From Newton to Hawking: A History of Cambridge University's Lucasian Professors of Mathematics

ISBN-13: 9780521663106 / Angielski / Twarda / 2003 / 516 str.

Kevin C. Knox

Opis

This social history of mathematics and physics tells the story of Cambridge University's mathematical physicists. The University's Lucasian Professorship of Mathematics is one of the world's most celebrated academic positions. Since its foundation in 1663, the chair has been held by seventeen men who represent some of the most influential minds in science and technology. This informative work offers new perspectives on such world-famous scientists as Isaac Newton, Charles Babbage, Paul Dirac, and Stephen Hawking.

Recenzje

'By revealing failures and foibles rather than telling conventional stories of truth and triumph, this book provides a multifaceted view of the past that places human beings centre-stage in science's history … these writers convincingly illustrate how even science's greatest heroes are idiosyncratic individuals enmeshed in a wide network of activists and interests … surprised and fascinated by the intricate cultural tapestry woven here.' Notes of Records of the Royal Society

Spis treści

List of illustrations; List of contributors; Foreword Stephen Hawking; Preface; Timeline of the Lucasian professorship; Introduction: 'Mind almost divine' Kevin C. Knox and Richard Noakes; 1. Isaac Barrow and the foundation of the Lucasian professorship Mordechai Feingold; 2. 'Very accomplished mathematician, philosopher, chemist': Newton as Lucasian professor Rob Iliffe; 3. Making Newton easy: William Whiston in Cambridge and London Stephen D. Snobelen and Larry Stewart; 4. Sensible Newtonians: Nicholas Saunderson and John Colson John Gascoigne; 5. The negative side of nothing: Edward Waring, Isaac Milner and Newtonian values Kevin C. Knox; 6. Paper and brass: the Lucasian professorship 1820–39 Simon Schaffer; 7. Arbiters of Victorian science: George Gabriel Stokes and Joshua King David B. Wilson; 8. 'That universal æthereal plenum': Joseph Larmor's natural history of physics Andrew Warwick; 9. Paul Dirac: the purest soul in an atomic age Helge Kragh; 10. Is the end in sight for the Lucasian chair? Stephen Hawking as Millennium Professor Hélène Mialet; Appendix. The statutes of the Lucasian professorship: a translation Ian Stewart; Index.