Statile Glenn Editors (1 results)

Paperback. Condition: New. First Edition. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2003. First Edition. 8vo. Paperback, 708 pp. including index. "This anthology of primary readings chronicles the birth and maturation of five central physical theories the heliocentric theory, the electromagnetic field theory, special and general relativity, quantum theory, and the big bang theory -- in the words of the scientists who brought them to life. Readers sit in with Copernicus, Kepler, and Galileo as they overturn the geocentric universe; observe the genius of Faraday and Maxwell as they explore electromagnetic fields; look over Einstein's shoulder as he works out the details of relativity; listen in as Einstein and Bohr argue for the soul of quantum mechanics in the Completeness Debate; and watch as Hubble and others reveal the history of the universe. The editor's approach highlights the moments of discovery that rise from scientific creativity and the humanity of the scientific process; although each was ushered in by a revolution, and each contains counterintuitive elements that delayed its acceptance, these five theories exhibit a continuous rational development that has led them to a permanent place in the worldview of science. "This book is the result of an ambitious educational project to teach students by having them study original scientific texts selected with pedagogical shrewdness. It makes it possible for students to engage in actual scientific thinking and to do this almost entirely without mathematics and in the intellectual presence of great and imaginative creative scientists. There is no other work like it, and it has great appeal." Robert S. Cohen." A new book.