Seven Ideas That Shook the Universe: Unbound

By Nathan Spielberg and Byron D. Anderson

Book Overview

Is there an objective world, or is everything relative? Do matter, time and space change, or do they remain constant everywhere in the universe? Is there always a relationship between cause and effect, or do some things "just happen?" Many of our basic ideas about the world have been shaped by science--but seldom are such discoveries accepted easily or willingly. Here are seven of the most important ideas in physics--ideas that shattered the assumptions of dogmatists, philosophers and scientists--explained simply and elegantly. And you don't need a background in mathematics or science to enjoy this fascinating book. Seven Ideas That Shook the Universe explores the history of seven important themes in physics: Copernican astronomy, Newtonian mechanics, energy and entropy, relativity, quantum theory, and conservation principles and symmetries. Together these discoveries form the foundation of our understanding of the physical world. Nathan Spielberg and Bryon Anderson explain each concept in a simple, straightforward narrative style, considering each in the context of its times and assessing its impact on the way we think about time, space, matter, even existence itself. For the science lover and the intellectually curious, Seven Ideas That Shook the Universe brings the drama of scientific discovery to vivid life.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0471848166
• ISBN13: 9780471848165
• Release Date: January 1987
• Publisher: Wiley
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 1.00 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.9" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

a little MAGNUM OPUS..the condensed essentials of science: a SUMMA SCIENTIFICA

"Seven Ideas that Shook the Universe" by Nathan Spielberg and Byron D. Anderson. **** YOU GOTTA GET THIS BOOK!!!*** This wonderful book by two Kent University Physicists is a marvel. It is unheralded, but stunning. I found it while browsing a book store. Did you ever scan a book's pages, and find a single page that contained something so profoundly interesting that you decided you had to buy the book? This book had a page that said, "Bruce, Buy ME!" So I did. Look, I'm not a college graduate or anything, but lately I've been very curious about reading about Physics and Science. This 263 page little beauty was written as an introduction to science for university students pursuing a liberal education; but the authors took out the collegiate questions at the end of the chapters...you know, all that stupid crap they ask, like you were actually supposed to care? Then the authors did some more writing and editing and made a book that rivets my attention to every page. ***** IT IS NON-MATHEMATICAL ******* Okay, so I don't know calculus either,.....well, okay, what I know about algebra wouldn't impress a 6th grader, but, Hey, no problem, these guys write about PHYSICS in a "descriptive" style, so that all us NON-MATHEMATICIANS can follow the intelligent discussion of concepts. In fact, even "Scientific American" minimizes the use of mathematics so that the general public can follow it's articles. Authors SPIELBERG & ANDERSON point out that Graphs can replace mathematics for readers like me; It is only when the scientist "applies" the laws in technology that the complex math becomes necessary. So this book uses graphs and analogies to avoid mathematical formulas. ALLRIGHT! Fast Food Physics and I'll have a #3 with extra lettuce & tomato! You've got to thumb through these pages to see the excellent, yet simple diagrams used to illustrate the "Seven Ideas". **** SCOPE & BOUNDARY...or MY BOYS DID THEIR HOMEWORK , or....WHY PAGE 11 MADE ME BUY THIS BOOK**** I've reviewed several books written by "scientists" who publish entire books on "theological" [God] matters in the name of Science. Such books blur the boundary between Science & Theology, or even philosophy and create much confusion as to the nature of Science itself. In this book, SPIELBERG & ANDERSON clear up the confusion on page 11: "...science cannot serve as a guide to human behavior, morality, and will, other than to specify what physical actions are rationally possible. In addition, science cannot logically address the question of the ultimate reason for the existence of the universe at all.....". top of p.11, INTRODUCTION Then my boys go on (on p. 11) to clarify the relationship between philosophy, metaphysics, and science, and also the distinction between Science and Technology. We really need more books like this. The same ideas were established by the Greeks over 2,000 years ago when they made the distinctions between LOGOS & MYTHOS, or PHYSICS & METAPHYSICS and so f

7 Ideas That Shook the Universe by Spielberg

The author discusses some very complex scientific concepts in simple English. These concepts are the following: - Earth is not the center of the Universe - Newton's laws of motion - Energy and entropy - the relativity of space and time - quantum theory and causality limits - symmetry The author discusses the notion that energy can neither be created nor destroyed. In addition, there is a fine distinction between kinetic energy and momentum. Kinetic energy is a scalar concept ; whereas, momentum is a vectorial concept because of the element of direction. The Copernican theory is that planets travel in circular paths. Kepler explained that planetary orbits are in an elliptical path in relation to the Sun. The work attempts to unite all of science into a simple model based upon the considerable work of Copernicus, Kepler, Newton, Einstein and others over the past millenia. The book is a goldmine for students of science everywhere. It is well worth the cost for the considerable value of the information content.

This is an excellent layman account of physical development.

The book "Seven Ideas that Shook the Universe" covers the developement in the field of physics in a very comprehensive way. The authors have divided these developements into seven periods which are termed as the seven ideas. The author have employed a descriptive aproach rather than mathematical expressions. The first idea is the "Copernician Astronomy" which covers the early developements of classical physics especially astrophysics. The second idea is the "Newtonian Physics" which covers the contributions made by Sir Isaac Newton and other scientists of his time in classical physics. Next comes "the concept of heat" which covers early developements in Thermodynamics. "Entropy" is the next topic which also covers the thermodynamics. Next is the "quantum mechanics" which was our fist approach towards modern physics. The sixth idea is the "theory of relativity" which covers the special and general theories of relativity as presented by Albert Einstein. This theory revolutionized the field of physics and laid foudation stones of modern physics. The seventh and the last topic is the "Symmetry and other Modern concepts" which covers the recent advancements in modern physics including field theory, conservation laws, symmetry, virtual quantas, fundemental atomic particles and Quark Model. The authors of the book give a very comprehensive review of the developements in physics in a story like manner.