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Showing 161 - 180 of 236 items
E=mc: a biography of the world's most famous equation
By David Bodanis. 2000
Historical facts about Einstein's theory of relativity--how he wove together elements of his thinking and how he constructed the mathematical…
equation that embodies his discovery. Profiles other scientists who influenced Einstein and some who put his ideas to use during and after World War II. 2000Boltzmann's atom: the great debate that launched a revolution in physics
By David Lindley. 2001
Portrait of the Austrian physicist Ludwig Boltzmann (1844-1906), pioneering proponent of atomic theory. Describes the controversy provoked by his perspectives,…
including the opposition of philosopher and physicist Ernst Mach, who denied the existence of atoms. Examines Boltzmann's legacy to modern theoretical physics. 2001Java man: how two geologists changed the history of human evolution
By Carl Celso Swisher, Roger Lewin, Garniss H. Curtis, Carl Swisher, Carl C. Swisher. 2000
Geochronologists Curtis and Swisher explain the dating of skull fossils from Indonesia and argue that they indicate the coexistence of…
several species of humans. The authors conclude that this evidence contradicts the "straight-line" theory of evolution, which suggests that primate development led inevitably to Homo sapiens. 2000The milky way: An autobiography of our galaxy
By Moiya McTier. 2022
Astrophysicist and folklorist Dr. Moiya McTier channels The Milky Way in this approachable and utterly fascinating autobiography of the titular…
galaxy, detailing what humans have discovered about everything from its formation to its eventual death, and what more there is to learn about this galaxy we call home. After a few billion years of bearing witness to life on Earth, of watching one hundred billion humans go about their day-to-day lives, of feeling unbelievably lonely, and of hearing its own story told by others, The Milky Way would like a chance to speak for itself. All one hundred billion stars and fifty undecillion tons of gas of it. It all began some thirteen billion years ago, when clouds of gas scattered through the universe's primordial plasma just could not keep their metaphorical hands off each other. They succumbed to their gravitational attraction, and the galaxy we know as the Milky Way was born. Since then, the galaxy has watched as dark energy pushed away its first friends, as humans mythologized its name and purpose, and as galactic archaeologists have worked to determine its true age (rude). The Milky Way has absorbed supermassive (an actual technical term) black holes, made enemies of a few galactic neighbors, and mourned the deaths of countless stars. Our home galaxy has even fallen in love. After all this time, the Milky Way finally feels that it's amassed enough experience for the juicy tell-all we've all been waiting for. Its fascinating autobiography recounts the history and future of the universe in accessible but scientific detail, presenting a summary of human astronomical knowledge thus far that is unquestionably out of this worldThe Scientific American book of the cosmos
By David Lévy. 2000
Leading scientists discuss the size, origin, and age of the universe in articles commissioned by Scientific American. Includes, among others,…
Albert Einstein on gravitation, David Levy and Eugene and Carolyn Shoemaker on the comet named for them, and Stephen Jay Gould on evolution. 2000Science projects about physics in the home (Science projects)
By Robert Gardner. 1999
Describes twenty-six experiments relating to the study of matter and energy. Suggests an appropriate site for each procedure, such as…
a living room, bedroom, kitchen, bathroom, or playground. Projects include finding your center of gravity, demonstrating Newton's third law in your bathtub, and vibrating rulers and strings. For grades 6-9. 1999Genesis: the story of Apollo 8 : the first manned flight to another world
By Robert Zimmerman. 1998
Recounts the flight of Apollo 8, the first manned vehicle to venture beyond Earth's orbit. Provides personal biographies of the…
three astronauts and assesses their accomplishment in the context of the Cold War and the turbulent political events of 1968. 1998Time lord: Sir Sandford Fleming and the creation of standard time
By Clark Blaise. 2001
Discusses concepts of time and the Scottish-born Canadian who conceived the standardization of world time into twenty-four zones. Concludes with…
the Prime Meridian Conference in Washington, D.C., in 1884. Explains Fleming's reasoning and the importance of worldwide acceptance of his proposals. 2000The adventures of Sojourner: the mission to Mars that thrilled the world
By Susi Trautmann Wunsch, Susi Wunsch, Jpl Staff. 1998
Describes the development of the microrover called Sojourner that would become the first mobile, remote control explorer of another planet.…
Tells the story of the Mars Pathfinder mission that landed on July 4, 1997, and the successful transmissions back to Earth. For grades 4-7Isaac Newton: the last sorcerer
By Michael White. 1997
Depicts Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727) as a scientist who researched the universe by studying biblical prophecy, astrology, and magic. Traces…
his youth in Grantham and years at Cambridge. Discusses how alchemy helped him to invent calculus, conceive the laws of motion and gravity, and investigate opticsThe elegant universe: superstrings, hidden dimensions, and the quest for the ultimate theory
By B Greene, Brian Greene. 1999
Explains research on the fundamental laws of the universe and the search for a single theory capable of describing all…
physical phenomena. Discusses the major achievements of physics since Einstein and Heisenberg. Summarizes special relativity, general relativity, quantum mechanics, and string theory. BestsellerThe physics of Christmas: from the aerodynamics of reindeer to the thermodynamics of turkey
By Roger Highfield. 1998
A British scientist probes the origins of Christmas and its trappings. Discusses icons and rituals. Topics range from "who was…
Santa?" to a history of gift giving, to an analysis of chocolate addiction, to an explanation of snowflakes' individuality. Speculates about future possibilities in "Christmas 2020."Riddle of the ice: a scientific adventure into the Arctic
By Myron Arms. 1998
Nautical adventure aboard a fifty-foot sailing cutter exploring the Arctic Ocean near Labrador. Perturbed by the large quantities of pack…
ice in the area in the summers of the early 1990s, the author investigates weather patterns and climate changes for explanationsVisions: how science will revolutionize the 21st century
By Michio Kaku. 1997
Predicts that a convergence of quantum physics, computer science, and biotechnology will revolutionize civilization in the twenty-first century. Avers that…
humans will shift from being "passive observers" to "active choreographers of Nature" in the processDescribes a universe of ten dimensions using a superstring theory of hyperspace that synthesizes relativity and quantum theories. Views the…
basic forces of the cosmos -- gravity, electromagnetism, and nuclear forces--as vibrations in a higher dimensional space, thus accounting for their varying mathematical descriptions. 1994.The physics of Star Trek
By Lawrence Maxwell Krauss, S. W Hawking. 1995
Krauss uses the original Star Trek television series (and its spinoffs) to explore concepts in physics, quantum mechanics, interstellar flight,…
and time travel, as he questions the possibility of "warp drives," "transporters," "wormholes," "phasers," and "holodecks," as well as extraterrestrial life. With a foreward by Stephen Hawking. 1995.The quark and the jaguar: adventures in the simple and the complex
By Murray Gell-Mann. 1994
Winner of the 1969 Nobel Prize in physics and founder of the Santa Fe Institute where scientists study adaptive systems,…
Gell-Mann sets forth his views on the behavior and makeup of the natural world and advocates changes that would improve and sustain the environment. He addresses quantum mechanics, biological selection, adaptive systems, and creative thinkingDreams of a final theory
By Steven Weinberg. 1992
A winner of the 1979 Nobel Prize for physics explains in lay language the scientific search for a "final theory"…
that would unify and explain the physical laws governing the universe. He speculates on the character of that theory and on what it might mean for humankind, including the question, "What about God?" c1992.Keeping watch: a history of American time
By Michael O'Malley. 1990
The author chronicles the interest in time that developed as early nineteenth-century America slowly linked up cities. O'Malley ponders the…
political and social implications of the move from farmers' almanacs to mechanical devices. But neither railroad schedules, punchclocks, efficiency experts, nor standard time zones can regulate the rituals of some groups who still defer to solar timeOrigins, revised and updated: Fourteen billion years of cosmic evolution
By Neil DeGrasse Tyson. 2022
Our true origins are not only human, or even terrestrial, but in fact cosmic. Drawing on recent scientific breakthroughs and…
crosspollination among geology, biology, astrophysics, and cosmology, Origins illuminates the soul-stirring leaps in our understanding of the cosmos. This revised and updated edition features such startling discoveries as the now more than 5,000 detected exoplanets that promise to reveal exciting possibilities for life in the cosmos, and data from a new generation of ground-based and spaceborne observatories that have fundamentally changed what we know about the expanding universe?and maybe even the laws of physics themselves. From the first image of a galaxy's birth to tantalizing evidence of water not only on Mars but also on the asteroid Ceres, as well as on moons of Jupiter and Saturn, coauthors Neil deGrasse Tyson and Donald Goldsmith conduct an exhilarating tour of the cosmos with clarity and exuberance