SEVEN IDEAS THAT SHOOK THE UNIVERSE
by Nathan Spielberg and Bryon D. Anderson, 1987
    PREFACE (pvii-viii)

    1) INTRODUCTION --- "Matter and motion --- the continuing scientific revolution" (p1-13)

      [1] Revolutions and science (p1-3)

      [2] Dominant themes in physics (p3-4)

      [3] Continuing evolution of scientific knowledge --- the seven ideas (p4-8)

        Scientific knowledge is based on experiments by people not given in one awe-inspiring moment. There will always be more experiments that can be carried out to increase the amount of scientific knowledge available to human beings.

        The cumulative result of these experiments may be the perception of new patterns in the store of scientific knowledge or the recognition that patterns which had once been thought to be all-embracing were not so universal after all.

        It is the ongoing turmoil and upset --- revision and updating when established ideas are overthrown or greatly modified as new and different patterns of phenomena are recognized --- that produced the seven major scientific conceptions or ideas of physics discussed in this book.

        A brief review of the ideas will indicate their major themes:

          (1) The planet Earth is not the center of the universe --- Copernican astronomy (p4)

          (2) The awesome universe is a mechanism that operates according to well-established rules --- Newtonian physics (p4-5)

          (3) Energy drives the mechanism --- the energy concept (p5)

          (4) The mechanism runs in a specific direction --- entropy and probability (p6)

          (5) The facts are relative, but the law is absolute --- relativity! (p6)

          (6) You can't predict or know everything --- qauantum theory and the limits of causality (p6-7)

          (7) Fundamentally, things never change --- conservation principles and symmetries (p7-8)

      [4] Physics without mathematics? (p8-9)

      [5] Science and other areas of human endeavor --- distinctions and similarities (p10-13)

      This revolutionary idea contradicts the common notion that all things must change. The idea is still being developed by scientists. Its full range of implications is not yet clear.

    2) COPERNICAN ASTRONOMY --- "The planet Earth is not the center of the universe!" (p14-49)

      [1] Early scientific stirrings in the Mediterranean area (p15-19)

      [2] Geocentric Theory of the universe (p19-29)

      [3] The Heliocentric Theory --- revival by Copernicus (p29-35)

      [4] New data and new theory (p35-38)

      [5] New discoveries and arguments (p39-41)

      [6] Kepler's Heliocentric Theory (p41-48)

        Kepler's three laws of planetary motion (p45-47)

      [7] The course of scientific revolutions (p48-49)

    3) NEWTONIAN MECHANICS AND CAUSALITY --- "The universe is a mechanism run by rules." (p50-83)

      [1] Aristotelian physics (p50-57)

      [2] Galilean mechanics (p57-65)

      [3] Logic, mathematics, and science (p65-70)

      [4] Newtonian mechanics (p70-81)

        Newton's seven laws of motion and gravitation (p73-79)

      [5] Consequences and implications (p81-83)

    4) THE ENERGY CONCEPT --- "Energy is what makes the universe go!" (p84-105)

      [1] Interactions and conservation laws (p84-88)

      [2] Heat and motion (p88-100)

      [3] Conservation of energy (p100-105)

    5) ENTROPY AND PROBABILITY --- "Entropy tells matter where to go!" (p106-138)

      [1] Heat and temperature (p108-112)

      [2] The natural flow of heat (p112-117)

      [3] Transformation of heat energy into other forms of energy (p117-123)

      [4] Efficiency of heat engines (p117-123)

      [5] The thermodynamic or absolute temperature scale (p123-124)

      [6] The Third Law of Thermodynamics (p124)

      [7] Energy degradation, unavailability, and entropy (p125-128)

      [8] Entropy increase and irreversibility (p128-129)

      [9] Entropy as a parameter of a system (p129-130)

      [10] Probability and the microscopic interpretation of entropy (p130-134)

      [11] Entropy and order --- Maxwell's "demon" (p134-136)

      [12] Cosmological and philosophical implications --- "heat death" of the universe (p136-138)

    6) RELATIVITY --- "The facts are relative, but the law is absolute" (p139-183)

      [1] Galilean-Newtonian relativity (p140-143)

      [2] Electromagnetism and relative motion (p144-155)

      [3] Attempts to detect the "ether" (p156-159)

      [4] Special Theory of Relativity (p160-163)

        Einstein's five laws of "special relativity" (p163-174)

      [5] General Theory of Relativity (p174-183)

      [6] Influence of "relativity theory" on philosophy, literature, and art (p183)

    7) QUANTUM THEORY AND THE END OF CAUSALITY --- "You can't predict or know everything." (p184-224)

      [1] Cavity or "blackbody radiation" (p187-194)

      [2] The "photoelectric effect" (p194-198)

      [3] The nuclear "atom" and "atomic spectra" (p199-207)

      [4] Quantum theory, uncertainty, and probability (p207-220)

      [5] The use of "models" in describing nature (p220-222)

      [6] The impact of "quantum theory" on philosophy and literature (p222-224)

    8) CONSERVATION PRINCIPLES AND SYMMETRIES --- "Fundamentally, things never change!" (p225-247)

      [1] The nuclear force and nuclear structure (p227-233)

      [2] Conservation laws and invariants (p234-236)

      [3] Conservation laws and symmetries (p236-238)

      [4] The "quark model" (p238-244)

      [5] Summary of present knowledge (p244-247)

    REFERENCES (p249-255)

    INDEX (p257-263)
Return to Essay-Set #3: Focus on Your Happiness and Satisfaction