Energy, the Subtle Concept - The discovery of Feynman's blocks from Leibniz to Einstein (Hardcover)

Energy is at the heart of physics (and of huge importance to society) and yet no book exists specifically to explain it, and in simple terms. In tracking the history of energy, this book is filled with the thrill of the chase, the mystery of smoke and mirrors, and presents a fascinating human-interest story. Following the history provides a crucial aid to understanding: this book explains the intellectual revolutions required to comprehend energy, revolutions as profound as those stemming from Relativity and Quantum Theory. Texts by Descartes, Leibniz, Bernoulli, d'Alembert, Lagrange, Hamilton, Boltzmann, Clausius, Carnot and others are made accessible, and the engines of Watt and Joule are explained.
Many fascinating questions are covered, including:
- Why just kinetic and potential energies - is one more fundamental than the other?
- What are heat, temperature and action?
- What is the Hamiltonian?
- What have engines to do with physics?
- Why did the steam-engine evolve only in England?
- Why S=klogW works and why temperature is IT.
Using only a minimum of mathematics, this book explains the emergence of the modern concept of energy, in all its forms: Hamilton's mechanics and how it shaped twentieth-century physics, and the meaning of kinetic energy, potential energy, temperature, action, and entropy. It is as much an explanation of fundamental physics as a history of the fascinating discoveries that lie behind our knowledge today.

General

Imprint:	Oxford UniversityPress
Country of origin:	United Kingdom
Release date:	July 2010
First published:	August 2010
Authors:	Jennifer Coopersmith
Dimensions:	220 x 144 x 31mm (L x W x T)
Format:	Hardcover
Pages:	416
ISBN-13:	978-0-19-954650-3
Categories:	Books > Science & Mathematics > Science: general issues > Philosophy of science Books > Science & Mathematics > Science: general issues > History of science Books > Science & Mathematics > Physics > Classical mechanics > General Books > Science & Mathematics > Physics > Thermodynamics & statistical physics > Statistical physics Promotions
LSN:	0-19-954650-9
Barcode:	9780199546503

Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate? Let us know about it.

Does this product have an incorrect or missing image? Send us a new image.

Is this product missing categories? Add more categories.

Review This Product

No reviews yet - be the first to create one!