Symmetry Rules: How Science and Nature Are Founded on Symmetry

ISBN-13: 9783540759720 / Angielski / Twarda / 2008 / 305 str.

Joseph Rosen

Opis

Ernest Rutherford (New Zealand British physicist, 1871 1937), the 1908 Nobel Laureate who discovered the existence of atomic nuclei, is famously quoted as having said: Physics is the only real science. All the rest is butter?y collecting. Or something to that e?ect. I like to include this quote in my introductory remarks at the ?rst class meetings of the physics courses I teach. I have seen that there are those whointerpret this as a put-down of amateurs (butter?y collectors) in science. However, my own interp- tation of Rutherford s statement is that he is claiming that, except for physics, all of the rest of science is involved merely in collecting facts and classifying them (butter?y collecting). It is physics, uniqueamong the sciences, that is attempting to ?nd explanations for the classi?ed data. The periodic table of the chemical elements, originally proposed by DmitriIvanovichMendeleev(Russianchemist,1834 1907), presentsan example of this. Chemists toiled to discover the chemical elements and their properties and then classi?ed the elements in the scheme that is expressed by the periodic table. Here was the chemists butter?y collecting. It took physicists to explaintheperiodictablebymeansof quantum theory."

Recenzje

From the reviews:

"Symmetry Rules is a sophisticated monograph based on the special personal perspective of theoretical physicist Rosen ... . The fundamental notion is that nature may be broken into isolated systems, and that nature may be understood as the sum of its parts. ... The book includes a detailed presentation of group theory, which lends a distinctive view of nature. ... This book belongs in good college libraries. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduate through professional collections." (K. L. Schick, CHOICE, Vol. 46 (01), September, 2008)

Spis treści

The Concept of Symmetry.- Science Is Founded on Symmetry.- Symmetry in Physics.- The Symmetry Principle.- Application of Symmetry.- Approximate Symmetry, Spontaneous Symmetry Breaking.- Cosmic Considerations.- The Mathematics of Symmetry: Group Theory.- Group Theory Continued.- The Formalism of Symmetry.- Symmetry in Processes.- Summary of Principles.

O autorze

A theoretical physicist, Joe Rosen was for many years a member of the School of Physics and Astronomy of Tel Aviv University and also served as chair of the Department of Physics and Astronomy of the University of Central Arkansas. He has authored or edited eleven books, and many of his publications have dealt with various aspects of symmetry in physics and in science. Now semi-retired from academe, Joe Rosen is involved in research, writing, and physics teaching as adjunct professor at universities and colleges in the Washington DC area.

Blurb

When we use science to describe and understand the world around us, we are in essence grasping nature through symmetry. In fact, modern theoretical physics suggests that symmetry is a, if not the, foundational principle of nature. Emphasizing the concepts, this book leads the reader coherently and comprehensively into the fertile field of symmetry and its applications. Among the most important applications considered are the fundamental forces of nature and the Universe. It is shown that the Universe cannot possess exact symmetry, which is a principle of fundamental significance. Curie's principle - which states that the symmetry of the effect is at least that of the cause - features prominently. An introduction to group theory, the mathematical language of symmetry, is included. This book will convince all interested readers of the importance of symmetry in science. Furthermore, it will serve as valuable background reading for all students in the physical sciences.