Books in Physics Explained series

While the atom is universally acknowledged as the basis for most branches of physics, the study of its constituent particles has illuminated significant new areas of research. The behavior of subatomic particles provides crucial information on the structure and nature of atomic nuclei, which in turn reveal much about energy, matter, and often the origins of the universe. Complete with color diagrams and photographs, this volume elucidates the intricacies of this rapidly developing and always compelling field.

Many of the worlds most common processes and interactions are governed by the laws of thermodynamics and mechanics. While the transfer, release, or absorption of heat often accompany chemical reactions or seem inherent to mechanical systems, they are also familiar to anyone who has ever spent time outdoors on a warm day or touched a hot plate. Likewise, any physical bodylarge or small, solid or fluidis subject to a wide range of forces that trigger motion. This detailed compendium explores the foundations and laws of both thermodynamics and mechanics as well as the lives of those individuals who helped advance these fundamental areas of physics.

Audio and visual cues facilitate some of our most powerful sensory experiences and embed themselves deeply into our memories and subconscious. Sound and light waves interact with our ears and eyesour biological interpreterscreating a textural experience and relationship with the world around us. This well-researched volume explores the science behind acoustics and optics and the broad application they have to everything from listening to music and watching television to ultrasonic and laser technologies that are crucial to the medical field.

From our television sets to the magnets that dot our refrigerators, electricity and magnetism are ever-present in our everyday lives. Even aside from our modern technology, electrical charges can be found throughout naturethe most significant example being Earths magnetic field. This incisive volume includes extensive discussions of electrical and magnetic fields, as well as biographies of the physicists whose work has led to our greater understanding of them.

The study of matter is the study of all material things, as well as their ability to transform from one state to another. All matter assumes one of several basic statessolid, liquid, gas, and plasma being the most common. Under varying conditions, each state can be altered to form new substances or adopt new characteristics. This insightful book covers the various structures and elements of different types of matter, while examining the physical and chemical properties that allow for permutation and change.

Common to all matter and its smallest and most fundamental unit, the atom determines the properties of a substance and how it responds to other materials and stimuli. Dividing the atom further reveals several smaller particles whose activity forms the heart of nuclear physics. Readers will discover the structure of the atom as well as the ways in which its electrons, protons, and neutrons facilitate both radioactivity and nuclear reactions, both of which have been crucial to technological advancements since the 20th century.

The oft-referenced E = mc2 may perhaps be one of the worlds most famous equations, but it actually represents only one aspect of the complex branch of physics known as relativity. Together, relativity and quantum mechanics explain both the most cosmic and most elementary relationships and processes of the universe. The profound place that relativity and quantum mechanics occupy in subverting longstanding notions about space, time, matter, and more and the brilliant individuals who advanced study in these fields are the subjects of this volume.