DOCSLIB.ORG

Physics in a Time of War

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Physics in a Time of War i Twentieth-Century Science |Physics Decade by Decade 0i-xxiv_20CS-Physics-fm.indd i 5/10/07 1:40:17 PM 0i-xxiv_20CS-Physics-fm.indd ii 5/10/07 1:40:17 PM i Twentieth-Century Science |Physics Decade by Decade Alfred B. Bortz, Ph.D. Set Editor: William J. Cannon 0i-xxiv_20CS-Physics-fm.indd iii 5/10/07 1:40:17 PM For Alex, 21st-century grandson PHYSICS: Decade by Decade Copyright © 2007 by Alfred B. Bortz, Ph.D. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval systems, without permis- sion in writing from the publisher. For information contact: Facts On File, Inc. An imprint of Infobase Publishing 132 West 31st Street New York NY 10001 ISBN-10: 0-8160-5532-7 ISBN-13: 978-0-8160-5532-6 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Bortz, Alfred B. Physics: decade by decade / Alfred B. Bortz p. cm. — (Twentieth-century science) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-8160-5532-7 (acid-free paper) 1. Physics—History—20th century. 2. Physics—Study and teaching. I. Title. QC7.B58 2007 530.09′04—dc22 2006022921 Facts On File books are available at special discounts when purchased in bulk quantities for businesses, associations, institutions, or sales promotions. Please call our Special Sales Department in New York at (212) 967-8800 or (800) 322-8755. You can find Facts On File on the World Wide Web at http://www.factsonfile.com Text design by Dorothy M. Preston and Kerry Casey Cover design by Dorothy M. Preston and Salvatore Luongo Illustrations by Bobbi McCutcheon Photo Research by Elizabeth H. Oakes Printed in the United States of America VB Hermitage 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 This book is printed on acid-free paper. 0i-xxiv_20CS-Physics-fm.indd iv 5/10/07 1:40:18 PM Contents Preface . xi Acknowledgments . .xv Introduction . .xvii The Nineteenth-Century Clockwork Universe . .xvii The Atomic Theory of Matter . .xvii Electromagnetism and Light. xviii Reweaving the Fabric of Physics . xix Physics and Conservation Laws . .xx 1. 1901–1910: The Dawn of Modern Physics . 1 Curious Findings . .1 Milestones. .2 New Century, New Perspectives. .8 Quanta and the Photoelectric Effect. .8 Brownian Motion and the Reality of Atoms. .11 The Special Theory of Relativity . .11 The Divisible Atom . .18 Scientist of the Decade: Albert Einstein (1879–1955) . .22 New Techniques, Technologies, and Observations. .22 Further Reading . .24 2. 1911–1920: New Views of Matter . 27 The Discovery of the Nucleus. .27 Milestones. .28 The Bohr Model of the Atom . .30 Inside the Nucleus . .33 Atoms in Solids. .34 Astronomy and Cosmology . .35 The General Theory of Relativity . .36 The Discovery of Galaxies. .39 Cosmic Rays . .40 0i-xxiv_20CS-Physics-fm.indd v 5/10/07 1:40:18 PM New Theories, Techniques, and Technologies. .41 Scientist of the Decade: Ernest Rutherford (1871–1937) . .42 Superconductivity . .44 Continental Drift. .45 Further Reading . .45 3. 1921–1930: The Quantum Revolution . .48 Milestones. .48 From the Bohr Atom to Quantum Mechanics . .50 Understanding the Quantum Universe. .57 Relativity, Spin, Beta Decay, and Predicted Particles . .61 Subatomic Physics . .62 Stars, Galaxies, and Rockets . .63 Understanding Wave Functions . .64 Scientist of the Decade: Wolfgang Pauli (1900–1958) . .66 Further Reading . .66 4. 1931–1940: Particles and Politics . 69 Inside the Nucleus . .70 Milestones. .70 New Subatomic Particles. .74 Particle Accelerators. .76 Artificial Radioactivity and Nuclear Fission . .79 Other Developments in 1930s Physics . .84 Scientist of the Decade: Lise Meitner (1878–1968) . .86 Further Reading . .88 5. 1941–1950: Physics in a Time of War . 90 Milestones. .90 0i-xxiv_20CS-Physics-fm.indd vi 5/10/07 1:40:18 PM QED: Quantum Electrodynamics. .92 Nuclear Fission, “Big Science,” and the Bomb. .97 Cosmic Rays and Subatomic Particles. .104 Other Fields in Physics in the 1940s. .106 Scientist of the Decade: Richard Feynman (1918–1988) . .108 Further Reading . .110 6. 1951–1960: Physics and the Rise of New Technologies. 112 Milestones. .112 Solid-State Physics and Technology . .114 Electrical Conductors, Insulators, and Semiconductors. .117 Electron Energy Levels and Wave Functions in Solids . .118 Superconductivity. .124 Nuclear Physics and Technology. .126 The Subatomic Particle “Zoo” . .127 Other Developments in 1950s Physics and Technology . .129 Scientist of the Decade: John Bardeen (1908–1991) . .130 Further Reading . .132 7. 1961–1970: Explorations . 134 Milestones. .134 Fundamental Particles and Forces. .135 On the Other Hand . .140 The Flavorful Quark and the Strong “Color” Force . .142 Charm and the Electroweak Force . .147 Gauge Bosons, the Higgs Field, and the Origin of Mass. .148 New Particle Detectors . .148 Cosmological Evidence for the Big Bang . .150 Scientist of the Decade: Murray Gell-Mann (1929– ) . .152 Other Developments in 1960s Physics and Technology . .154 Further Reading . ..
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Wave Nature of Matter: Made Easy (Lesson 3) Matter Behaving As a Wave? Ridiculous!
    Wave Nature of Matter: Made Easy (Lesson 3) Matter behaving as a wave? Ridiculous! Compiled by Dr. SuchandraChatterjee Associate Professor Department of Chemistry Surendranath College Remember? I showed you earlier how Einstein (in 1905) showed that the photoelectric effect could be understood if light were thought of as a stream of particles (photons) with energy equal to hν. I got my Nobel prize for that. Louis de Broglie (in 1923) If light can behave both as a wave and a particle, I wonder if a particle can also behave as a wave? Louis de Broglie I’ll try messing around with some of Einstein’s formulae and see what I can come up with. I can imagine a photon of light. If it had a “mass” of mp, then its momentum would be given by p = mpc where c is the speed of light. Now Einstein has a lovely formula that he discovered linking mass with energy (E = mc2) and he also used Planck’s formula E = hf. What if I put them equal to each other? mc2 = hf mc2 = hf So for my photon 2 mp = hfhf/c/c So if p = mpc = hfhf/c/c p = mpc = hf/chf/c Now using the wave equation, c = fλ (f = c/λ) So mpc = hc /λc /λc= h/λ λ = hp So you’re saying that a particle of momentum p has a wavelength equal to Planck’s constant divided by p?! Yes! λ = h/p It will be known as the de Broglie wavelength of the particle Confirmation of de Broglie’s ideas De Broglie didn’t have to wait long for his idea to be shown to be correct.
    [Show full text]
  • Rutherford's Nuclear World: the Story of the Discovery of the Nuc
    Rutherford's Nuclear World: The Story of the Discovery of the Nuc... http://www.aip.org/history/exhibits/rutherford/sections/atop-physic... HOME SECTIONS CREDITS EXHIBIT HALL ABOUT US rutherford's explore the atom learn more more history of learn about aip's nuclear world with rutherford about this site physics exhibits history programs Atop the Physics Wave ShareShareShareShareShareMore 9 RUTHERFORD BACK IN CAMBRIDGE, 1919–1937 Sections ← Prev 1 2 3 4 5 Next → In 1962, John Cockcroft (1897–1967) reflected back on the “Miraculous Year” ( Annus mirabilis ) of 1932 in the Cavendish Laboratory: “One month it was the neutron, another month the transmutation of the light elements; in another the creation of radiation of matter in the form of pairs of positive and negative electrons was made visible to us by Professor Blackett's cloud chamber, with its tracks curled some to the left and some to the right by powerful magnetic fields.” Rutherford reigned over the Cavendish Lab from 1919 until his death in 1937. The Cavendish Lab in the 1920s and 30s is often cited as the beginning of modern “big science.” Dozens of researchers worked in teams on interrelated problems. Yet much of the work there used simple, inexpensive devices — the sort of thing Rutherford is famous for. And the lab had many competitors: in Paris, Berlin, and even in the U.S. Rutherford became Cavendish Professor and director of the Cavendish Laboratory in 1919, following the It is tempting to simplify a complicated story. Rutherford directed the Cavendish Lab footsteps of J.J. Thomson. Rutherford died in 1937, having led a first wave of discovery of the atom.
    [Show full text]
  • Charles Hard Townes (1915–2015)
    ARTICLE-IN-A-BOX Charles Hard Townes (1915–2015) C H Townes shared the Nobel Prize in 1964 for the concept of the laser and the earlier realization of the concept at microwave frequencies, called the maser. He passed away in January of this year, six months short of his hundredth birthday. A cursory look at the archives shows a paper as late as 2011 – ‘The Dust Distribution Immediately Surrounding V Hydrae’, a contribution to infrared astronomy. To get a feel for the range in time and field, his 1936 masters thesis was based on repairing a non-functional van de Graaf accelerator at Duke University in 1936! For his PhD at the California Institute of Technology, he measured the spin of the nucleus of carbon-13 using isotope separation and high resolution spectroscopy. Smythe, his thesis supervisor was writing a comprehensive text on electromagnetism, and Townes solved every problem in it – it must have stood him in good stead in what followed. In 1939, even a star student like him did not get an academic job. The industrial job he took set him on his lifetime course. This was at the legendary Bell Telephone Laboratories, the research wing of AT&T, the company which set up and ran the first – and then the best – telephone system in the world. He was initially given a lot of freedom to work with different research groups. During the Second World War, he worked in a group developing a radar based system for guiding bombs. But his goal was always physics research. After the War, Bell Labs, somewhat reluctantly, let him pursue microwave spectroscopy, on the basis of a technical report he wrote suggesting that molecules might serve as circuit elements at high frequencies which were important for communication.
    [Show full text]
  • Famous Physicists Himansu Sekhar Fatesingh
    Fun Quiz FAMOUS PHYSICISTS HIMANSU SEKHAR FATESINGH 1. The first woman to 6. He first succeeded in receive the Nobel Prize in producing the nuclear physics was chain reaction. a. Maria G. Mayer a. Otto Hahn b. Irene Curie b. Fritz Strassmann c. Marie Curie c. Robert Oppenheimer d. Lise Meitner d. Enrico Fermi 2. Who first suggested electron 7. The credit for discovering shells around the nucleus? electron microscope is often a. Ernest Rutherford attributed to b. Neils Bohr a. H. Germer c. Erwin Schrödinger b. Ernst Ruska d. Wolfgang Pauli c. George P. Thomson d. Clinton J. Davisson 8. The wave theory of light was 3. He first measured negative first proposed by charge on an electron. a. Christiaan Huygens a. J. J. Thomson b. Isaac Newton b. Clinton Davisson c. Hermann Helmholtz c. Louis de Broglie d. Augustin Fresnel d. Robert A. Millikan 9. He was the first scientist 4. The existence of quarks was to find proof of Einstein’s first suggested by theory of relativity a. Max Planck a. Edwin Hubble b. Sheldon Glasgow b. George Gamow c. Murray Gell-Mann c. S. Chandrasekhar d. Albert Einstein d. Arthur Eddington 10. The credit for development of the cyclotron 5. The phenomenon of goes to: superconductivity was a. Carl Anderson b. Donald Glaser discovered by c. Ernest O. Lawrence d. Charles Wilson a. Heike Kamerlingh Onnes b. Alex Muller c. Brian D. Josephson 11. Who first proposed the use of absolute scale d. John Bardeen of Temperature? a. Anders Celsius b. Lord Kelvin c. Rudolf Clausius d.
    [Show full text]
  • The Second-Order Correction to the Energy and Momentum in Plane Symmetric Gravitational Waves Like Spacetimes
    S S symmetry Article The Second-Order Correction to the Energy and Momentum in Plane Symmetric Gravitational Waves Like Spacetimes Mutahir Ali *, Farhad Ali , Abdus Saboor, M. Saad Ghafar and Amir Sultan Khan Department of Mathematics, Kohat University of Science and Technology, Kohat 26000, Pakistan; [email protected] (F.A.); [email protected] (A.S.); [email protected] (M.S.G.); [email protected] (A.S.K.) * Correspondence: [email protected] Received: 5 December 2018; Accepted: 22 January 2019; Published: 13 February 2019 Abstract: This research provides second-order approximate Noether symmetries of geodetic Lagrangian of time-conformal plane symmetric spacetime. A time-conformal factor is of the form ee f (t) which perturbs the plane symmetric static spacetime, where e is small a positive parameter that produces perturbation in the spacetime. By considering the perturbation up to second-order in e in plane symmetric spacetime, we find the second order approximate Noether symmetries for the corresponding Lagrangian. Using Noether theorem, the corresponding second order approximate conservation laws are investigated for plane symmetric gravitational waves like spacetimes. This technique tells about the energy content of the gravitational waves. Keywords: Einstein field equations; time conformal spacetime; approximate conservation of energy 1. Introduction Gravitational waves are ripples in the fabric of space-time produced by some of the most violent and energetic processes like colliding black holes or closely orbiting black holes and neutron stars (binary pulsars). These waves travel with the speed of light and depend on their sources [1–5]. The study of these waves provide us useful information about their sources (black holes and neutron stars).
    [Show full text]
  • Samuel Goudsmit
    NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES SAMUEL ABRAHAM GOUDSMIT 1 9 0 2 — 1 9 7 8 A Biographical Memoir by BENJAMIN BEDERSON Any opinions expressed in this memoir are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Academy of Sciences. Biographical Memoir COPYRIGHT 2008 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES WASHINGTON, D.C. Photograph courtesy Brookhaven National Laboratory. SAMUEL ABRAHAM GOUDSMIT July 11, 1902–December 4, 1978 BY BENJAMIN BEDERSON AM GOUDSMIT LED A CAREER that touched many aspects of S20th-century physics and its impact on society. He started his professional life in Holland during the earliest days of quantum mechanics as a student of Paul Ehrenfest. In 1925 together with his fellow graduate student George Uhlenbeck he postulated that in addition to mass and charge the electron possessed a further intrinsic property, internal angular mo- mentum, that is, spin. This inspiration furnished the missing link that explained the existence of multiple spectroscopic lines in atomic spectra, resulting in the final triumph of the then struggling birth of quantum mechanics. In 1927 he and Uhlenbeck together moved to the United States where they continued their physics careers until death. In a rough way Goudsmit’s career can be divided into several separate parts: first in Holland, strictly as a theorist, where he achieved very early success, and then at the University of Michigan, where he worked in the thriving field of preci- sion spectroscopy, concerning himself with the influence of nuclear magnetism on atomic spectra. In 1944 he became the scientific leader of the Alsos Mission, whose aim was to determine the progress Germans had made in the development of nuclear weapons during World War II.
    [Show full text]
  • Wolfgang Pauli Niels Bohr Paul Dirac Max Planck Richard Feynman
    Wolfgang Pauli Niels Bohr Paul Dirac Max Planck Richard Feynman Louis de Broglie Norman Ramsey Willis Lamb Otto Stern Werner Heisenberg Walther Gerlach Ernest Rutherford Satyendranath Bose Max Born Erwin Schrödinger Eugene Wigner Arnold Sommerfeld Julian Schwinger David Bohm Enrico Fermi Albert Einstein Where discovery meets practice Center for Integrated Quantum Science and Technology IQ ST in Baden-Württemberg . Introduction “But I do not wish to be forced into abandoning strict These two quotes by Albert Einstein not only express his well­ more securely, develop new types of computer or construct highly causality without having defended it quite differently known aversion to quantum theory, they also come from two quite accurate measuring equipment. than I have so far. The idea that an electron exposed to a different periods of his life. The first is from a letter dated 19 April Thus quantum theory extends beyond the field of physics into other 1924 to Max Born regarding the latter’s statistical interpretation of areas, e.g. mathematics, engineering, chemistry, and even biology. beam freely chooses the moment and direction in which quantum mechanics. The second is from Einstein’s last lecture as Let us look at a few examples which illustrate this. The field of crypt­ it wants to move is unbearable to me. If that is the case, part of a series of classes by the American physicist John Archibald ography uses number theory, which constitutes a subdiscipline of then I would rather be a cobbler or a casino employee Wheeler in 1954 at Princeton. pure mathematics. Producing a quantum computer with new types than a physicist.” The realization that, in the quantum world, objects only exist when of gates on the basis of the superposition principle from quantum they are measured – and this is what is behind the moon/mouse mechanics requires the involvement of engineering.
    [Show full text]
  • Physics Here at Uva from 1947-49
    PHYS 202 Lecture 22 Professor Stephen Thornton April 18, 2005 Reading Quiz Which of the following is most correct? 1) Electrons act only as particles. 2) Electrons act only as waves. 3) Electrons act as particles sometimes and as waves other times. 4) It is not possible by any experiment to determine whether an electron acts as a particle or a wave. Answer: 3 In some cases we explain electron phenomena as a particle –for example, an electron hitting a TV screen. In other cases we explain it as a wave – in the case of a two slit diffraction experiment showing interference. Exam III Wednesday, April 20 Chapters 25-28 20 questions, bring single sheet of paper with anything written on it. Number of questions for each chapter will be proportional to lecture time spent on chapter. Last time Blackbody radiation Max Planck and his hypothesis Photoelectric effect Photons Photon momentum Compton effect Worked Exam 3 problems Today de Broglie wavelengths Particles have wavelike properties Wave-particle duality Heisenberg uncertainty principle Tunneling Models of atoms Emission spectra Work problems Finish last year’s exam problems de Broglie wavelength We saw that light, which we think of as a wave, can have particle properties. Can particles also have wavelike properties? A rule of nature says that if something is not forbidden, then it will probably happen. h λ = all objects p How can we demonstrate these wavelike properties? Typical wavelengths Tennis ball, m = 57 g, v = 60 mph; λ ~ 10-34 m. NOT POSSIBLE to detect!! 50 eV electron; λ ~ 0.2 x 10-9 m or 0.2 nm We need slits of the order of atomic dimensions.
    [Show full text]
  • Science & ROGER PENROSE
    Science & ROGER PENROSE Live Webinar - hosted by the Center for Consciousness Studies August 3 – 6, 2021 9:00 am – 12:30 pm (MST-Arizona) each day 4 Online Live Sessions DAY 1 Tuesday August 3, 2021 9:00 am to 12:30 pm MST-Arizona Overview / Black Holes SIR ROGER PENROSE (Nobel Laureate) Oxford University, UK Tuesday August 3, 2021 9:00 am – 10:30 am MST-Arizona Roger Penrose was born, August 8, 1931 in Colchester Essex UK. He earned a 1st class mathematics degree at University College London; a PhD at Cambridge UK, and became assistant lecturer, Bedford College London, Research Fellow St John’s College, Cambridge (now Honorary Fellow), a post-doc at King’s College London, NATO Fellow at Princeton, Syracuse, and Cornell Universities, USA. He also served a 1-year appointment at University of Texas, became a Reader then full Professor at Birkbeck College, London, and Rouse Ball Professor of Mathematics, Oxford University (during which he served several 1/2-year periods as Mathematics Professor at Rice University, Houston, Texas). He is now Emeritus Rouse Ball Professor, Fellow, Wadham College, Oxford (now Emeritus Fellow). He has received many awards and honorary degrees, including knighthood, Fellow of the Royal Society and of the US National Academy of Sciences, the De Morgan Medal of London Mathematical Society, the Copley Medal of the Royal Society, the Wolf Prize in mathematics (shared with Stephen Hawking), the Pomeranchuk Prize (Moscow), and one half of the 2020 Nobel Prize in Physics, the other half shared by Reinhard Genzel and Andrea Ghez.
    [Show full text]
  • A Selected Bibliography of Publications By, and About, Samuel A
    A Selected Bibliography of Publications by, and about, Samuel A. Goudsmit Nelson H. F. Beebe University of Utah Department of Mathematics, 110 LCB 155 S 1400 E RM 233 Salt Lake City, UT 84112-0090 USA Tel: +1 801 581 5254 FAX: +1 801 581 4148 E-mail: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected] (Internet) WWW URL: http://www.math.utah.edu/~beebe/ 10 January 2020 Version 1.03 Title word cross-reference $3.50 [Bar30, Rid47]. 136 [Cha72]. 138 [Cha72]. 140 [Cha72]. 142 [Cha72]. g [Gou25g]. Sa [Ive10]. Z [LHLT64]. Za [Ive10]. -dependent [LHLT64]. -Werte [Gou25g]. 1947 [Hen48, Whi48]. 1952 [Gou53b]. 1953 [Gou53a]. 1964 [Gou65a]. 1978 [Bed08b, Dre79]. 1983 [Moy84]. 1987 [Lug69]. 1988 [DGS89]. 3d [Tho97]. A-Bomb [Rec91, LRD+91, Bro93, Mac85]. Abides [Gla00]. Abraham [Bed08a, Bed08b]. Absorption [ZHG36]. Abstracts [GT66a, GT68, Gou69a]. Academy [Coc77, Jew77]. accept [Ano54a]. Acceptance [Gou72b]. Account [Lan54]. Ad [Gou72a]. Affirm [ACU+54]. 1 2 Again [GT66c, Gou73e, Rai85]. Age [Lan48, Sul78, Lan59a, Lan59b, Lap59]. AIP [Ano75]. Alamos [Bet91]. Alan [Gou78b]. Alfred [Hol93a, LH93]. Allies [Hol93b]. Alsos [Gou48c, Ano12, Gou47g, Gou47h, Gou47e, Gou48c, Gou51, Gou62, Gou83, Gou96, Pas69, Pas80, Ano48a, Gue50, Hen48, Moy84, Tre83, Whi48]. ALSOS. [Rid47]. Am [Gou74b]. amend [NG70]. American [EBU+52, Gou47b]. Americans [Lan54]. Among [Tre83]. Analyses [BG32, BG68]. Analysis [Gou74a, Wer10]. Analyzed [Gou47c]. Ancient [Gou81]. Angeles [Moy84, Tre83]. Angeles/San [Tre83]. Angewandte [Gou50a]. Angle [Win89, Win87]. Angry [Gou63]. Angular [BL96, NLCS05]. Announcement [Gou58c, Gou58d, Gou58e, Gou68d]. Anomalies [GB33]. Anomalous [Ben38]. anonymity [WG67]. antiquities [RG82]. Application [Hei47a, Hei47b, MU56]. applications [Ike17]. Applied [Gou50a]. Appraisal [Hei49]. Arbeiten [Hei46].
    [Show full text]
  • Appendix E Nobel Prizes in Nuclear Science
    Nuclear Science—A Guide to the Nuclear Science Wall Chart ©2018 Contemporary Physics Education Project (CPEP) Appendix E Nobel Prizes in Nuclear Science Many Nobel Prizes have been awarded for nuclear research and instrumentation. The field has spun off: particle physics, nuclear astrophysics, nuclear power reactors, nuclear medicine, and nuclear weapons. Understanding how the nucleus works and applying that knowledge to technology has been one of the most significant accomplishments of twentieth century scientific research. Each prize was awarded for physics unless otherwise noted. Name(s) Discovery Year Henri Becquerel, Pierre Discovered spontaneous radioactivity 1903 Curie, and Marie Curie Ernest Rutherford Work on the disintegration of the elements and 1908 chemistry of radioactive elements (chem) Marie Curie Discovery of radium and polonium 1911 (chem) Frederick Soddy Work on chemistry of radioactive substances 1921 including the origin and nature of radioactive (chem) isotopes Francis Aston Discovery of isotopes in many non-radioactive 1922 elements, also enunciated the whole-number rule of (chem) atomic masses Charles Wilson Development of the cloud chamber for detecting 1927 charged particles Harold Urey Discovery of heavy hydrogen (deuterium) 1934 (chem) Frederic Joliot and Synthesis of several new radioactive elements 1935 Irene Joliot-Curie (chem) James Chadwick Discovery of the neutron 1935 Carl David Anderson Discovery of the positron 1936 Enrico Fermi New radioactive elements produced by neutron 1938 irradiation Ernest Lawrence
    [Show full text]
  • Cockcroft: a Novel This One, the Comprehensive Compilation Lutely Fundamental Discovery
    ~7~~-------------------------------------SPRINGBCXJKS------------------------N_A_ru_~__ v_o_L._Jo_s_~_AP __ Rr_L_r9M_ same, when it's compiled as successfully as what was in the sheer physics of it an abso­ Cockcroft: a novel this one, the comprehensive compilation lutely fundamental discovery. The authors perspective undeniably earns its place in the library. of this book take in their stride Cockcroft I was an admirer of Cockcroft, a fine, and Walton's being made to wait so long­ William Cooper stocky, sensible, cautious Yorkshireman, theirs not to reason why, they say. But what who indulged in a minimum of speech and about ours? Did it take the Nobel Cockcroft and the Atom. in practically no change of facial committee nineteen years to recognize the By Guy Hartcup and T.E. Allibone. expression. (That expression was neverthe­ experiment as breaking open an entirely Adam Hilger, Bristol!Heyden, Phila- less amiable, thoughtful, smiling.) If one new line of powerful experiments to be delphia: 1984. Pp.320. £18.95, $34. addressed a remark to him, it was only made with particle-accelerators? Or did it when, after the ensuing silence, he either take those members who opposed the took the famous black notebook out of his award all that time to disappear from the SrNCE the title of Hartcup and Allibone's pocket or actually said something, that one scene? Or what? Someone must know. book may sound a bit vague, perhaps I knew for certain that he'd heard. It gave me There's a fascinating detail I should really should begin by saying what Cockcroft and lasting pleasure to think that at a dinner­ like to be told.
    [Show full text]