Download PDF Quantum Generations: A History of Physics in the Twentieth CenturyBy Helge Kragh
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Quantum Generations: A History of Physics in the Twentieth CenturyBy Helge Kragh
Download PDF Quantum Generations: A History of Physics in the Twentieth CenturyBy Helge Kragh
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At the end of the nineteenth century, some physicists believed that the basic principles underlying their subject were already known, and that physics in the future would only consist of filling in the details. They could hardly have been more wrong. The past century has seen the rise of quantum mechanics, relativity, cosmology, particle physics, and solid-state physics, among other fields. These subjects have fundamentally changed our understanding of space, time, and matter. They have also transformed daily life, inspiring a technological revolution that has included the development of radio, television, lasers, nuclear power, and computers. In Quantum Generations, Helge Kragh, one of the world's leading historians of physics, presents a sweeping account of these extraordinary achievements of the past one hundred years.
The first comprehensive one-volume history of twentieth-century physics, the book takes us from the discovery of X rays in the mid-1890s to superstring theory in the 1990s. Unlike most previous histories of physics, written either from a scientific perspective or from a social and institutional perspective, Quantum Generations combines both approaches. Kragh writes about pure science with the expertise of a trained physicist, while keeping the content accessible to nonspecialists and paying careful attention to practical uses of science, ranging from compact disks to bombs. As a historian, Kragh skillfully outlines the social and economic contexts that have shaped the field in the twentieth century. He writes, for example, about the impact of the two world wars, the fate of physics under Hitler, Mussolini, and Stalin, the role of military research, the emerging leadership of the United States, and the backlash against science that began in the 1960s. He also shows how the revolutionary discoveries of scientists ranging from Einstein, Planck, and Bohr to Stephen Hawking have been built on the great traditions of earlier centuries.
Combining a mastery of detail with a sure sense of the broad contours of historical change, Kragh has written a fitting tribute to the scientists who have played such a decisive role in the making of the modern world.
- Sales Rank: #413469 in Books
- Published on: 2002-03-24
- Released on: 2002-03-24
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 9.00" h x 1.28" w x 6.00" l, 1.56 pounds
- Binding: Paperback
- 512 pages
Amazon.com Review
We've seen our most fundamental beliefs about the nature of the universe change so many times over the past century that it's almost old hat. Danish science historian Helge Kragh looks at these revolutions and their effects in Quantum Generations: A History of Physics in the Twentieth Century. This well-told series of interlocking stories skillfully blends hard science with biography; Kragh intends to reach a broad audience and succeeds in maintaining interest on all levels. Starting in the 10 years before 1900, he shows us that the state of physics was not as moribund as textbooks would have us believe--in fact, much of the groundwork for the revelations of relativity and quantum mechanics was laid then. Moving along through the highlights of the past hundred years, we read of Heisenberg, Lorentz, Feynman, and many more scientists building on their predecessors' work.
Only the most pathologically math-phobic need fear this book; Kragh has done nonphysicists a favor by restricting his scientific discussions to terms understandable by most well-informed readers. Though he does neglect certain important fields (e.g., optics and materials science), the cohesion and relative brevity resulting from this decision make for a better book. Whether you have an abiding interest in the roots of modern physics or want to learn more about recent developments in unification theories, you'll find Quantum Generations a pleasant yet challenging review. --Rob Lightner
From Publishers Weekly
How did modern physics get from Rutherford and radioactivity to Heisenberg, Hiroshima and Stephen Hawking? Whose discoveries led to what theories, and why? How were physics and physicists affected by the micro- and macro-politicsAfrom institutional rivalries to totalitarian movementsAso visible throughout our century? Kragh (Dirac; Cosmology and Controversy), a historian of science at Aarhus University in Denmark, offers a hefty account of experiments and theories, experimental scientists and theoreticians, from the 1890s (marked by the rise of "electrodynamic models" as against mechanical ones) to the 1990s, when Grand Unified Theories (GUTs) promised to explain a forest of charmingly named elementary particles. In between, he covers debates about atomic structure; "the slow rise of quantum theory"; cryogenics; Einsteinian relativity (and its misinterpretations); the political, military and economic roles of physicists in and between the world wars; the Bomb; the meson, the boson, et al.; the Big Bang; superconductivity; and the perpetually frustrating dances between scientists and the organizations that fund them. Unable to cover all the physics there is, Kragh focuses on the best-known and most influential parts: on nuclear and subatomic physics, on relativity and cosmology and on European and American scientists. He concludes that, despite the surprises of quantum mechanics, 20th-century "physics... [has] resulted in new and much-improved theories, but that these have been produced largely cumulatively and without a complete break with the past." Neither a specialized academic work nor a mere popularization, Kragh's tome exhibits the kind of synthetic, deeply detailed and carefully explained survey more common in military or art history than in the history of science. It's an impressive reference work, and a serious, rewarding read. 22 b&w illus., 34 tables. (Nov.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Kragh, a Danish historian of science, has written many important works on this subject, among them Cosmology and Controversy: the Historical Development of Two Theories of the Universe. His new book is a brief, condensed, and selective desciption of physics in the 20th century. Hragh does an exceptional job of trying to cover in a single one volume one of the most prolific sciences of this century, concentrating on its major developments while sketching out some important applications such as materials science and medical physics. A complementary reading is Robert D. Purrington's Physics in the Nineteenth Century (Rutgers Univ., 1997). Recommended for public and academic libraries and would be a nice addition to history of physics, history of science, and Western civilization history collections.ANestor Osorio, Northern Illinois Univ. Libs., Dekalb
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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