"""""Clear and coherent ... One of the most exciting aspects of the book is the author's account of how the consequences and implications of the breakthroughs in quantum mechanics challenged the mechanistic, deterministic philosophy fostered by classical science."""" - The Science TeacherWritten by a respected Harvard physicist who did his doctoral work in Munich among many of the founding fathers of quantum mechanics, this introductory account of the evolution of quantum physics also explores the subject's philosophical implications. Beginning with brief background sketches, the author offers an absorbing narrative of the discovery of the principles of quantum mechanics as well as an assessment of their validity and significance.
The opening chapters trace the development of physics from antiquity onward, chronicling the origins of quantum mechanics and the ways in which quantum theory was used to address previously unsolved problems and to interpret observable atomic phenomena. Succeeding chapters are devoted to matters at the forefront of research pertaining to elementary particles, and the text concludes with a look at the old and new concepts of physical science and their relationship to issues of philosophy and religion - including considerations of causality, determinism, and free will. Includes 36 black-and-white figures, 12 halftones, five tables, and a Glossary of Scientific Terms."
By:
Victor Guillemin
Imprint: Dover
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions:
Height: 215mm,
Width: 135mm,
Spine: 17mm
Weight: 390g
ISBN: 9780486428741
ISBN 10: 0486428745
Publication Date: 16 March 2012
Audience:
College/higher education
,
A / AS level
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
"1 THE SCIENCE OF MOTION Newtonian Mechanics The Experimental-Deterministic Philosophy The Twentieth Century 2 THE HISTORY OF ATOMISM Origins of the Atomic Concept The Chemical Atoms The Molecules of the Physicists The Coming of the Atomic Age 3 ATOMIC STRUCTURE ""Size, Mass and Motion"" Discovery of the Electron The Atom Models of Thomson and Rutherford The Bohr Atom Model 4 RADIANT ENERGY Light Waves Interference of Light Waves Light Particles The Bohr Theory of Atomic Radiation 5 CONSEQUENCES OF THE WAVE-PHOTON CONCEPT Waves and Particles Causality and Probability 6 MATTER WAVES A New Mechanics Particles and Waves Waves and Atoms 7 THE PRINCIPLE OF UNCERTAINTY Wave Packets Precision of Measurement Further Implications of Quantum Mechanics 8 APPLICATIONS AND CONCLUSIONS The Particle in a Box Natural Radioactivity The Solid State Seeing with de Broglie Waves Out of the Atomic Substratum 9 ELEMENTARY PARTICLES Transmutation of Elements Particles and More Particles Discovering Particles Particle Accelerators Studying Particles 10 ORGANIZATION OF PARTICLES A Table of Particles The Leptons The Mesons The Baryons Antiparticles 11 PARTICLE CHARACTERISTICS Forces Conservation Laws and Stability Conservation Laws and Probabilities Strangeness and Isotopic Spin Resonances Summary of Particle Experiments 12 IDEAS AND THEORIES Quantum Field Theory The Electrostatic Field The Strong-Force Field Action at a Distance 13 SYMMETRIES Symmetries and Conservation Laws The Nonconservation of Parity Group Theory Quarks 14 MORE THEORIES S-Matrix Theory Feynman Diagrams Particle Energy Levels Space and Time Summary of Particle Theories 15 PHILOSOPHICAL IMPLICATIONS OF THE NEW PHYSICS Science and Philosophy Spiritual Values in the Old and the New Physics 16 CAUSALITY Causality in Philosophy Causality in Classical Science 17 FREE WILL The Free Will Problem The Nature of the Will Free Will and Causality Ethical Problems 18 ""DETERMINISM, FREE WILL AND THE NEW PHYSICS"" Laplace versus the Uncertainty Principle Diverse Interpretations Criticisms GLOSSARY OF SCIENTIFIC TERMS FOR ADDITIONAL READING INDEX"
Reviews for The Story of Quantum Mechanics
"""Clear and coherent...One of the most exciting aspects of the book is the author's account of how the consequences and implications of the breakthroughs in quantum mechanics challenged the mechanistic, deterministic philosophy fostered by classical science."""
