| Physical description |
xiv, 666 pages ; 25 cm |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographies and indexes. |
| Contents |
1 Purpose and plan 1 -- Part 1. 1895-1945: A History 33 -- 2 New kinds of rays 35 -- 3 From uranic rays to radioactivity 52 -- 4 First particle 67 -- 5 Interlude: earliest physiological discoveries 93 -- 6 Radioactivity's three early puzzles 103 -- 7 Pitfalls of simplicity 129 -- 8 [beta]-Spectra, 1907-1914 142 -- 9 Atomic structure and spectral lines 163 -- 10 'It was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity' 208 -- 11 Nuclear physics' tender age 221 -- 12 Quantum mechanics, an essay 244 -- 13 First encounters with symmetry and invariance 265 -- 14 Nuclear physics: the age of paradox 296 -- 15 Quantum fields, or how particles are made and how they disappear 324 -- 16 Battling the infinite 360 -- 17 In which the nucleus acquires a new constituent, loses an old one, reveals new forces with new symmetries, and is explored by new experimental methods 397 -- Part 2 Postwar Years: A Memoir 445 -- 18 Of quantum electrodynamics' triumphs and limitations and of a new particle's sobering impact 447 -- 19 In which particle physics enters the era of big machines and big detectors and pion physics goes through ups and downs 471 -- 20 Onset of an era: new forms of matter appear, old symmetries crumble 511 -- 21 Essay on modern times: 1960-83 550 -- 22 Being a conclusion that starts as epilog and ends as prolog 621 -- Appendix A synopsis of this book in the form of a chronology 627. |
| Summary |
Abraham Pais offers us this history of the physics of matter and physical forces since the discovery of x-rays. He relates not only what has happened over the last one-hundred years, but also why it happened the way it did, the experiences of the scientists involved, and how a series of seemingly bizarre or unrelated occurrences has emerged as a logical sequence of discoveries and events. Personally involved in many of the developments described, he provides unique insights into the world of big and small physics, revealing how the smallest distances explored between 1895 and 1983 have shrunk a hundred millionfold. Along this "road inward," scientists have made developments that later generations will rank among the principal monuments of the twentieth century. |
| Subject |
Physics -- History -- 20th century.
|
| ISBN |
0198519710 (alkaline paper) |
|
0198519974 (paperback) |
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