Physics, Chemistry All books
Roger Penrose
Fashion, Faith, and Fantasy in the New Physics of the Universe The Big Bang and the effect of fashion
Roger Penrose is a world-renowned theoretical physicist. The author of many books on cosmology, he is emeritus professor of mathematics at the University of Oxford.
Yuval Ne'eman, Yoram Kirsh
The Particle Hunters
In this book, Yuval Neeman and Yoram Kirsh recount the story of particle physics in the twentieth century. They explain how physicists first discovered the various levels of the atom and then tried to describe its structure, culminating in the most recent "standard model". Assuming that the readers knowledge of physics is limited to basic notions such as energy, mass, and electrical charge, the authors explain the theory of relativity and the fundamental principles of quantum mechanics, which have guided physicists in their search for the ultimate particles of matter. Yuval Neeman teaches theoretical physics at the University of Tel Aviv. Yoram Kirsh teaches physics at the Open University of Israel.
Maurice Jacob
At the Heart of the Matter
The study of elementary particle physics and high energies, undertaken in huge laboratories such as the accelerators of Stanford, Chicago, Brookhaven, CERN at Geneva, and Dubna et Serpukhov near Moscow, is one of the most astonishing scientific feats of the last half century. The field not only allows us to understand the composition of matter and the origin and evolution of the universe, but also helps prevent these scientific instruments being used as weapons of war. The Pugwash conferences, held between scientists of the East and West, won a Nobel Prize for this very reason. Maurice Jacob, the honorary director of the division of theoretical physics at CERN, recounts in this book how these objectives have been achieved. Maurice Jacob is a theoretical physician of elementary particles.
James Gleick
Genius: Richard Feynman and Modern Physics
Richard Feynman, Nobel Prize winner for his work on the description and calculation of interactions between particles, was a genius of our time. Quantum physics theoretician, enfant terrible of the Manhattan project and ascerbic critic of the investigative committee of the American space shuttle, Feynman left a profound impression on modern physics. James Gleick, a former journalist at The New York Times and author of the best-selling Chaos Theory, tells how Feynman's ideas were formed and how he reinvented particle physics. Through this portrait, Gleick explores the nature of genius itself and provides insight about the fascination that it engenders.
Michel Pinault
Frédéric Joliot-Curie
This is the first biography of Frédéric Joliot-Curie, the founder of French nuclear research and winner of the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1935. For many, he represents the political commitment of French intellectuals in the struggle against Fascism in the twentieth century. His life illustrates the transition from traditional science, limited to the world of academia, to Big Science, with major national and international repercussions. Michel Pinault holds an agrégation and a doctorate in history from the University of Paris I.
