No Wonder You Wonder!: Great Inventions and Scientific Mysteries

ISBN-13: 9783319216799 / Angielski / Miękka / 2015 / 331 str.

Claude Phipps; Friedel Wicke

Opis

This book explores and explains scientific mysteries and principles, leavened with tongue-in-cheek humor and an abundance of illustrations. Chapters are short, but give an understanding of technology and science not available elsewhere. Questions include: What holds a satellite up while it goes around the Earth? Why is the sky (made out of clear air ) blue instead of green, or just black as night like the sky that high altitude jumper Felix Baumgartner saw? How is laser light different from normal light? Did Columbus really discover that the Earth is round? Which one invention will assuredly survive our civilization? Why can t you travel back in time?If you often feel embarrassed because you don t have a clue about lasers, the difference between volts, amps and watts, or how jet planes really work but you would like to understand the physical principles of our modern world, whether you re a teen or a parent this book is for you To understand the basics of quantum mechanics, or of protons, neutrons and electrons, you don t need algebra, calculus, or a lot of equations or technical buzzwords. Too many people have been soured on science by science teachers who have made simple concepts seem complex. This book is the antidote: all it requires is your curiosity.Advance praise for No Wonder You Wonder : From beginning to end, and with laugh after laugh, I enjoyed every single word of this remarkable book. Phipps is a hell of a good writer, and the kind of physics teacher that I would have loved as a young student. No Wonder You Wonder can be engrossing for anyone with a bit of curiosity, not just the scientific minded. Christophe Bonnal, Chief Engineer, CNES (French Space Agency) No Wonder You Wonder is a fantastic book. Covering topics such as space, matter, and the energy within the universe, this book does an excellent job of clarifying these topics. It's a great read for young scientists and aspiring physicists. August R., high school freshman"

Recenzje

"Phipps' new book is kind of a rarity in the Springer list, which specializes in very academic and technical subjects ... . In the 331 pages, chock full of historical and contemporary prints, cartoons, photographs and charts and a number of illustrations by Friedelwolf Wicke, an Austrian collaborator, I could not find a dull moment in this compendium of instructive blurbs, insights, digressions and hard-won historical truths." (Roger Snodgrass, Los Alamos Daily Post, ladailypost.com, October, 2016)

Spis treści

Section I – Basics.- Preface.- Einstein Said.- Numbers.- Magic numbers.- Intro: Weird.- Metric system.- Exponentials.- Section II – Who Did it First?.- Preface.- China.- Greece.- Rome.- Islamic Science.- Section III – Modern Science and Engineering.- Preface.- Modern Science.- Blue/black sky .- Machines.- Lighter than Air Flight.- Electricity.- Robot Flight.- Jet Planes.- Rockets and Satellites.- Electromagnetic waves.- Electronics and Computers.- Biology.- Optics.- Lasers.- Nucleonics.- Section IV – Odds and Ends.- Religion.- Everything Else.

O autorze

Back in 1961, I decided on a career in science rather than history after hearing President Kennedy announce that we were going to the Moon. I am fascinated by all aspects of science, and a specialist in optics, plasma physics and laser-produced plasmas. I have B.S. and M.S. degrees from MIT and a Ph.D. from Stanford in electrical engineering, have worked in various National Labs for many years, and later formed my own company, Photonic Associates, in Santa Fe. While I am actually a “rocket scientist,” having designed and built laser driven plasma engines for spacecraft, I firmly believe that you don’t have to complete Grade 24 to understand how things work. Ernest Rutherford said “if you can’t explain your physics to a barmaid, it’s probably not very good physics,” and I agree with that sentiment. I want to help you get over your fear of numbers and science. Read this book and see if I’ve been successful!.