Ethics and the Atom PDF Download

Author: United States. Congress. House. Committee on Science, Space, and Technology. Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 108

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Author: George T. Mazuzan
Publisher: Univ of California Press
ISBN: 9780520051829
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 556

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Author: David Lindley
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1501142674
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 264

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In 1900 many eminent scientists did not believe atoms existed, yet within just a few years the atomic century launched into history with an astonishing string of breakthroughs in physics that began with Albert Einstein and continues to this day. Before this explosive growth into the modern age took place, an all-but-forgotten genius strove for forty years to win acceptance for the atomic theory of matter and an altogether new way of doing physics. Ludwig Boltz-mann battled with philosophers, the scientific establishment, and his own potent demons. His victory led the way to the greatest scientific achievements of the twentieth century. Now acclaimed science writer David Lindley portrays the dramatic story of Boltzmann and his embrace of the atom, while providing a window on the civilized world that gave birth to our scientific era. Boltzmann emerges as an endearingly quixotic character, passionately inspired by Beethoven, who muddled through the practical matters of life in a European gilded age. Boltzmann's story reaches from fin de siècle Vienna, across Germany and Britain, to America. As the Habsburg Empire was crumbling, Germany's intellectual might was growing; Edinburgh in Scotland was one of the most intellectually fertile places on earth; and, in America, brilliant independent minds were beginning to draw on the best ideas of the bureaucratized old world. Boltzmann's nemesis in the field of theoretical physics at home in Austria was Ernst Mach, noted today in the term Mach I, the speed of sound. Mach believed physics should address only that which could be directly observed. How could we know that frisky atoms jiggling about corresponded to heat if we couldn't see them? Why should we bother with theories that only told us what would probably happen, rather than making an absolute prediction? Mach and Boltzmann both believed in the power of science, but their approaches to physics could not have been more opposed. Boltzmann sought to explain the real world, and cast aside any philosophical criteria. Mach, along with many nineteenth-century scientists, wanted to construct an empirical edifice of absolute truths that obeyed strict philosophical rules. Boltzmann did not get on well with authority in any form, and he did his best work at arm's length from it. When at the end of his career he engaged with the philosophical authorities in the Viennese academy, the results were personally disastrous and tragic. Yet Boltzmann's enduring legacy lives on in the new physics and technology of our wired world. Lindley's elegant telling of this tale combines the detailed breadth of the best history, the beauty of theoretical physics, and the psychological insight belonging to the finest of novels.

Author: Dalai Lama
Publisher: Harmony
ISBN: 0767920813
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 226

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Galileo, Copernicus, Newton, Niels Bohr, Einstein. Their insights shook our perception of who we are and where we stand in the world, and in their wake have left an uneasy coexistence: science vs. religion, faith vs. empirical inquiry. Which is the keeper of truth? Which is the true path to understanding reality? After forty years of study with some of the greatest scientific minds, as well as a lifetime of meditative, spiritual, and philosophic study, the Dalai Lama presents a brilliant analysis of why all avenues of inquiry—scientific as well as spiritual—must be pursued in order to arrive at a complete picture of the truth. Through an examination of Darwinism and karma, quantum mechanics and philosophical insight into the nature of reality, neurobiology and the study of consciousness, the Dalai Lama draws significant parallels between contemplative and scientific examinations of reality. This breathtakingly personal examination is a tribute to the Dalai Lama’s teachers—both of science and spirituality. The legacy of this book is a vision of the world in which our different approaches to understanding ourselves, our universe, and one another can be brought together in the service of humanity.

Author: Richard Barry Bernstein
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 1461329132
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 785

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The broad field of molecular collisions is one of considerable current interest, one in which there is a great deal of research activity, both experi mental and theoretical. This is probably because elastic, inelastic, and reactive intermolecular collisions are of central importance in many of the fundamental processes of chemistry and physics. One small area of this field, namely atom-molecule collisions, is now beginning to be "understood" from first principles. Although the more general subject of the collisions of polyatomic molecules is of great im portance and intrinsic interest, it is still too complex from the viewpoint of theoretical understanding. However, for atoms and simple molecules the essential theory is well developed, and computational methods are sufficiently advanced that calculations can now be favorably compared with experimental results. This "coming together" of the subject (and, incidentally, of physicists and chemists !), though still in an early stage, signals that the time is ripe for an appraisal and review of the theoretical basis of atom-molecule collisions. It is especially important for the experimentalist in the field to have a working knowledge of the theory and computational methods required to describe the experimentally observable behavior of the system. By now many of the alternative theoretical approaches and computational procedures have been tested and intercompared. More-or-Iess optimal methods for dealing with each aspect are emerging. In many cases working equations, even schematic algorithms, have been developed, with assumptions and caveats delineated.

Author: Alan Chalmers
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 9048123623
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 294

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Drawing on the results of his own scholarly research as well as that of others the author offers, for the first time, a comprehensive and documented history of theories of the atom from Democritus to the twentieth century. This is not history for its own sake. By critically reflecting on the various versions of atomic theories of the past the author is able to grapple with the question of what sets scientific knowledge apart from other kinds of knowledge, philosophical knowledge in particular. He thereby engages historically with issues concerning the nature and status of scientific knowledge that were dealt with in a more abstract way in his What Is This Thing Called Science?, a book that has been a standard text in philosophy of science for three decades and which is available in nineteen languages. Speculations about the fundamental structure of matter from Democritus to the seventeenth-century mechanical philosophers and beyond are construed as categorically distinct from atomic theories amenable to experimental investigation and support and as contributing little to the latter from a historical point of view. The thesis will provoke historians and philosophers of science alike and will require a revision of a range of standard views in the history of science and philosophy. The book is key reading for students and scholars in History and Philosophy of Science and will be instructive for and provide a challenge to philosophers, historians and scientists more generally.

Author: Kalervo V. Laurikainen
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 3642738524
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 251

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The Austrian physicist Wolfgang Pauli (1900-1958) was often called the conscience of physics. He was famous for his sharp and critical mind which made him a central figure among the founders of quantum physics. He also was an outstanding philosopher, especially interested in finding a new conception of reality and of causality. A careful study of the original sources of the past culminated in his study of Kepler and of medieval symbolism, a concept that played a central role in his discussion with Carl Jung on what they called the psycho-physical problem. Pauli considered the sharp distinctions between knowledge and faith and between spirit and matter as dangerous. He thought they should complement each other in our comprehension of reality. Professor Laurikainen here for the first time describes Pauli's ideas in detail. His book is based on the large and as yet unpublished correspondence between Pauli and M. Fierz. Its careful analysis adds depth and clarity to the few publications by Pauli on philosophical problems and explains why Pauli grasped the meaning of atomic theory more deeply than even Niels Bohr himself. The book should interest both philosophers and physicists and should encourage further studies on Pauli the humanist and his contribution to our understanding of reality.

Author: Walter R. Johnson
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 3540680136
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 318

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This book provides a hands-on experience with atomic structure calculations. Material covered includes angular momentum methods, the central field Schrödinger and Dirac equations, Hartree-Fock and Dirac-Hartree-Fock equations, multiplet structure, hyperfine structure, the isotope shift, dipole and multipole transitions, basic many-body perturbation theory, configuration interaction, and correlation corrections to matrix elements. The book also contains numerical methods for solving the Schrödinger and Dirac eigenvalue problems and the (Dirac)-Hartree-Fock equations.

Author: Marvin H. Mittleman
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 1489924361
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 318

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In response to the explosion of theories and experiments since the appearance of the first edition, the author has revised and expanded his basic text. New sections include up-to-date discussions of multiphoton ionization, and electron-atom and atom-atom scattering in laser fields, reaffirming the work's position as the standard introduction to the field.

Author: Ana Predojević
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3319192310
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 410

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This book provides a comprehensive view of the contemporary methods for quantum-light engineering. In particular, it addresses different technological branches and therefore allows the reader to quickly identify the best technology - application match. Non-classical light is a versatile tool, proven to be an intrinsic part of various quantum technologies. Its historical significance has made it the subject of many text books written both from theoretical and experimental point of view. This book takes another perspective by giving an insight to modern technologies used to generate and manipulate quantum light.