Anxiety and the Equation
Title | Anxiety and the Equation PDF eBook |
Author | Eric Johnson |
Publisher | MIT Press |
Total Pages | 193 |
Release | 2022-11-01 |
Genre | Science |
ISBN | 0262546612 |
A man and his equation: the anxiety-plagued nineteenth-century physicist who contributed significantly to our understanding of the second law of thermodynamics. Ludwig Boltzmann's grave in Vienna's Central Cemetery bears a cryptic epitaph: S = k log W. This equation was Boltzmann's great discovery, and it contributed significantly to our understanding of the second law of thermodynamics. In Anxiety and the Equation, Eric Johnson tells the story of a man and his equation: the anxiety-plagued nineteenth-century physicist who did his most important work as he struggled with mental illness. Johnson explains that “S” in Boltzmann's equation refers to entropy, and that entropy is the central quantity in the second law of thermodynamics. The second law is always on, running in the background of our lives, providing a way to differentiate between past and future. We know that the future will be a state of higher entropy than the past, and we have Boltzmann to thank for discovering the equation that underlies that fundamental trend. Johnson, accessibly and engagingly, reassembles Boltzmann's equation from its various components and presents episodes from Boltzmann's life—beginning at the end, with “Boltzmann Kills Himself” and “Boltzmann Is Buried (Not Once, But Twice).” Johnson explains the second law in simple terms, introduces key concepts through thought experiments, and explores Boltzmann's work. He argues that Boltzmann, diagnosed by his contemporaries as neurasthenic, suffered from an anxiety disorder. He was, says Johnson, a man of reason who suffered from irrational concerns about his work, worrying especially about opposition from the scientific establishment of the day. Johnson's clear and concise explanations will acquaint the nonspecialist reader with such seemingly esoteric concepts as microstates, macrostates, fluctuations, the distribution of energy, log functions, and equilibrium. He describes Boltzmann's relationships with other scientists, including Max Planck and Henri Poincaré, and, finally, imagines “an alternative ending,” in which Boltzmann lived on and died of natural causes.
The Physics of Energy
Title | The Physics of Energy PDF eBook |
Author | Robert L. Jaffe |
Publisher | Cambridge University Press |
Total Pages | 897 |
Release | 2018-01-25 |
Genre | Science |
ISBN | 1107016657 |
A comprehensive and unified introduction to the science of energy sources, uses, and systems for students, scientists, engineers, and professionals.
Exploring Black Holes
Title | Exploring Black Holes PDF eBook |
Author | Edwin F. Taylor |
Publisher | |
Total Pages | 0 |
Release | 2008 |
Genre | Black holes (Astronomy) |
ISBN | 9780321512864 |
Modern Electrodynamics
Title | Modern Electrodynamics PDF eBook |
Author | Andrew Zangwill |
Publisher | Cambridge University Press |
Total Pages | 1005 |
Release | 2013 |
Genre | Science |
ISBN | 0521896975 |
An engaging writing style and a strong focus on the physics make this graduate-level textbook a must-have for electromagnetism students.
American Journal of Physics
Title | American Journal of Physics PDF eBook |
Author | |
Publisher | |
Total Pages | 676 |
Release | 2001 |
Genre | American physics teacher |
ISBN |
Energy Research Abstracts
Title | Energy Research Abstracts PDF eBook |
Author | |
Publisher | |
Total Pages | 1038 |
Release | 1979 |
Genre | Power resources |
ISBN |
Open Access
Title | Open Access PDF eBook |
Author | Peter Suber |
Publisher | MIT Press |
Total Pages | 255 |
Release | 2012-07-20 |
Genre | Language Arts & Disciplines |
ISBN | 0262517639 |
A concise introduction to the basics of open access, describing what it is (and isn't) and showing that it is easy, fast, inexpensive, legal, and beneficial. The Internet lets us share perfect copies of our work with a worldwide audience at virtually no cost. We take advantage of this revolutionary opportunity when we make our work “open access”: digital, online, free of charge, and free of most copyright and licensing restrictions. Open access is made possible by the Internet and copyright-holder consent, and many authors, musicians, filmmakers, and other creators who depend on royalties are understandably unwilling to give their consent. But for 350 years, scholars have written peer-reviewed journal articles for impact, not for money, and are free to consent to open access without losing revenue. In this concise introduction, Peter Suber tells us what open access is and isn't, how it benefits authors and readers of research, how we pay for it, how it avoids copyright problems, how it has moved from the periphery to the mainstream, and what its future may hold. Distilling a decade of Suber's influential writing and thinking about open access, this is the indispensable book on the subject for researchers, librarians, administrators, funders, publishers, and policy makers.