Let there be light : the story of light from atoms to galaxies /

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This book is the first of its kind to devote itself at this level to the key role played by light and electromagnetic radiation in the universe. Readers are introduced to philosophical hypotheses such as the economy, symmetry, and universality of natural laws, and are then guided to practical conseq...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Clasificación:Libro Electrónico
Autor principal: Montwill, Alex
Autor Corporativo: World Scientific (Firm)
Otros Autores: Breslin, Ann
Formato: Electrónico eBook
Idioma:Inglés
Publicado: London : Singapore : Imperial College Press ; Distributed by World Scientific, ©2008.
Temas:
Light.
Electromagnetic waves.
Physics > History.
Lumière.
Ondes électromagnétiques.
Physique > Histoire.
light (energy)
electromagnetic radiation.
SCIENCE > Physics > Optics & Light.
Electromagnetic waves
Light
Physics
History
Acceso en línea:Texto completo
Tabla de Contenidos:
  • Ch. 1. Introducing light. 1.1. The perception of light through the ages. 1.2. Colours. 1.3. Measuring the speed of light. 1.4. The process of vision. 1.5. The nature of light. 1.6. The birth of quantum mechanics
  • ch. 2. Geometrical optics: reflection. 2.1. Fermat's law. 2.2. Mirrors
  • ch. 3. Geometrical optics: refraction. 3.1. Refraction. 3.2. Lenses. 3.4. Objects and images: converging lenses. 3.5. Lens combinations. 3.6. The eye. 3.7. Making visible what the eye cannot see. 3.8. Combinations of lenses. 3.9. A final note on Fermat's principle
  • ch. 4. Light from afar
  • astronomy. 4.1. The earth. 4.2. The Moon. 4.3. Sizes and distances. 4.4. The planets. 4.5. The Copernican revolution. 4.6. After Copernicus. 4.7. The solar system in perspective
  • ch. 5. Light from the past
  • astrophysics. 5.1. The birth of astrophysics. 5.2. The methods of astrophysics. 5.3. Other stars and their 'solar systems'. 5.4. Reconstructing the past. 5.5. The life and death of a star
  • ch. 6. Introducing waves. 6.1 Waves
  • the basic means of communication. 6.2. The mathematics of a travelling wave. 6.3. The superposition of waves. 6.4. Applying the superposition principle. 6.5. Forced oscillations and resonance. 6.6. Resonance
  • a part of life. 6.7. Diffraction
  • waves can bend around corners. 6.8. The magic of sine and the simplicity of nature
  • ch. 7. Sound waves. 7.1. Sound and hearing. 7.2. Sound as a tool. 7.3. Superposition of sound waves. 7.4. Sound intensity. 7.5. Other sensations. 7.6. Strings and pipes in music. 7.7. The Doppler effect
  • ch. 8. Light as a wave. 8.1. Light as a wave. 8.2. Wave properties which do not make reference to a medium. 8.3. Specifically light. 8.4. Is there a limit to what we can distinguish? 8.5. Other electromagnetic waves. 8.6. Light from two sources. 8.7. Interference as a tool. 8.8. Thin films. 8.9. Diffraction gratings. 8.10. Other 'lights'. 8.11. Coherence. 8.12. Polarisation
  • ch. 9. Making images. 9.1. Creating images. 9.2. Holography
  • ch. 10. There was electricity, there was magnetism, and then there was light ... 10.1. The mystery of 'action at a distance'. 10.2. 'Fields of force'. 10.3. Magnetism. 10.4. Electrodynamics. 10.5. Getting electric charges to move with the help of magnetism. 10.6. Maxwell's synthesis. 10.7. Then there was light
  • ch. 11. 'Atoms of light'
  • the birth of quantum theory. 11.1. Emission of energy by radiation. 11.2. Classical theoretical models of the blackbody radiation spectrum. 11.3. Max Planck enters the scene. 11.4. Planck's 'act of despair'. 11.5. From an idea to a formula
  • the mathematical journey
  • ch. 12. The development of quantum mechanics. 12.1. The development of quantum mechanics. 12.2. Matrix mechanics. 12.3. Order does matter. 12.4. Wave mechanics. 12.5. Generalised quantum mechanics. 12.6. Quantum reality
  • ch. 13. Atoms of light acting as particles. 13.1. The photoelectric effect. 13.2. The Compton effect
  • more evidence
  • ch. 14. Atoms of light behaving as waves. 14.1. Photons one at a time. 14.2. Feynman's 'strange theory of the photon'
  • ch. 15. Relativity pt. 1: how it began. 15.1. Space and time. 15.2. 'Dogmatic rigidity'. 15.3. Looking for the ether. 15.4. Symmetry. 15.5. The first postulate. 15.6. The second postulate. 15.7. The fourth dimension. 15.8. A philosophical interlude
  • ch. 16. Relativity pt. 2: verifiable predictions. 16.1. Time dilation. 16.2. E = mc2, the most famous result of all. 16.3. The steps from symmetry to nuclear energy. 16.4. Working with relativity
  • ch. 17. Epilogue. 17.1. Making matter out of energy. 17.2. A unified theory of weak and electromagnetic forces.

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