Maxwell's Enduring Legacy: A Scientific History of the Cavendish Laboratory

ISBN-13: 9781107083691 / Angielski / Twarda / 2016 / 650 str.

Malcolm Longair

Opis

An authoritative scientific history of a world-leading physics laboratory from its origins in the late nineteenth century to the present day.

Recenzje

'Besides the accuracy of the scientific descriptions and the sharpness of the ideas, this book inaugurates a useful compromise that might inspire future science historians … the history of the Cavendish shows that lasting progress can come from diversity of opinion, the inclusiveness of practices and mutual respect between fundamental sciences. How can we sum up the secret of the scientific successes described in this book? A tentative recipe might be unity in necessary things, freedom in doubtful ones and respect for every honest scientific endeavour.' Massimo Giovannini, CERN Courier

Spis treści

Preface; Acknowledgements; Figure credits; Part I. To 1874: 1. Physics in the nineteenth century; 2. Mathematics and physics in Cambridge in the nineteenth century; Part II. 1874 to 1879: 3. The Maxwell era; Part III. 1879 to 1884: 4. Rayleigh's Quinquennium; Part IV. 1884 to 1919: 5. The challenges facing J. J. Thomson; 6. The J. J. Thomson era, 1884–1900 - the electron; 7. The Thomson era, 1900–19 - atomic structure; Part V. 1919 to 1937: 8. Rutherford at McGill and Manchester Universities - new challenges in Cambridge; 9. The Rutherford era - the radioactivists; 10. Rutherford era - the seeds of the new physics; Part VI. 1938 to 1953: 11. Bragg and the war years; 12. Bragg and the post-war years; Part VII. 1953 to 1971: 13. The Mott era - an epoch of expansion; 14. The Mott era - radio astronomy and high energy physics; 15. The Mott era - the growth of condensed matter physics; Part VIII. 1971 to 1982: 16. The Pippard era - a new laboratory and a new vision; 17. The Pippard era - radio astronomy, high energy physics and laboratory astrophysics; 18. The Pippard era - condensed matter physics; Part IX. 1984 to 1995: 19. The Edwards era - a new epoch of expansion; 20. The Edwards era - new directions in condensed matter physics; 21. The Edwards era - high energy physics and radio astronomy; Part X. 1995 to present: 22. Towards the new millennium and beyond; 23. The evolution of the New Museums site; Notes; Bibliography; Author index; Index.