This work traces the evolution of the concept of electrical charge, from the earliest grow discharge to the final cathode ray and oil drop experiments of Thomson and Millikan that established the electron as the first fundamental particle in nature.

Heavy water played a sinister role in the race for nuclear energy during World War II. It was a key factor in Germany's bid to harness atomic energy primarily as a source of electric power; its acute shortage was a factor in Japan's decision not to pursue seriously nuclear weaponry; its very existence was a nagging thorn in the side of the Allied powers. This text concentrates on the circumstances whereby Norway became the pre-eminent producer of heavy water and on the scientific role the rare isotope of hydrogen played in the wartime efforts by the Axis and Allied powers alike.

"Blurb & Contents" "Copies of Onnes's or Meissner's lab notebooks--this is the stuff of science. This book is truly a tour de force. I cannot think of a single person working in the area of superconductivity who would not be totally absorbed by it." Materials & Design The first truly comprehensive history of superconductivity, from the first studies in the late 19th century to the present. It delves deeply into a largely undocumented early history, marked by H. Kamerlingh Onnes's first successes with mercury in 1911 and extending to the onset of World War II. Also encompasses materials...