The Discovery of Subatomic Particles Revised Edition

In this absorbing commentary on the discovery of the atom's constituents, Steven Weinberg accomplishes a brilliant fusion of history and science. This is in effect two books, cleverly interwoven. One is an account of a sequence of key events in the physics of the twentieth century, events that led to the discoveries of the electron, proton and neutron. The other is an introduction to those fundamentals of classical physics that played crucial roles in these discoveries. Physical concepts are introduced where needed to understand the historical story, and each new concept builds on physics already explained. Throughout the book, connections are shown between the historic discoveries of subatomic particles and work today at the frontiers of physics. A final chapter describes the discoveries of new elementary particles up to the present day.

ISBN 052182351X   Pages 222 ISBN13 9780521823517 (What's this?)   Volumes 1 Publisher Cambridge University Press   Weight (grammes) 517 Imprint Cambridge University Press   Published in Cambridge Format Hardback   Previous ISBN 9780140175417 Publication date 01 Sep 2003   Height (mm) 228 Non-book description xvi, 206 p. :   Width (mm) 152 Library of Congress QC793.2 .W44 2003   Spine width (mm) 20 DEWEY 539.72   Academic level General, Tertiary education DEWEY edition DC21

		Preface
		Preface to Revised Edition
1		A World of Particles		1
2		The Discovery of the Electron		9
3		The Atomic Scale		67
4		The Nucleus		94
5		More Particles		145
App. A		Newton's Second Law of Motion		160
App. B		Electric and Magnetic Deflection of Cathode Rays		161
App. C		Electric Fields and Field Lines		163
App. D		Work and Kinetic Energy		166
App. E		Energy Conversation in Cathode-Ray Experiments		168
App. F		Gas Properties and Boltzmann's Constant		169
App. G		Millikan's Oil-Drop Experiment		174
App. H		Radioactive Decay		178
App. I		Potential Energy in the Atom		182
App. J		Rutherford Scattering		184
App. K		Momentum Conservation and Particle Collisions		188
		Tables		192
		Notes for Further Reading		195
		Sources of Illustrations		197
		Index		199

From reviews of the first edition: 'Weinberg ... is no stranger to explaining abstruse science in a clear and engaging fashion to the general public, which is precisely what he does here. The building blocks of matter - from electrons all the way down to muons, pions, hadrons, and the charmed quark - become, in his hands, so much intellectual putty.' The Boston Globe 'One cannot fail to be touched by it.' New Scientist 'It is a happy fact that some of the greatest scientists have been skilled expositors of their subject for nonscientific audiences. Einstein, Eddington, and Feynman come to mind. Steven Weinberg, a Nobel Laureate and brilliantly contemporary theorist, belongs in this company ... It is ideally suited to inspire a next generation of physicists.' American Journal of Physics 'A beautiful example of a new approach with which the nonscientist can attain literacy in physics.' Physics Today 'Weinberg takes the reader through a brief history of electric forces from Coulomb to Faraday, enabling him to calculate the deflection from first principles. This is a remarkably painless and successful way to teach the basic ideas of physics ... The book, with its splendid photographs ... is authentically Weinberg - very much reminiscent of his earlier brilliant exposition The First Three Minutes.' The Times 'It succeeds not only in presenting many of the important results of modern and classical physics but also in giving a flavor of how physics was done in the19th and 20th centuries.' Science 'A gem ... what it provides is a lively, personal and authoritative account of the way scientists found out about matter ... it is a very good read, combining lively informal syntheses of basic physics with solid quantitative science ...'. Astronomy & Geophysics 'This excellent book can be warmly recommended to the general reader.' Contemporary Physics 'I have been an admirer of this book since its first edition 20 years ago, and have recommended it on many courses for the general public, where people might be making their first encounter not only with particle physics but with physics itself ... I'm pleased the book is back in print and shall certainly continue to recommend it.' CERN Courier

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