Book picks similar to
An Introduction to Modern Cosmology by Andrew R. Liddle
physics
science
2-where-ebook
cosmology
Biggest Secrets
William Poundstone - 1993
Fields Cookies... What backward messages on records are really trying to tell you... Frank Sinatra's real age... Why you can't counterfeit a lottery ticket... Barbra Streisand's blue movie... The other Boy Scout rituals... Ingmar Bergman's soap commercials... The formula for Play-Doh... and more.
Fundamentals of Engineering Electromagnetics
David K. Cheng - 1992
It has been developed in response to the need for a text that supports the mastery of this difficult subject. Therefore, in addition to presenting electromagnetics in a concise and logical manner, the text includes end-of-section review questions, worked examples, boxed remarks that alert students to key ideas and tricky points, margin notes, and point-by-point chapter summaries. Examples and applications invite students to solve problems and build their knowledge of electromagnetics. Application topics include: electric motors, transmission lines, waveguides, antenna arrays and radar systems.
Dreams of Earth and Sky
Freeman Dyson - 2015
Throughout these essays, which range from the creation of the Royal Society in the seventeenth century to the scientific inquiries of the Romantic generation to recent books by Daniel Kahneman and Malcolm Gladwell, he seeks to “break down the barriers that separate science from other sources of human wisdom.” Dyson discusses twentieth-century giants of physics such as Richard Feynman, J. Robert Oppenheimer, Paul Dirac, and Steven Weinberg, many of whom he knew personally, as well as Winston Churchill’s pursuit of nuclear weapons for Britain and Wernher von Braun’s pursuit of rockets for space travel. And he takes a provocative, often politically incorrect approach to some of today’s most controversial scientific issues: global warming, the current calculations of which he thinks are probably wrong; the future of biotechnology, which he expects to dominate our lives in the next half-century as the tools to design new living creatures become available to everyone; and the flood of information in the digital age. Dyson offers fresh perspectives on the history, the philosophy, and the practice of scientific inquiry—and even on the blunders, the wild guesses and wrong theories that are also part of our struggle to understand the wonders of the natural world.
Space-time and beyond : toward an explanation of the unexplainable
Bob Toben - 1975
Captioned cartoon drawings offering an overview of universal order as they deal with various phenomena are combined with scientific commentary
Astronomy
Andrew Fraknoi - 2012
The book begins with relevant scientific fundamentals and progresses through an exploration of the solar system, stars, galaxies, and cosmology. The Astronomy textbook builds student understanding through the use of relevant analogies, clear and non-technical explanations, and rich illustrations. Mathematics is included in a flexible manner to meet the needs of individual instructors.
Gravity
George Gamow - 1962
In Gravity, he takes an enlightening look at three of the towering figures of science who unlocked many of the mysteries behind the laws of physics: Galileo, the first to take a close look at the process of free and restricted fall; Newton, originator of the concept of gravity as a universal force; and Einstein, who proposed that gravity is no more than the curvature of the four-dimensional space-time continuum.Graced with the author's own drawings, both technical and fanciful, this remarkably reader-friendly book focuses particularly on Newton, who developed the mathematical system known today as the differential and integral calculus. Readers averse to equations can skip the discussion of the elementary principles of calculus and still achieve a highly satisfactory grasp of a fascinating subject.Starting with a chapter on Galileo’s pioneering work, this volume devotes six chapters to Newton's ideas and other subsequent developments and one chapter to Einstein, with a concluding chapter on post-Einsteinian speculations concerning the relationship between gravity and other physical phenomena, such as electromagnetic fields.
The Star Builders: Nuclear Fusion and the Race to Power the Planet
Arthur Turrell - 2021
The ability to duplicate that process in a lab, once thought impossible, may now be closer than we think. Today, teams of scientists around the world are being assembled by the boldest entrepreneurs, big business, and governments to solve what is the most difficult technological challenge humanity has ever faced: building the equivalent of a star on earth. If their plans to capture star power are successful, they will unlock thousands, potentially millions, of years of clean, carbon-free energy. Not only would controlled nuclear fusion help solve the climate crisis, it could also make other highly desired technological ambitions possible—like journeying to the stars. Given the rising alarm over deterioration of the environment, and the strides being made in laser and magnetic field technology, powerful momentum is gathering behind fusion and the possibilities it offers. In The Star Builders, award-winning young plasma physicist Arthur Turrell “offers an optimistic outlook for the future of fusion power and is adamant about the need to invest in it” (The New York Times). Turrell describes fascinating star machines with ten times as many parts as the NASA Space Shuttle, and structures that extend over 400 acres in an accessible and entertaining account, spotlighting the individuals, firms, and institutions racing for the finish line: science-minded entrepreneurs like Jeff Bezos and Peter Thiel, companies like Goldman Sachs and Google, universities like Oxford and MIT, and virtually every rich nation. It’s an exciting and game-changing international quest that will make all of us winners.
Alpha and Omega: The Search for the Beginning and End of the Universe
Charles Seife - 2003
Today we are at the brink of discoveries that should soon reveal the deepest secrets of the universe.Alpha and Omega is a dispatch from the front lines of the cosmological revolution that is being waged at observatories and laboratories around the world-in Europe, in America, and even in Antarctica--where scientists are actually peering into both the cradle of the universe and its grave. Scientists--including galaxy hunters and microwave eavesdroppers, gravity theorists and atom smashers, all of whom are on the trail of dark matter, dark energy, and the growing inhabitants of the particle zoo-now know how the universe will end and are on the brink of understanding its beginning. Their findings will be among the greatest triumphs of science, even towering above the deciphering of the human genome.This is the book you need to help understand the frequent front-page headlines heralding dramatic cosmological discoveries. It makes cutting-edge science both crystal clear and wonderfully exciting.
Frequently Asked Questions about the Universe
Jorge Cham - 2021
--Carlo Rovelli, author of Seven Brief Lessons on Physics and Helgoland You've got questions: about space, time, gravity, and the odds of meeting your older self inside a wormhole. All the answers you need are right here.As a species, we may not agree on much, but one thing brings us all together: a need to know. We all wonder, and deep down we all have the same big questions. Why can't I travel back in time? Where did the universe come from? What's inside a black hole? Can I rearrange the particles in my cat and turn it into a dog?Researcher-turned-cartoonist Jorge Cham and physics professor Daniel Whiteson are experts at explaining science in ways we can all understand, in their books and on their popular podcast, Daniel and Jorge Explain the Universe. With their signature blend of humor and oh-now-I-get-it clarity, Jorge and Daniel offer short, accessible, and lighthearted answers to some of the most common, most outrageous, and most profound questions about the universe they've received.This witty, entertaining, and fully illustrated book is an essential troubleshooting guide for the perplexing aspects of reality, big and small, from the invisible particles that make up your body to the identical version of you currently reading this exact sentence in the corner of some other galaxy. If the universe came with an FAQ, this would be it.
The Zoomable Universe: An Epic Tour Through Cosmic Scale, from Almost Everything to Nearly Nothing
Caleb Scharf - 2017
Drawing on cutting-edge science, they begin at the limits of the observable universe, a scale spanning 10^27 meters--about 93 billion light-years. And they end in the subatomic realm, at 10^-35 meters, where the fabric of space-time itself confounds all known rules of physics. In between are galaxies, stars and planets, oceans and continents, plants and animals, microorganisms, atoms, and much, much more. Stops along the way--all enlivened by Scharf's sparkling prose and his original insights into the nature of our universe--include the brilliant core of the Milky Way, the surface of a rogue planet, the back of an elephant, and a sea of jostling quarks.The Zoomable Universe is packed with more than 100 original illustrations and infographics that will captivate readers of every age. It is a whimsical celebration of discovery, a testament to our astounding ability to see beyond our own vantage point and chart a course from the farthest reaches of the cosmos to its subatomic depths--in short, a must-have for the shelves of all explorers.
Solid State Physics: Structure and Properties of Materials
M.A. Wahab - 2005
The First seven chapters deal with structure related aspects such as lattice and crystal structures, bonding, packing and diffusion of atoms followed by imperfections and lattice vibrations. Chapter eight deals mainly with experimental methods of determining structures of given materials. While the next nine chapters cover various physical properties of crystalline solids, the last chapter deals with the anisotropic properties of materials. This chapter has been added for benefit of readers to understand the crystal properties (anisotropic) in terms of some simple mathematical formulations such as tensor and matrix. New to the Second Edition: Chapter on: *Anisotropic Properties of Materials
Advanced Electronic Communications Systems
Wayne Tomasi - 1987
Numerous examples throughout provide readers with real-life applications of the concepts of analog and digital communications systems, while chapter-end questions and problems give them a chance to test and review their understanding of fundamental and key topics. Modern digital and data communications systems, microwave radio communications systems, satellite communications systems, and optical fiber communications systems. Cellular and PCS telephone systems coverage presents the latest and most innovative technological advancements being made in cellular communication systems. Optical fiber communications chapter includes new sections on light sources, optical power, optical sources and link budget. Current topics include trellis encoding, CCITT modem recommendations, PCM line speed, extended superframe format, wavelength division multiplexing, Kepler's laws, Clark orbits, limits of visibility, Satellite Radio Navigation and Navstar GPS. For the study of electronic communications systems.
The Day We Found the Universe
Marcia Bartusiak - 2009
This discovery dramatically reshaped how humans understood their place in the cosmos, and once and for all laid to rest the idea that the Milky Way galaxy was alone in the universe. Six years later, continuing research by Hubble and others forced Albert Einstein to renounce his own cosmic model and finally accept the astonishing fact that the universe was not immobile but instead expanding. The fascinating story of these interwoven discoveries includes battles of will, clever insights, and wrong turns made by the early investigators in this great twentieth-century pursuit. It is a story of science in the making that shows how these discoveries were not the work of a lone genius but the combined efforts of many talented scientists and researchers toiling away behind the scenes. The intriguing characters include Henrietta Leavitt, who discovered the means to measure the vast dimensions of the cosmos . . . Vesto Slipher, the first and unheralded discoverer of the universe’s expansion . . . Georges Lemaître, the Jesuit priest who correctly interpreted Einstein’s theories in relation to the universe . . . Milton Humason, who, with only an eighth-grade education, became a world-renowned expert on galaxy motions . . . and Harlow Shapley, Hubble’s nemesis, whose flawed vision of the universe delayed the discovery of its true nature and startling size for more than a decade.Here is a watershed moment in the history of astronomy, brought about by the exceptional combination of human curiosity, intelligence, and enterprise, and vividly told by acclaimed science writer Marcia Bartusiak.
Fundamentals of Physics: Mechanics, Relativity, and Thermodynamics
Ramamurti Shankar - 2014
Shankar, a well-known physicist and contagiously enthusiastic educator, was among the first to offer a course through the innovative Open Yale Course program. His popular online video lectures on introductory physics have been viewed over a million times. In this concise and self-contained book based on his online Yale course, Shankar explains the fundamental concepts of physics from Galileo’s and Newton’s discoveries to the twentieth-century’s revolutionary ideas on relativity and quantum mechanics. The book begins at the simplest level, develops the basics, and reinforces fundamentals, ensuring a solid foundation in the principles and methods of physics. It provides an ideal introduction for college-level students of physics, chemistry, and engineering, for motivated AP Physics students, and for general readers interested in advances in the sciences. Instructor resources--including problem sets and sample examinations--and more information about Professor Shankar's course are available at http://oyc.yale.edu/physics/phys-200.
Algebra II For Dummies
Mary Jane Sterling - 2004
To understand algebra is to possess the power to grow your skills and knowledge so you can ace your courses and possibly pursue further study in math. Algebra II For Dummies is the fun and easy way to get a handle on this subject and solve even the trickiest algebra problems. This friendly guide shows you how to get up to speed on exponential functions, laws of logarithms, conic sections, matrices, and other advanced algebra concepts. In no time you'll have the tools you need to:Interpret quadratic functions Find the roots of a polynomial Reason with rational functions Expose exponential and logarithmic functions Cut up conic sections Solve linear and non linear systems of equations Equate inequalities Simplifyy complex numbers Make moves with matrices Sort out sequences and sets This straightforward guide offers plenty of multiplication tricks that only math teachers know. It also profiles special types of numbers, making it easy for you to categorize them and solve any problems without breaking a sweat. When it comes to understanding and working out algebraic equations, Algebra II For Dummies is all you need to succeed!