This popular book on special relativity was first published in Moscow back in 1961 under the Russian title ' ? , ', which can be roughly translated as 'Is it evident? No, it's unexplored yet!'This clear exposition of the history of the development of physical ideas which eventually led to the discovery of special relativity is a narration of how physicists, from Galileo, Newton to Lorentz, Poincare and Einstein were distracted in their reflections by numerous fallacies (like aether, dragged or not). Then by experiment, it was finally understood that the laws of cinematics and dynamics of the objects moving at high speed can only be formulated with physical definions for what is distance, time or force. After that and from the two basic Einstein postulates - the principle of relativity and the constancy of the speed of light - everything else followed.As the emphasis is on being exact from the scientific viewpoint, it is also accessible to any person with a high school background. The last chapter 'Photon dreams' is addressed to science fiction fans. However, the author proves to the disappointed reader that the laws of physics that we know do not allow the construction of spaceships that could reach even the nearest stars during the life span of the team.

Dawkin's militant atheism is well known; his profound faith less well known In this book, atheist philosopher Eric Steinhart explores the spiritual dimensions of Richard Dawkins' books, which are shown to encompass: * the meaning and purpose of life * an appreciation of Platonic beauty and truth * a deep belief in the rationality of the universe * an aversion to both scientism and nihilism As an atheist, Dawkins strives to develop a scientific alternative to theism, and while he declares that science is not a religion, he also proclaims it to be a spiritual enterprise. His books are filled with fragmentary sketches of this 'spiritual atheism', resembling a great unfinished cathedral. This book systematises and completes Dawkins' arguments and reveals their deep roots in Stoicism and Platonism. Expanding on Dawkins' ideas, Steinhart shows how atheists can develop powerful ethical principles, compelling systems of symbols and images, and meaningful personal and social practices. Believing in Dawkins is a rigorous and potent entreaty for the use of science and reason to support spiritually rich and optimistic ways of thinking and living.

Dieser Buchtitel ist Teil des Digitalisierungsprojekts Springer Book Archives mit Publikationen, die seit den Anfangen des Verlags von 1842 erschienen sind. Der Verlag stellt mit diesem Archiv Quellen fur die historische wie auch die disziplingeschichtliche Forschung zur Verfugung, die jeweils im historischen Kontext betrachtet werden mussen. Dieser Titel erschien in der Zeit vor 1945 und wird daher in seiner zeittypischen politisch-ideologischen Ausrichtung vom Verlag nicht beworben.

This book provides an in-depth and accessible description of special relativity and quantum mechanics which together form the foundation of 21st century physics. A novel aspect is that symmetry is given its rightful prominence as an integral part of this foundation. The book offers not only a conceptual understanding of symmetry, but also the mathematical tools necessary for quantitative analysis. As such, it provides a valuable precursor to more focused, advanced books on special relativity or quantum mechanics. Students are introduced to several topics not typically covered until much later in their education.These include space-time diagrams, the action principle, a proof of Noether's theorem, Lorentz vectors and tensors, symmetry breaking and general relativity. The book also provides extensive descriptions on topics of current general interest such as gravitational waves, cosmology, Bell's theorem, entanglement and quantum computing. Throughout the text, every opportunity is taken to emphasize the intimate connection between physics, symmetry and mathematics.The style remains light despite the rigorous and intensive content. The book is intended as a stand-alone or supplementary physics text for a one or two semester course for students who have completed an introductory calculus course and a first-year physics course that includes Newtonian mechanics and some electrostatics. Basic knowledge of linear algebra is useful but not essential, as all requisite mathematical background is provided either in the body of the text or in the Appendices. Interspersed through the text are well over a hundred worked examples and unsolved exercises for the student.

The aim of this book is to become a major reference text for gravitational-wave physics, covering in detail both the experimental and the theoretical aspects. It is the only existing book on gravitational waves to date, and it will likely remain unique for its broadness and scope. It brings the reader to the forefront of present-day research, both theoretical and experimental, assuming no previous knowledge of gravitational-wave physics. Part I of Volume 1 is devoted to the theory of gravitational waves. Here we have re-derived - in a coherent way - most of the results that we present, clarifying or streamlining existing derivations. Part II of Volume 1 is devoted to a description of experimental gravitational-wave physics. We discuss in great detail existing and planned experiments, as well as data analysis techniques.