Best of
Physics

1973

Gravitation


Charles W. Misner - 1973
    These sections together make an appropriate one-term advanced/graduate level course (mathematical prerequisites: vector analysis and simple partial-differential equations). The book is printed to make it easy for readers to identify these sections.• The remaining Track 2 material provides a wealth of advanced topics instructors can draw from to flesh out a two-term course, with Track 1 sections serving as prerequisites.

Div, Grad, Curl, and All That: An Informal Text on Vector Calculus


Harry M. Schey - 1973
    Since the publication of the First Edition over thirty years ago, Div, Grad, Curl, and All That has been widely renowned for its clear and concise coverage of vector calculus, helping science and engineering students gain a thorough understanding of gradient, curl, and Laplacian operators without required knowledge of advanced mathematics.

An Introduction to Mechanics


Daniel Kleppner - 1973
    Intended for undergraduate students with foundation skills in mathematics and a deep interest in physics, it systematically lays out the principles of mechanics: vectors, Newton's laws, momentum, energy, rotational motion, angular momentum and noninertial systems, and includes chapters on central force motion, the harmonic oscillator, and relativity. Numerous worked examples demonstrate how the principles can be applied to a wide range of physical situations, and more than 600 figures illustrate methods for approaching physical problems. The book also contains over 200 challenging problems to help the student develop a strong understanding of the subject. Password-protected solutions are available for instructors at www.cambridge.org/9780521198219.

The Large Scale Structure of Space-Time


Stephen Hawking - 1973
    These singularities are places where space-time begins or ends, and the presently known laws of physics break down. They will occur inside black holes, and in the past are what might be construed as the beginning of the universe. To show how these predictions arise, the authors discuss the General Theory of Relativity in the large. Starting with a precise formulation of the theory and an account of the necessary background of differential geometry, the significance of space-time curvature is discussed and the global properties of a number of exact solutions of Einstein's field equations are examined. The theory of the causal structure of a general space-time is developed, and is used to study black holes and to prove a number of theorems establishing the inevitability of singualarities under certain conditions. A discussion of the Cauchy problem for General Relativity is also included in this 1973 book.

Quantum Mechanics, Volume 1


Claude Cohen-Tannoudji - 1973
    Chapters emphasize principles; complementary sections supply applications. Provides a qualitative introduction to quantum mechanical ideas; a systematic presentation of the mathematical tools and postulates, including a discussion of their physical content and applications. Applications are not interdependent and can be used to focus on either physics or chemistry.

Astrophysical Concepts


Martin Harwit - 1973
    Emphasizing physical concepts, it provides the student with a series of astrophysical sketches, concluding with a synthesis of all the subjects discussed, sketching the history of the universe from its beginning to the formation of the sun and the planets.

Secrets of Metals


Wilhelm Pelikan - 1973
    Furthermore, the harmony and effectiveness of many human bodily processes depend on the marvelous effects of metals. With each passing decade, researchers bring us knowledge of new facets of the cosmos of metals in and around us. Nonetheless, despite all the achievements of chemists and physicists, the world of metals holds many mysteries. In the surrounding world, we continually encounter new deposits of metals in the Earth, and these have enabled humankind to move toward ever greater levels of civiliazation and technological advances. And in the inner world of the human body, newly discovered layers of activities permeated by metals continually arise in our consciousness. Not only do we breathe with iron, but we also need copper to form blood and cobalt to avoid pernicious anemia. As research methods become increasingly refined and subtle, we continue to discover additional metals that are in fact regular components of our bodies. We find them not, however, as building blocks in the grosser, more physical sense, but as instruments by which our human entity accomplishes important physiological activities. In The Secrets of Metals, Wilhelm Pelikan-in the light of spiritual science-discusses the significance of the classic "seven metals" and their importance for humankind as well as for nature as a whole and the Earth. He also discusses the "newer" metals as well as the virtually unknown "radiation effects of metals-the effects of which Rudolf Steiner used therapeutically. Pelikan's method here is a phenomenological one, in which he helps us try to see natural objects in the Goethean sense, as developed by Rudolf Steiner. Here is a classic text for deeper understanding metals as a whole, as well as gaining a fuller appreciation of spiritual scientific research methods in relation to the world we inhabit.

Basic Principles of Plasma Physics: A Statistical Approach


Setsuo Ichimaru - 1973
    The book describes a statistical approach to the basics of plasma physics.

A History of the Theories of Aether and Electricity


Edmund Taylor Whittaker - 1973
    This survey of the history of electrodynamics provides insight into the revolutionary advances made in physics during 19th and the first quarter of the 20th centuries. The first volume covers the theories of classical physics from the time of Plato to the end of the 19th century. The second volume examines the origins of the discoveries that paved the way for modern physics with the emphasis on special relativity, quantum theories, general relativity, matrix mechanics, and wave mechanics.