| Order, Chaos Order: The Transition from Classical to Quantum Physics | Paperbackby Philip Stehle (Author)
| List Price: | $40.00 | |
| | Binding: | Paperback | | Publisher: | Oxford University Press, USA | | Page Count: | 336 Pages | | Publication Date: | February 03, 1994 | | Sales Rank: | 2,261,924nd |
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EDITORIAL REVIEWS |
Product Description
A book written for a wide audience of both students and general readers who are interested in exploring the ideas and experiments |
CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 4.5 based on 3 reviews)
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companion to segre by Alexander T. Gafford (Midland, Ga United States)  5 Stars
March 04, 2009
I am re-reading this book now and reminding myself how good it is. It covers the transitions from classical to quantum physics in about 300 well crafted pages. From Newton in the seventeen century to Heisenberg in the nineteen twenties, the author, emeritus physics professor at the University of Pittsburgh, explains the physics of this transition in terms understandable to the layperson but correct to those educated in mathematics and physics. He does this difficult task as well as I have ever seen by interleaving what he call amplifications inside his chapters that fill in the mathematical details and derivations. In the less mathematical sections Stehle is constantly covering what the physicists thought and why they thought the way they did.
It is interesting to compare this book with two likewise wonderful books by Emilio Segre "From Falling Bodies to Radio Waves" and "From X-rays to Quarks" which cover the same ground. Segre puts most of his mathematics in appendices which is OK but not as good. Segre really has more on the personality of the scientists and the personal relationships between them as well as more general historical context. Stehle has more explanation of the physics including, for example, a very concise and correct physical explanation of the modern formulation of Maxwell's equations that I continue to find helpful. The bibliography in Stehle is less comprehensive than in Segre but does have the useful feature of discussing which of the original papers of the time might be readable by a nonspecialist.
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The Story of Modern physics by Muzaffer Muctehitzade (Boston, Ma USA)  4 Stars
July 22, 2001
This is a very fine book for those who want to read about the step by step development of the Modern concepts in Physics, Relativity and Quantum Theory. Author in a descriptive way describes the concepts proposed by individuals how and where they failed and therfore the results that we know today. Although a general knowledge of Physics is required, hard mathematics is not required. For those interested a littel more about formalism, author has what he calls "Amplification" windows.Author takes us from Classical concepts through Relativity into Quantum Physics. There are key comparisons where the author explains how each Physicist interpreted fomulas and which one failed and why. From this you can see the different philosophical point of views. It is written intensly but no point seems to be missing
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Superb depiction of the scientific process at work. by Jeff Rosenberg (jlr@alum.mit.edu) (Leominster, MA, USA) 5 Stars
December 15, 1998
Excellent, very readable description of how quantum ideas developed and came to be accepted. Creates a real sense of "being there" as the old 19th century world view was shattered, and a new one created, including the motivating problems, the false steps, the confusions, the resistance, the inspirations, the battles, and the victories. Written for the interested general reader; technical content modest and well-explained. On the negative side, this edition is rife with typos and minor editorial goofs. Too many to ignore, but not enough to prevent it from being an excellent read.
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SIMILAR PRODUCTS |
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