Radioactivity within the Earth

14.7. Uranium Decays

14.8. Radioactive Dating

15. Heat Flow in the Earth

15.1. Surface Heat Variations

15.2. Heat at the Earth's Surface

15.3. Scales in Heat Conduction

15.4. Heat Equilibrium

16. Earth Magnetism

16.1. Units

16.2. Magnetic Moments

16.3. Magnetic Field of the Earth

16.4. Earth Magnetization

16.5. Rotation of Charges

16.6. Currents inside the Earth

16.7. Magnetosphere

16.8. Magnetic Storms

16.9. Magnetic Potential Expansion

17. Atmospheric Electricity

17.1. Overview

17.2. Properties of the Electrosphere

17.3. Water Drops in an Electric Field

18. Atmospheric Plasma

18.1. Ions in the High Atmosphere

18.2. Atmospheric Radio Waves

18.3. Other Effects

18.4. Double Refraction.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Edward Potts Cheyney Memorial Fund.

ISBN:

9780226805146

022680514X

OCLC:

1241244533

Publisher Number:

99989658294