Einstein for dummies
Book - 2005
Saved in:
- Subjects
- Published
-
Hoboken, NJ :
Wiley Publishing
2005.
- Language
- English
- Main Author
- Physical Description
- xx, 364 p. : ill. ; 24 cm
- ISBN
- 9780764583483
- Introduction
- About This Book
- What You're Not to Read
- Foolish Assumptions
- How This Book Is Organized
- Icons Used in This Book
- Part I. A Genius Awakens
- Chapter 1. Who Was Einstein?
- Dissecting That Famous Brain
- Touring Einstein's Life
- Appreciating His Contributions
- Standing in Awe
- Chapter 2. Portrait of the Scientist as a Young Man
- Glimpsing Albert's Early Years
- Dropping Out of High School
- Spending a Great Year at a Swiss School
- Becoming a College Rebel
- Falling in Love Again
- Asserting His Independence
- Moving Forward
- Chapter 3. 1905: Einstein's Miracle Year
- Searching for Work
- The Botched-Up House of Physics
- Storming the Scientific World
- Part II. On the Shoulders of Giants: What Einstein Learned in School
- Chapter 4. A Clockwork Universe
- Introducing the First Astronomers
- Sowing the Seeds of Physics
- Battling with Mars: Later Astronomers
- Inventing Modern Science: Galileo
- Marveling at Newton's Miracle Year
- Developing Newtonian Physics
- Sharing Genius: Newton and Einstein
- Chapter 5. The Arrow of Time
- Identifying the Laws of Thermodynamics
- Following the Arrow of Time
- Bringing Einstein into the Equation
- Chapter 6. Einstein's Most Fascinating Subject
- Bringing Invisible Forces to Light
- Identifying Forces and Fields
- Sensing the Attraction Between Electricity and Magnetism
- Failing a Demo, and Changing Science
- Creating a Current
- The Great Scot: Appreciating Maxwell
- Creating T-shirt Equations
- Chapter 7. And There Was Light
- Trying to Measure the Speed of Light
- Proving Maxwell Right
- Creating a Theory of Colors
- Pitting Particles Against Waves
- Part III. The Special Theory of Relativity
- Chapter 8. Relativity Before Einstein
- Conducting the First Motion Experiments
- Establishing the Principle of Relativity
- Creating Another Relativity
- Identifying the Man Who Almost Discovered Relativity
- Chapter 9. Riding on a Beam of Light
- Accounting for the Ether
- Struggling with an Inconsistency
- Laying the Cornerstones of Relativity
- You See, Light Always Travels at c
- Making Physics Beautiful
- Chapter 10. Clocks, Trains, and Automobiles: Exploring Space and Time
- Your Time Is Not My Time
- Dilating Time
- Shortening Space
- Deciding If It's All Real
- Mixing Space and Time
- Making Interstellar Travel Possible
- Chapter 11. The Equation
- Bringing Mass into the Equation
- Choosing c[superscript 2]
- Formulating E = mc[superscript 2]
- Introducing Professor Einstein
- Part IV. The General Theory of Relativity
- Chapter 12. Einstein's Second Theory of Relativity
- The Happiest Thought of My Life
- Linking Acceleration in Space and on Earth
- Taking a Quantum Break
- Trying to Extend the Theory of Relativity
- Creating a New System of the World
- Becoming a Mainstream Celebrity
- Chapter 13. Black Holes Ain't So Black
- Finding the Geometry of Spacetime from Einstein's Field Equation
- Formulating the Black Hole Idea
- Studying Collapsing Stars
- Reviving Interest in Black Holes
- Starting the Hunt
- Understanding How the Universe Makes Black Holes
- So, What Is a Black Hole Anyway?
- Contemplating Time Travel
- Chapter 14. Was Einstein Right about Relativity?
- Conducting Early Tests of Relativity
- Confirming Gravity's Effects on Light
- Making GPS Accurate
- Measuring the Curvature of Spacetime
- So, Was He Right?
- Part V. The Quantum and the Universe
- Chapter 15. Atoms Before Einstein
- Proving the Reality of Atoms
- Understanding Atoms with a Grain of Salt
- Probing the Atom
- Discovering Quanta
- Exploring the Bohr Atom
- Chapter 16. Quantum Leap: God Plays Dice
- Discovering the Quantum
- Imagining Waves of Matter
- Discovering the New Mechanics of the Atom
- Contemplating Wave Mechanics
- Succumbing to the New Physics
- Chapter 17. Einstein and the Bomb
- Warning the President: Einstein's Letter
- Nuclear Physics in a Nutshell
- Discovering Nuclear Fission
- Making the Bomb
- Remaining a Pacifist
- Chapter 18. Einstein's Greatest Blunder
- Looking for the Edge of the Universe
- Calculating the Curvature of the Universe
- Einstein's Model of the Universe
- Watching the Universe Expand
- Chapter 19. Not a Blunder After All
- Reevaluating Einstein's Universe
- Exploring the Runaway Universe
- Reviving the Cosmological Constant: Einstein Was Right After All
- What Is the Cosmological Constant?
- Looking to Unify All of Physics
- Reviving Einstein's Dream
- Part VI. The Part of Tens
- Chapter 20. Ten Insights into Einstein's Beliefs on Religion and Philosophy
- Wrestling with Judaism
- Defining What It Means to Be Religious
- Reconciling Religion and Science
- Meeting Einstein's God
- Tracking the Development of Religion
- Holding On Tight to Determinism
- Reading Philosophy
- Defining Thinking
- Interpreting the Scientific Method
- Stating the Goals of Science
- Chapter 21. Ten Women Who Influenced Einstein
- Einstein's Mother, Pauline
- Einstein's Sister, Maja
- Einstein's First Wife, Mileva Maric
- Einstein's Daughter, Lieserl
- Einstein's Second Wife, Elsa
- Einstein's Stepdaughter Ilse
- Einstein's Stepdaughter Margot
- Einstein's Secretary, Helen Dukas
- Einstein's First Love, Marie Winteler
- Marie Curie
- Appendix A. Glossary
- Appendix B. Einstein Timeline
- Index