Questions of the fundamental nature of matter continue to inspire and engage our imagination. However, the exciting new concepts of strings, supersymmetry and exotic matter build on ideas that are well known to physicists but mysterious and puzzling to people outside of these research fields. Covering key conceptual developments from the last century, this book provides a background to the bold ideas and challenges faced by physicists today. Quantum theory and the Standard Model of particl...

**A master physicist and a self-taught scientist present the ultimate introduction to classical mechanics for people who are serious about learning physicsA New York Times BestsellerA Wall Street Journal Best Book of the Year“Beautifully clear explanations of famously ‘difficult’ things.” ―Wall Street Journal**If you ever regretted not taking physics in college – or simply want to know how to think like a physicist – this is the boo...

"It would be hard to imagine a better guide to this difficult subject." -- Scientific AmericanIn Three Roads to Quantum Gravity, Lee Smolin provides an accessible overview of the attempts to build a final "theory of everything." He explains in simple terms what scientists are talking about when they say the world is made from exotic entities such as loops, strings, and black holes and tells the fascinating stories behind these discoveries: the rivalries, epiphanie...

Learn about Einstein's theory of relativity from a physics Nobel laureate and "one of the greatest minds of the twentieth century" (New York Review of Books) in six memorable lessonsIt was Richard Feynman's outrageous and scintillating method of teaching that earned him legendary status among students and professors of physics. From 1961 to 1963, Feynman delivered a series of lectures at the California Institute of Technology that revolutionized the teachi...

The renowned physicist and New York Times –bestselling author introduces the nonscientific reader to the mind-bending world of quantum physics."God does not play dice with the universe."So said Albert Einstein in response to the first discoveries that launched quantum physics, as they suggested a random universe that seemed to violate the laws of common sense. This 20th-century scientific revolution compl...

Tough Test Questions? Missed Lectures? Not Enough Time?Fortunately for you, there's Schaum's.More than 40 million students have trusted Schaum's to help them succeed in the classroom and on exams. Schaum's is the key to faster learning and higher grades in every subject. Each Outline presents all the essential course information in an easy-to-follow, topic-by-topic format. You also get hundreds of examples, solved problems, and practice exercises to test yo...

The book gives a comprehensive introduction for interested general readers, into the development and structure of concepts, ideas and theory formation about the elementary building blocks of matter, the forces with which these particles interact and about the fundamental nature of space itself. Einsteins theory of the cosmos and the recent discovery of the presence of a dark energy which leads to an accelerated expansion of cosmic space, provide the background for the most astonishing rece...

This book is an account of my first encounter with Einstein's Special Relativity. It is inevitable that in trying to unravel the theory's logical inconsistencies I did not at first attempt succeed in correcting it. The logic does not stand the test of a detailed follow through. Our fundamental understanding of relativity in the universe is thus still waiting to be put right. Patience. (Feb. 2019)

The double-slit experiment has been widely discussed since the founding of quantum mechanics. Nearly all textbooks on quantum mechanics use the experiment to illustrate the wave-particle duality of light and matter. According to Richard Feynman, the double-slit experiment contains the only mystery of quantum mechanics. After we have unveiled the mystery, we will be able to understand quantum mechanics.What is the mystery then? The mystery lies in the explanation of the counterintui...

The pattern set nearly 70 years ago by Maxwell's Treatise on Electricity and Magnetism has had a dominant influence on almost every subsequent English and American text, persisting to the present day. The Treatise was undertaken with the intention of presenting a connected account of the entire known body of electric and magnetic phenomena from the single point of view of Faraday. Thus, it contained little or no mention of the hypotheses put forward on the Continent in earlier years by Rie...

Following on from the successful first (1984) and revised (1993) editions, this extended and revised text is designed as a short and simple introduction to quantum field theory for final year physics students and for postgraduate students beginning research in theoretical and experimental particle physics.The three main objectives of the book are to:Explain the basic physics and formalism of quantum field theoryTo make the reader proficient in theory calculations us...

The Theory of the Relativity of Motion In the field of physical science, there was a widespread feeling that the days of adventurous discovery had passed forever, and the conservative physicist was only too happy to devote his life to the measurement to the sixth decimal place of quantities whose significance for physical theory was already an old story. The passage of time, however, has completely upset such bourgeois ideas as to the state of physical science, t...