Andrew Whitaker - Böcker

John Stewart Bell (1928-1990) was one of the most important figures in twentieth-century physics, famous for his work on the fundamental aspects of the century's most important theory, quantum mechanics. While the debate over quantum theory between the supremely famous physicists, Albert Einstein and Niels Bohr, appeared to have become sterile in the 1930s, Bell was able to revive it and to make crucial advances - Bell's Theorem or Bell's Inequalities. He was able to demonstrate a contradiction between quantum theory and essential elements of pre-quantum theory - locality and causality. The book gives a non-mathematical account of Bell's relatively impoverished upbringing in Belfast and his education. It describes his major contributions to quantum theory, but also his important work in the physics of accelerators, and nuclear and elementary particle physics.

Ever since its discovery eighty-five years ago, quantum theory has been used to study the physical universe with great profit, both intellectual and financial. Over the last fifty years, however, we have found out more and more about the theory itself, and what it tells us about the universe. It seems we may have to accept non-locality - cause and effect may be light-years apart; loss of realism - nature may be fundamentally probabilistic; and non-determinism - it seems that God does play dice!This book, written by an expert in the field, explains the emergence of our new perspective on quantum theory, but also describes how the ideas involved in this re-evaluation led seamlessly to a totally new discipline -quantum information theory. This discipline includes quantum computation, which is able to perform tasks quite out of the range of other computers; the totally secure algorithms of quantum cryptography; and quantum teleportation - as part of science fact rather than science fiction.The book is the first to combine these elements, and will be of interest to anybody interested in fundamental aspects of science and their application to the real world.

George Gabriel Stokes was one of the most important mathematical physicists of the 19th century. During his lifetime he made a wide range of contributions, notably in continuum mechanics, optics and mathematical analysis. His name is known to generations of scientists and engineers through the various physical laws and mathematical formulae named after him, such as the Navier-Stokes equations in fluid dynamics. Born in Ireland into a family of academics, clergymen and physicians, he became the longest serving Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge. Impressive as his own scientific achievements were, he made an equally important contribution as a sounding board for his contemporaries, providing good judgement and mathematical rigour in his wide correspondence and during his 31 years as Secretary of the Royal Society where he played a major role in the direction of British science. Outside his own area he was a distinguished public servant and MP for Cambridge University. He was keenly interested in the relation between science and religion and wrote at length on their interaction. Stokes was a remarkable scientist who lived in an equally remarkable age of discovery and innovation.This edited collection of essays brings together experts in mathematics, physics and the history of science to cover the many facets of Stokes's life in a scholarly but accessible way to mark the bicentenary of his birth.

This book gives a readable non-mathematical account of the upbringing, education and academic achievement of John Stewart Bell, the celebrated physicist from Belfast, who was born in 1928.Bell has become famous for what he described as his 'hobby', analysing the fundamental aspects of quantum theory, where he clarified a long-standing debate between the two most important figures of twentieth century physics, Albert Einstein and Niels Bohr, and showed that, contrary to belief over the previous thirty years, quantum theory could be supplemented with extra 'hidden variables'. His crucial 'Bell's Theorem' or 'Bell's Inequalities' demonstrated a contradiction between quantum theory and local causality. This relation has been tested with increasing rigour over the next years, and quantum theory has triumphed. His ideas were also important in the development of quantum information theory, which covers quantum computation, quantum cryptography and quantum teleportation.The book covers his earlier work at Harwell, where he worked on the design of accelerators, making extremely important contributions to the physics of strong focussing. He later moved to CERN in Geneva where he carried out highly significant work in the fields of elementary particles and quantum field theory. It also covers some details of Bell's personal life, including his marriage while he was at Harwell to Mary Ross, who also worked in the physics of accelerators, and also describes his career decade by decade, and sums up his importance to twentieth-century physics.

While quantum theory has been used to study the physical universe with great profit, both intellectual and financial, ever since its discovery eighty-five years ago, over the last fifty years we have found out more and more about the theory itself, and what it tells us about the universe. It seems we may have to accept non-locality - cause and effect may be light-years apart; loss of realism - nature may be fundamentally probabilistic; and non-determinism - it seems that God does play dice!This book, totally up-to-date and written by an expert in the field, explains the emergence of our new perspective on quantum theory, but also describes how the ideas involved in this re-evaluation led seamlessly to a totally new discipline - quantum information theory. This discipline includes quantum computation, which is able to perform tasks quite out of the range of other computers; the totally secure algorithms of quantum cryptography; and quantum teleportation - as part of science fact rather than science fiction.The book is the first to combine these elements, and will be of interest to anybody interested in fundamental aspects of science and their application to the real world.

James Clerk Maxwell (1831-1879) had a relatively brief, but remarkable life, lived in his beloved rural home of Glenlair, and variously in Edinburgh, Aberdeen, London and Cambridge. His scholarship also ranged wide - covering all the major aspects of Victorian natural philosophy. He was one of the most important mathematical physicists of all time, coming only after Newton and Einstein.In scientific terms his immortality is enshrined in electromagnetism and Maxwell's equations, but as this book shows, there was much more to Maxwell than electromagnetism, both in terms of his science and his wider life. Maxwell's life and contributions to science are so rich that they demand the expertise of a range of academics - physicists, mathematicians, and historians of science and literature - to do him justice. The various chapters will enable Maxwell to be seen from a range of perspectives. Chapters 1 to 4 deal with wider aspects of his life in time and place, at Aberdeen, King's College London and the Cavendish Laboratory. Chapters 5 to 12 go on to look in more detail at his wide ranging contributions to science: optics and colour, the dynamics of the rings of Saturn, kinetic theory, thermodynamics, electricity, magnetism and electromagnetism with the concluding chapters on Maxwell's poetry and Christian faith.

Einstein’s Struggles with Quantum Theory: A Re-Appraisal, presents an account of all aspects of Einstein’s encounter with quantum theory. Until recently it was accepted that, after important early work, Einstein was simply unable to follow Niels Bohr’s approach to quantum theory, and that Einstein’s own views, centered on realism, were of no interest. This book follows modern scholarship arguing that Einstein’s arguments were well constructed, in the Einstein-Bohr debate his position was legitimate, and his pragmatic approach to realism stimulated John Bell and encouraged the emergence of quantum information theory. The book provides a readable account of Einstein’s achievements in quantum theory, his own views, and the progress his work has stimulated since his death. While some chapters use mathematics at an undergraduate physics level, a path is provided for the reader more concerned with ideas than equations, and the book should be of interest to anybody interested in Einstein and his approach to the quantum.

This book tells the remarkable lives of the pioneers of science – from Galileo and Newton, Faraday and Darwin, Pasteur and Marie Curie, to Einstein, Freud, Turing, and Crick and Watson. A series of seventy articles, written by an international team of distinguished scientists, historians of science and science writers, provides an unrivalled account of the lives and personalities behind the greatest scientific breakthroughs of all time. Organized thematically, starting at the ‘Universe’, and moving smaller through the ‘Earth’ and ‘Molecules and Matter’ to ‘Inside the Atom’, with the final two sections looking at ‘Life’ and ‘Body and Mind’, it covers all the major scientific disciplines, including astronomy, biology, biochemistry, chemistry, computing, ecology, geology, medicine, neurology, physics and psychology, as well as mathematics. The Scientists will intrigue budding scientists, those fascinated by the lives of great individuals, and anyone curious to know how over the centuries we came to understand the physical world around us and inside us.

Quantum theory, the most successful physical theory of all time, provoked intense debate between the twentieth century's two greatest physicists, Niels Bohr and Albert Einstein. Quantum information theory has emerged from intensive study of the structure and interpretation of quantum theory to become one of the fastest growing areas of twenty-first century science. This second edition has been extensively revised and updated to cover recent developments, including the findings of papers published since the well-received first edition. A substantial new chapter is devoted to the development and structure of quantum information theory. Developments in the experimental and theoretical study of Bell's Theorem are also covered in detail, and the accounts of ongoing work have been brought up to date. A fascinating account of the development of quantum theory, this book will appeal to anyone with an interest in the fundamental questions of physics, its philosophy and its history.

Demonstrating the strength of tradition in Ireland, Physicists of Ireland: Passion and Precision is a collection of essays on leading figures from the history of physics in Ireland. It includes physicists born outside of Ireland who carried out significant work in Ireland as well as those who had strong Irish roots but carried out their work outside of Ireland. The book is well illustrated with diagrams and photos of historical interest and rounded off with useful suggestions for further reading. It might come as a surprise to many that several leading English physicists are actually from Ireland.