A Student's Guide Through the Great Physics Texts : Volume IV: Heat, Atoms and Quanta / by Kerry Kuehn.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Kuehn, Kerry., Author.

Series:

Undergraduate Lecture Notes in Physics, 2192-4791

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Physics.

Philosophy and science.

Science--Study and teaching.

Science.

Cosmology.

History and Philosophical Foundations of Physics.

Philosophy of Science.

Science Education.

Local Subjects:

History and Philosophical Foundations of Physics.

Philosophy of Science.

Science Education.

Cosmology.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (XXVI, 463 p. 70 illus.)

Edition:

1st ed. 2016.

Place of Publication:

Cham : Springer International Publishing : Imprint: Springer, 2016.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

This book provides a chronological introduction to modern atomic theory, which represented an attempt to reconcile the ancient doctrine of atomism with careful experiments—performed during the 19th century—on the flow of heat through substances and across empty space. Included herein are selections from classic texts such as Carnot’s Reflection on the Motive Power of Fire, Clausius’ Mechanical Theory of Heat, Rutherford’s Nuclear Constitution of Atoms, Planck’s Atomic Theory of Matter, and Heisenberg’s Copenhagen Interpretation of Quantum Theory. Each chapter begins with a short introduction followed by a reading selection. Carefully crafted study questions draw out key points in the text and focus the reader’s attention on the author’s methods, analysis and conclusions. Numerical and laboratory exercises at the end of each chapter test the reader’s ability to understand and apply key concepts from the text. Heat, Radiation and Quanta is the last of four volumes in A Student’s Guide through the Great Physics Texts. The book comes from a four-semester undergraduate physics curriculum designed to encourage a critical and circumspect approach to natural science while at the same time preparing students for advanced coursework in physics. This book is particularly suitable as a college-level textbook for students of the natural sciences, history or philosophy. It might also serve as a textbook for advanced high-school or home-schooled students, or as a thematically-organized source-book for scholars and motivated lay-readers. In studying the classic scientific texts included herein, the reader will be drawn toward a lifetime of contemplation.

Contents:

A New Science of Heat

Heat, Symmetry and Mathematics

Steam Engines and Heat Flow

Carnot's Cycle

Engines are Thermometers

Temperature, Pressure and Reversibility

The Language of Science

Energy and Entropy

Conduction of Heat

On Radiation

Atomism and Kinetic Theory

Atomism and Kinetic Theory 2

Dynamical and Statistical Laws

The Discovery of the Electron

The Mass and Velocity of a-particles

Identifying the a Particle

Targeting the Nucleus

Nuclear Structure

The Discovery of the Neutron

The Nature of the Neutron

Corpuscles of Light

X-Ray Optics 1

X-Ray Optics 2

Electron diffraction 1

Electron diffraction 2

The Bohr model of the atom

Atomic spectra

The periodic table

The Birth of the Quantum

Matter Waves

Quantum Orthodoxy

Causality and Chance in Quantum Theory

Indeterminacy

Bohm's critique of Copenhagen.

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

3-319-21828-X

OCLC:

987646620