Authors: David Bodanis, Simon Singh
ISBN-13: 9780802714633, ISBN-10: 0802714633
Format: Hardcover
Publisher: Walker & Company
Date Published: October 2005
Edition: Second Edition, Revised Edition
David Bodanis is the author of Electric Universe: The Shocking True Story of Electricity, and the bestselling The Secret House. A native of Chicago, he lives in London.
To celebrate the 100th anniversary of Einstein’s miracle year of discoveries, a new edition of the bestselling “biography” of his famous equation
Generations have grown up knowing that the equation E=mc2 changed the shape of our world, but never understanding what it actually means, why it was so significant, and how it informs our daily lives todaygoverning, as it does, everything from the atomic bomb to a television's cathode ray tube to the carbon dating of prehistoric paintings. In this book, David Bodanis writes the "biography" of one of the greatest scientific discoveries in historythat the realms of energy and matter are inescapably linkedand, through his skill as a writer and teacher, he turns a seemingly impenetrable theory into a dramatic human achievement and an uncommonly good story.
Most people know this celebrated equation has something to do with Einstein's theory of relativity, but most nonscientists don't know what it means. This very approachable yet somewhat limited work of popular science explains, and adorns with anecdote and biography, the equation and its place in history. Oxford lecturer Bodanis (The Secret Family) shows what happened to Einstein on the way to the discovery, what other scientists did to bring it about and how the equation created the atom bomb. Part Two tackles separately the components of the equation (E, =, m, c and "squared"), which means that it covers 18th- and 19th-century physics. "`E' Is for Energy" opens with Michael Faraday, whose unusual religious beliefs helped him discover that electricity and magnetism were the same force. "`m' Is for Mass" brings in French chemist Lavoisier, who established the law of conservation of matter. Bodanis then turns to Einstein's life and work. The middle third of the book covers the exploration of the atom and the making of the atom bomb; the cast of characters here includes Marie Curie, Lise Meitner and Enrico Fermi. A concluding section considers how E=mc2 powers the sun, and how our sun and all others will eventually run out of gas. Capsule biographies here include one of the engaging English astronomer Cecilia Payne, who wouldn't let institutional sexism stop her from finding the hydrogen in the sun. Bodanis's writing is accessible to the point of chattiness: he seeks, and deserves, many readers who know no physics. They'll learn a handful--more important, they'll enjoy it, and pick up a load of biographical and cultural curios along the way. 20 photos and drawings not seen by PW. (Oct.) Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.
Preface | vii | |
Part 1 | Birth | |
1 | Bern Patent Office, 1905 | 3 |
Part 2 | Ancestors of E=mc[superscript 2] | |
2 | E Is for Energy | 11 |
3 | = | 23 |
4 | m Is for mass | 27 |
5 | c Is for celeritas | 37 |
6 | [characters not reproducible] | 55 |
Part 3 | The Early Years | |
7 | Einstein and the Equation | 73 |
8 | Into the Atom | 93 |
9 | Quiet in the Midday Snow | 100 |
Part 4 | Adulthood | |
10 | Germany's Turn | 117 |
11 | Norway | 134 |
12 | America's Turn | 143 |
13 | 8:16 A.M.--Over Japan | 163 |
Part 5 | Till the End of Time | |
14 | The Fires of the Sun | 173 |
15 | Creating the Earth | 184 |
16 | A Brahmin Lifts His Eyes Unto the Sky | 195 |
Epilogue: What Else Einstein Did | 204 | |
Appendix | Follow-Up of Other Key Participants | 221 |
Notes | 237 | |
Guide to Further Reading | 301 | |
Acknowledgments | 319 | |
Index | 325 |