Binding: Paperback
Description: How does the physics we know today - a highly professionalised enterprise inextricably linked to government and industry - link back to its origins as a liberal art in Ancient Greece? What is the path that leads from the old philosophy of nature and its concern with humankind's place in the universe to modern massive international projects that hunt down fundamental particles and industrial laboratories that manufacture marvels? This Very Short Introduction introduces us to Islamic astronomers and mathematicians calculating the size of the earth whilst their caliphs conquered much of it; to medieval scholar - theologians investigating light; to Galileo Copernicus Kepler and Newton measuring and trying to explain the universe. We visit the House of Wisdom in 9th - century Baghdad; Europe's first universities; the courts of the Renaissance; the Scientific Revolution and the academies of the 18th century; and the increasingly specialised world of 20th and 21st century science. Highlighting the shifting relationship between physics philosophy mathematics and technology - and the implications for humankind's self - understanding - Heilbron explores the changing place and purpose of physics in the cultures and societies that have nurtured it over the centuries. About THE Series: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket - sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts analysis perspective new ideas and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.
Title: The History Of Physics: A Very Short Introduction
Author(s): Heilbron J. L. (Professor Of History Emeritus University Of California Berkeley)
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Barcode: 9780199684120
Pages: 192 Pages, 27 Black And White Images
Publication Date: 3/25/2018
Series: Very Short Introductions
Category: Physics