From Clockwork to Crapshoot: A History of PhysicsScience is about 6000 years old while physics emerged as a distinct branch some 2500 years ago. As scientists discovered virtually countless facts about the world during this great span of time, the manner in which they explained the underlying structure of that world underwent a philosophical evolution. From Clockwork to Crapshoot provides the perspective needed to understand contemporary developments in physics in relation to philosophical traditions as far back as ancient Greece. |
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... protagonists , and descriptions of the new instruments that enabled scientists to make their discoveries . He traces a profound transformation from a deter- ministic explanation of the world- CONTINUED ON BACK FLAP $ 29.95.
... scientists, the book presents, whenever needed, brief explanations of the scientific issues involved, biographical thumbnail sketches of the protagonists, and descriptions of the changing instruments that enabled scientists to discover ...
... scientists , the book presents , whenever needed , brief explanations of the scientific issues involved , biographical thumbnail sketches of the protagonists , and descrip- tions of the changing instruments that enabled scientists to ...
... scientist , and his influence on later Greek de- velopments was profound . Just as Thales was not satisfied with solving certain specific geo- metrical problems without insight into the underlying principles , so he tried to understand ...
... scientists ( or , as they called themselves , physiologists ) , we find Con- fucius in China , who subsequently exerted an enormous , long - lasting influence . However , as Joseph Needham informs us in his magisterial Science and ...
Contents
1 | |
4 | |
11 | |
Science in the Middle Ages | 41 |
The First Revolution | 67 |
Newtons Legacy | 100 |
New Physics | 121 |
Relativity | 154 |
The Quantum Revolution | 210 |
Fields Nuclei and Stars | 248 |
The Properties of Matter | 279 |
The Constituents of the Universe | 290 |
Epilogue | 308 |
Notes | 313 |
Sources and Further Reading | 316 |
Index | 322 |