Pursuing Power and Light: Technology and Physics from James Watt to Albert Einstein (Johns Hopkins Introductory Studies in the History of Science)
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.28 (868 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 0801893593 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 192 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2016-03-03 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
"Great Read" according to Edith C. Foley. Most of what I knew about science and technology in the 19th century was retrospective. I was, for instance, in awe of Maxwell's equations but couldn't imagine where he got the idea for them. This book explains the bumpy road that leads to all great discoveries.Hunt also provides unexpected insights on why the 19th century was relatively peaceful. Great Britain had a dominating position in steam technology and was very slow to share her secrets on the continent. From. E. Jaksetic said Informative history of the development of steam, electromagnetism, and electricity as sources of power and lighting. The author, an associate professor of history, explores the interaction between applied technology and scientific theory during the research and development of steam, electromagnetism, and electricity as sources of power and lighting. The author discusses how the successes and failures of applied technology often spurred scientific research to understand the scientific bases for the successes and failures of such technology, how scientific theory contributed to makin. Amazon Customer said Historical detail the textbooks overlook. I am a physicist, now retired after teaching university physics for thirty years. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Tales of the struggles and mis-steps that often precede the greatest theoretical advances are stories most often left out of our curricula. Some, like Maxwell's mechanical vortex ideas, were totally new to me. And with the success of today's satellite and wireless industries, we forget the history of the trans-oceanic cables, and how their needs influence
Sweeping changes in manufacturing, transportation, and communications transformed the economy, society, and daily life in ways never before imagined. Hunt translates his often-demanding material into engaging and accessible language suitable for undergraduate students of the history of science and technology.. The most important advancements in physicsthe science of energy and the theory of the electromagnetic fieldwere deeply rooted in the new technologies of the steam engine, the telegraph, and electric power and light. Hunt here explores how the leading technologies of the industrial age helped reshape modern physics.This period marked a watershed in how human beings exerted power over the world around them. Hunt shows how technology informed science and vice versa, examining the interaction between steam technology and the formulation of the laws of thermodynamics, for example, and that between telegraphy and the rise of electrical science.Hunt’s groundbreaking introduction to the history of physics points to the shift to atomic and quantum physics. It closes with a brief look at Albert Einstein’s work at the Swiss patent office and the part it played in his formulation of relativity theory. At the same time, phys
Hunt is an associate professor of history at the University of Texas at Austin and author of The Maxwellians.. Bruce J
(Stathis Arapostathis Metascience)Pursuing Power and Light is a bravura performance that should inform and inspire many an undergraduate and general reader. (David Philip Miller British Journal of the History of Science)Pursuing Power and Light is a bravura performance that should inform and inspire many an undergraduate and general reader. (Suman Seth Isis) . Highly recommended. (David Philip Miller British Journal for the History of Science)Concise, technically lucid, and remarkably readable. (Choice)Pursuing Power and Light is the best and most up-to-date treatment, especially for undergraduates, of the key concepts and figures of 19th-century