Best of
Science

1956

Brighter than a Thousand Suns: A Personal History of the Atomic Scientists


Robert Jungk - 1956
    Index. Translated by James Cleugh.

Thermodynamics


Enrico Fermi - 1956
    Based on a course of lectures delivered by the author at Columbia University, the text is elementary in treatment and remarkable for its clarity and organization. Although it is assumed that the reader is familiar with the fundamental facts of thermometry and calorimetry, no advanced mathematics beyond calculus is assumed.Partial contents: thermodynamic systems, the first law of thermodynamics (application, adiabatic transformations), the second law of thermodynamics (Carnot cycle, absolute thermodynamic temperature, thermal engines), the entropy (properties of cycles, entropy of a system whose states can be represented on a (V, p) diagram, Clapeyron and Van der Waals equations), thermodynamic potentials (free energy, thermodynamic potential at constant pressure, the phase rule, thermodynamics of the reversible electric cell), gaseous reactions (chemical equilibria in gases, Van't Hoff reaction box, another proof of the equation of gaseous equilibria, principle of Le Chatelier), the thermodynamics of dilute solutions (osmotic pressure, chemical equilibria in solutions, the distribution of a solute between 2 phases vapor pressure, boiling and freezing points), the entropy constant (Nernst's theorem, thermal ionization of a gas, thermionic effect, etc.).

The Thirteen Books of the Elements, Books 1 - 2


Euclid - 1956
    Covers textual and linguistic matters; mathematical analyses of Euclid's ideas; commentators; refutations, supports, extrapolations, reinterpretations and historical notes. Vol. 1 includes Introduction, Books 1-2: Triangles, rectangles.

Science & Human Values


Jacob Bronowski - 1956
    "A profoundly moving, brilliantly perceptive essay by a truly civilized man."--Scientific American

The World of Mathematics: A Four-Volume Set


James Roy Newman - 1956
    It comprises non-technical essays on every aspect of the vast subject, including articles by scores of eminent mathematicians and other thinkers.

Revolt in 2100/The Man Who Sold the Moon/Menace from Earth/Double Star/Puppet Masters


Robert A. Heinlein - 1956
    A five book box set from the late 50's.

Elements of X-Ray Diffraction


B.D. Cullity - 1956
    The book is a collection of principles and methods stressing X-ray diffraction rather than metallurgy. KEY TOPICS: The book is written entirely in terms of the Bragg law and can be read without any knowledge of the reciprocal lattice. It is divided into three main parts--Fundamentals; experimental methods; and applications. MARKET: Designed for beginners, not as a reference tool for the advanced reader.

Vogel's Textbook of Practical Organic Chemistry


Brian S. Furniss - 1956
    Incorporates new reactions and techniques now available to the organic chemist.

Mathematics, Magic and Mystery


Martin Gardner - 1956
    Written by one of the foremost experts on mathematical magic, it employs considerable historical data to summarize all previous work in this field. It is also a creative examination of laws and their exemplification, with scores of new tricks, insights, and demonstrations. Dozens of topological tricks are explained, and dozens of manipulation tricks are aligned with mathematical law.Nontechnical, detailed, and clear, this volume contains 115 sections discussing tricks with cards, dice, coins, etc.; topological tricks with handkerchiefs, cards, etc.; geometrical vanishing effects; demonstrations with pure numbers; and dozens of other topics. You will learn how a Moebius strip works and how a Curry square can "prove" that the whole is not equal to the sum of its parts.No skill at sleight of hand is needed to perform the more than 500 tricks described because mathematics guarantees their success. Detailed examination of laws and their application permits you to create your own problems and effects.

Mickey's Magnet


Franklyn Mansfield Branley - 1956
    A truly enjoyable book for elementary schools. Pre-schoolers will like it, too!

The Fat of the Land


Vilhjálmur Stefánsson - 1956
    He noted their general healthiness (and good teeth), and an absence of many of the diseases that plagued western cultures, such as scurvy, heart disease, and diabetes. Observing their dietary habits, he determined that their primary food was meat, both lean and fatty, and that their diets were very low in sugary or starchy carbohydrates. Was this meaty diet the key to their good health?The book chronicles a 1928 scientific experiment, conducted by the Russell Sage Institute of Pathology at Bellevue Hospital in New York, in which Stefansson and his colleague Dr. Karsten Andersen ate a meat-only diet for one year. The two men stayed healthy and fared very well, leading him to claim that we should reexamine our notion of what foods constitute a healthy diet.Later chapters promote the benefits of pemmican, a compact, portable, and high-energy food consisting of a concentrated mix of fat and protein made from dried lean bison meat, sometimes mixed with berries. Pemmican is like the original energy bar, and Stefansson spent considerable time and energy urging the military to adopt it for emergency rations.

Inside The Atom


Isaac Asimov - 1956
    

Science and Civilisation in China, Volume 1: Introductory Orientations


Joseph Needham - 1956
    It's been acclaimed by specialists in both East & West & also by readers with wider & more general interests. The text, based on research of a high critical quality, is supported by many hundreds of illustrations & is imbued with a warm appreciation of China. Volume 1 is an introductory volume, in which Needham prepares his readers for the study of a whole human culture. He begins by examining the structure of the Chinese language; he reviews the geography of China & the long history of its people, & discusses the scientific contacts which have occurred throughout the centuries, between Europe & E. Asia.

The Stress of Life


Hans Selye - 1956
    Annotated references are also included.

An Introduction to Cybernetics


William Ross Ashby - 1956
    

Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics


Arnold Sommerfeld - 1956
    

A Study of Thinking


Jerome Bruner - 1956
    First published in 1956 and hailed at its appearance as a groundbreaking study, it is still read three decades later as a major contribution to our understanding of the mind. In their insightful new introduction, the authors relate the book to the cognitive revolution and its handmaiden, artificial intelligence.The central theme of the work is that the scientific study of human thinking must concentrate upon meaning and its achievement rather than upon the behaviorists' stimuli and responses and the presumed connections between them. The book's point of departure is how human beings group the world of particulars into ordered classes and categories-concepts-in order to impose a coherent and manageable order upon that world. But rather than relying principally on philosophical speculation to make its point, A Study of Thinking reports dozens of experiments to elucidate the strategies that people use in penetrating to the deep structure of the information they encounter.This seminal study was a major event in the cognitive revolution of the 1950s. Reviewing it at the time, J. Robert Oppenheimer said it "has in many ways the flavor of conviction which makes it point to the future."

Our Friend the Atom


Heinz Haber - 1956
    

Caves of Missouri


J Harlen Bretz - 1956
    Bretz' theories on the subject, now widely accepted, were unusual at the time.

Old Fourlegs


J.L.B. Smith - 1956
    Astounded by its appearance, Professor J. L. B. Smith decided it must be a coelacanth*, a type of prehistoric fish known only from fossils and believed to have become extinct at least 50 million years ago.To find more specimens became his life-task. He searched the ocean off Eastern Africa. He distributed thousands of leaflets offering a reward. For 14 years he sought in vain.Suddenly came a telegram: a coelacanth had been caught off a tiny island far from the mainland. Professor Smith was frantic. Transport must be got before the fish decayed in the tropical heat. How he browbeat South Africa's Prime Minister into authorising the despatch of a military plane makes the climax to a highly dramatic story.*pronounce seel-a-canth

The Roads of Home: Lanes and Legends of New Jersey


Henry Charlton Beck - 1956
    This is the way people talk, sought out and recorded by one who loves both the people and the talk."--The New York Times Long regarded as folklife classics, Henry Charlton Beck's books are vivid recreations of the back roads, small towns, and legends that give New Jersey its special character. Father Henry Charlton Beck, who lived in New Jersey nearly all his life, was the author of numerous books on New Jersey folklife, state editor of the Camden Courier-Post, and writer for the Newark Star-Ledger. He is considered New Jersey's first folklorist and his painstaking work has left us with a rich collection of tales.

Mechanical Vibrations


J.P. Den Hartog - 1956
    P. Den Hartog, retired professor of mechanical engineering at MIT, reflects the author's unique ability to combine the scholarly insight of a distinguished scientist with the practical, problem-solving orientation of an experienced industrial engineer. Although mathematics plays a role in the subject, Den Hartog employs the simplest possible mathematical approaches. His lucid explanations of complex problems are presented in a direct style and supported by illustrative models. Numerous figures in the text enhance its value as a basic foundation in a field which Den Hartog calls "a necessary tool for almost every mechanical engineer." The author examines such topics as the kinematics of vibration (including harmonic motions and non-harmonic periodic motions), degrees of freedom, gyroscopic effects, relaxation oscillations, Rayleigh's method, natural frequencies of torsional vibration, Karman vortices, and systems with variable elasticity. Drawing on his experience as an engineer in private industry and in the U.S. Navy's Bureau of Ships, Den Hartog applies theory to practice, discussing the effects of vibrations on turbines, electrical machines, helicopter rotors and airplane wings, diesel engines and electrical transmission lines.As a special aid to classroom work or self-study, this practical text includes an extensive selection of 233 problems and answers that test the student's mastery of every section of the book. In addition, a highly useful Appendix contains "A Collection of Formulas" for determining the load per inch deflection of linear springs, the load per radian rotation of rotational springs, the natural frequencies of simple systems, the longitudinal and torsional vibration of uniform beams, the transverse or bending vibrations of uniform beams, and the vibrations of rings, membranes, and plates.When Mechanical Vibrations was first published in 1934, it was a pioneering work in a field which had just been introduced in America's technical schools. In fact, the author wrote it to assist him in teaching the subject at Harvard. "During the life of the book," he says, "from 1934 on, the art and science of engineering has grown at an astonishing rate and the subject of vibration has expanded with it." Professor Den Hartog's constant revisions have kept his book at the forefront of this vital subject, as useful today as its earlier versions were to students of the past.

Elements of Mathematical Biology


Alfred J. Lotka - 1956
    Formerly published as "Elements Of Physical Biology", this classic work is the first major attempt to apply modern mathematics to the problems of phylogeny, ontology, ecology, physiology, endocrinology, psychology, and other branches of biology.