DOCUMENT RESUME ...... .. ED 071 892 SE 015 S29 , ..... .... _ _ . _ ._ . .. .... _ . _ ,........ TITLE Projec:: Physics Reader 3, The Triumph of Mechanics. ._INSTITUTION Harvard Univ., Cambridge, Mass. arvaid:H Project Physics.. .. SPONS :AGENCY Office of Education .(DREW), Washington,. D.C._Bureau ..of Research. BUREAU . NO ',.. .BR-5-1038 _PUB DATE 68 CONTRACT OEC-.5-10-058. NOTE. .. .26,1p.; Authorized Interim Version .... _ EDRS PRICE MF-$0.65 HC-$9.87 .DESCRIP2ORS ...Energy; Heat; *Instructional Materials; Kinetic .MOlecular Theory;. *Kinetics; *Physics,; _Science Materials; .Secondary Grades; SecOnd_ary School Science; *suPPlementarY.Reading Materials _ IDENTIFIERS Harvard Project -physics., ABSTRACT As a. supplement to 'Project.. Physics Unit 3,a _collection .of .articles is presented im.this.reader for..student browsing, .our eucerpt.s are given under, the. followingheadings; On the -kinetic theory of gases, Maxwell's Demon, Introductionto waves, .and. Scientific Cranks. ,Five.. articles ..are_include_d_in..termsof energy, barometers, randomness, fiddle, family,, andseven fallacies in_ science, T5.e..ten_cremaining, book passages axe relatedto, silence .productions_steam.enginesol molecular theory ofgases,. disorder.. _phenomena,..statistical..laws, arrow of, time, James Clerk Maxwell's discoveries, wave _concept; wave motion An acoustici, and musical* instruments and.scales.,Illustrations for .explanationpurposes are . also provided. The work of Harvard Project Physics has imen _financially supported by:, the Carnegie corporation of New York, the _Ford Foundation, the-National:Scienes Foundation, the AlfredP. Sloan Foundation, the United states Office. of _Education._ and .Harvard University. FILMED FROM BESTAVAILABLE COPY U.S DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH. Project Physics Reader EDUCATION & WELFARE OFFICE Of EOUCATION THIS DOCUMENT HAS aEEN REPRO. DUCED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED FROM THE PERSON OR ORGANIZATION ORIG- INATING IT POINTS OF VIEW OR OPIN- IONS STATED DO NOT NECESSARILY REPRESENT OFFICIAL OFFICE OF EDU- CATION POSITION OR POLICY An Introduction to Physics The Triumph of Mechanics . " -11101"."V"r FILMEDFROM BEST AVAILABLECOPY r1 riCO O Pyject Physics Reader An Introduction to Physics3The Triumph of Mechanics Authorized Interim VersionIIII1968-69 Distributed by Holt, Rinehart and Winston Inc.- New York Toronto r This is not a physics textbook.Rather, it is a physics reader, a collection of some of the best articles and book passages on physics. A few are on historic events in science, others contain some partic.larly memorable descript;on of what physicists do; still others deal with philosophy of science, or with the impact of scientific thought on the imagination of the artist. There are old and new classics, and also some little- known publications; many have been suggested for in- clusion because some teacher or physicist remembered an article with particular fondness. The majority of articles is not drawn from scientific papers of historic importonce themselves, because material from many of these is readily available, either as quotations in the Project Physics text or in special collections. This collection is meant for your browsing.If you follow your own reading interests, chances are good that you will find here many pages that convey the joy these authors have in their work and the excitement of their ideas.If you want to follow up on interesting excerpts, the source list at the end of the reader will guide you for further reading. Table of Contents 1 Silence, Please 1 Arthur C. Clarke A story originally published in 1954. 2 The Steam Engine Comes of Age 13 R. J. Forbes and E. J. Dijksterhuis Chapter from their book, A History of Science and Technology, published in 1963. 3 Energy 23 William Thomson and Peter G. Tait Article from Good Words for 1862, edited by Norman Macleod 4 The Barometer Story 31 Alexander Calandra Article from Current Science, Teacher's Edition, 1964. 5 The Great Molecular Theory of Gases 33 Eric M. Rogers Chapter from his textbook, Physics for the Inquiring Mind, published in 1960. 6 On the Kinetic Theory of Gases 51 James Clerk Maxwell Excerpt from his Theory of Heat, published in 1872. 7 The Law of Disorder 55 George Gamow Chapter from his book, One, Two, Three Infinity, published in 1947. 8 The Law 95 Robert M. Coates 9 The Arrow of Time 97 Jacob Bronowski Chapter from his book, Insight, published in 1964. 10 James Clerk Maxwell 105 James R. Newman From Scientific American, 1955. 11 Maxwell's Demon 128 George Gamow Excerpt from his book, Mr Tompkins in Paperback, 1965. 12 Randomness and The Twentieth Century 141 Alfred M. Bork An article from The Antioch Review, published in 1967. 13 Introduction to Waves 163 Physical Sciences Study Committee Excerpt from the textbook, Physics. Second Edition, published in 1965. 14 What is a Wave? 185 Albert Einstein and Leopold Infeld From their book, The Evolution of Physics, published in 1961. 15 Wave Motion and Acoustics 191 Robert Bruce Lindsay Chapter from his textbook, General Physics for Students of Science, published in 1940. 16 Musical Instruments and Scales 211 Harvey E. White Chapter from his book, Classical and Modern Physics, published in 1940. 17 Founding a Family of Fiddles 233 Carleen M. Hutchins Article from Physics Today, 1967. 18 The Seven Images of Science 245 Gerald Holton Article from Science, 1960. 19 Scientific Cranks 249 Martin Gardner Excerpt from his book, Fads and Fallacies in the Name of Science, published in 1957 A fictional scientist tells of an apparatus for pro J ducing silence. Although the proposed scheme is im probable, the story has a charming plausibility. 1 Silence, Please Arthur C. Clarke 19 57 You COME upon the "White Hart" quite unexpectedly in one of these anonymous little lanes leading down from Fleet Street to the Embankment. It's no use telling you where it is: very few people who have set out in a deter- mined effort to get there have ever actually arrived. For the first dozen visits a guide is essential: after that you'll probably be all right if you close your eyes and rely on instinct. Alsoto be perfectly frankwe don't want any more customers, at least on our night. The place is already uncomfortably crowded. All that I'll say about its loca- tion is that it shakes occasionally with the vibration of newspaper presses, and that if you crane out of the win- dow of the gent's room you can just see the Thames. From the outside, is looks like any other pubas in- deed it is for five dais of the week. The public and saloon bars are on the ground floor: there are the usual vistas of brown oak panelling and frosted glass, the bottles behind the bar, the handles of the beer engines... nothing out of the ordinary at all. Indeed, the only concession to the twentieth century is the juke box in the public bar. It was installed during the war in a laughable attempt to make G.I.'s feel at home, and one of the first things we did was to make sure there was no danger of its ever working again. At this point I had better explain who "we" are. That is not as easy as I thought it was going to be when I started, for a complete catalogue of the "White Hart's" clients would probably be impossible and would certainly be excruciatingly tedious. So all I'll say at this point is that "we" fall into three main classes. First there are the journalists, writers and editors. The journalists, of course, gravitated here from Fleet Street. Those who couldn't make the grade fled elsewhere: the tougher ones remained. As for the writers, most of them heard about, ur from other writers, came here f9r copy, and got trapped. 1 Where there are writers, of course, there are sooner or later editors. If Drew, our landlord, got a percentage on the literary business done in his bar, he'd be a rich man. (We suspect he is a rich man, anyway.) One of our wits once remarked that it was a common sight to see half a dozen indignant authors arguing with a hard-faced editor in one corner of the "White Hart", while in another, half a dozen indignant editors argued with a hard-faced author. So much for the literary side: you will have, I'd better warn you, ample opportunities for close-ups later. Now let us glance briefly at the scientists. How did they get in here? Well, Birkbeck College is only across the road, and King's is just a few hundred yards along the Strand. That's doubtless part of the explanation, and again personal rec- ommendation had a lot to do with it. Also, many ofour scientists are writers, and not a few of our writers are scientists. Confusing, but we like it that way. The third portion of our little microcosm consists of what may be loosely termed "interested laymen". They were attracted to the "White Hart" by the general brou- haha, and enjoyed the conversation and company so much that they now come along regularly every Wednesday which is the day when we all get together. Sometimes they can't stand the pace and fall by the wayside, but there's always a fresh supply. With such potent ingredients, it is hardly surprising that Wednesday at the "White Hart" is seldom dull. Not only have some remarkable stories been told there, but remark- able things have happened there. For example, therewas the time when Professor, passing through on his way to Harwell, left behind a brief -case containingwell, we'd better nct go into that, even thoughwe did so at the time. And most interesting it was, too.... Any Russian agents will find me in the corner under the dartboard.