Magick, Mayhem and Mavericks

Science populariser Cathy Cobb takes a unique approach to explaining the concepts of physical chemistry by telling the story of the geniuses and eccentrics who made groundbreaking discoveries in this fascinating field that bridges chemistry, physics, and mathematics. The result is entertaining and illuminating. Her tale is about the colourful varieties of human character as well as the struggles to understand the workings of the material world. Through true stories of rebels, recluses, heroes, and rogues, she helps the reader to discover how one idea built upon another and how an elegant discipline arose out of centuries of difficult trial and error. Starting with the ancient Greeks, Cobb takes the reader on a sweeping tour of history. She shows how an understanding of basic chemical properties gradually arose out of ancient Greeks mathematics, Muslim science, medieval 'magick', and the healing arts. Her tour continues through the scientific revolution, the emergence of physical chemistry as an independent discipline, and up to the present. Today, physical chemists contribute to the fields of chemical physiology, chemical oscillations and waves, quantum mechanics, and the curious and promising field of nanotechnology. This absorbing, eloquently written history of science is loaded with intuitive imagery, everyday analogies, and a colourful cast of characters who are guaranteed to entertain as well as edify.

ISBN 157392976X   Pages 420 ISBN13 9781573929769 (What's this?)   Volumes 1 Publisher Prometheus Books   Weight (grammes) 771 Imprint Prometheus Books   Published in Amherst Format Hardback   Height (mm) 230 Publication date 20 Nov 2002   Width (mm) 155 Library of Congress 2002070511   Spine width (mm) 38 DEWEY 541.309   Academic level General DEWEY edition DC21

		Acknowledgments		9
		To My Physical Chemistry Kindred		11
		Preface		13
		Introduction		17
Pt. I		Aristotle and the Ancients: Mathematics, Motion, and Machines
1		The Ancients: Heavenly Geometry		27
2		Aristotle: Touching Earth		35
3		The Arabs: Mohammedan Amalgamation		45
4		Medieval Magick and Renaissance Revival: Finding the Force		53
5		The Merchants: Mathematics of Money and Machines of War		63
Pt. II		The European Scientific Revolution: The Passionate Pursuit of Order
6		Mathematics: The First Wave		80
7		Physics: The First Wave		92
8		Chemistry: The First Wave		101
9		Mathematics and Physics: Wave after Wave		111
10		Lavoisier: The Chemical Tsunami		121
Pt. III		The First Atomic Wars: Dalton to Perrin
11		Dalton's Diminutive Friends: An Atomic Theory		138
12		Thermodynamics: The Warmth and How It Spreads		147
13		Gnats in Sunbeams: Kinetic Theory of Gases		157
14		Statistical Mechanics: Maxwell's Demon and Boltzmann's Dream		166
15		Thermochemistry: Willard Gibbs and the Quiet Insurrection		177
16		Atoms or Not? The Test of Jean Perrin		186
Pt. IV		Physics and Chemistry Come to Light: Spectroscopy to Quantum Mechanics
17		Spectroscopy: Rainbows from the Sun		198
		More...

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