From x-rays to quarks: Modern physicists and their discoveries

356 Pages·1980·13.939 MB·English

by  Emilio Segrè

MAGNOLIA BRANCH
FROM X-RA
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Modern Physicists and Their Discoveries
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Originaledition,PersonaggieScopertenellaFisicaContemporanea,publishedby
Mondadori,Milan,1976.
SponsoringEditor:ArthurC.Bartlett;ProjectEditor:PatriciaBrewer;Copyeditor:
SusanWeisberg;Designer:SharonSmith;ProductionCoordinator:LindaJupiter;
IllustrationCoordinator:CherylNufer;Compositor:Bi-Comp,Inc.;Printerand
Binder:TheMaple-VailBookManufacturingGroup.
LibraryofCongressCataloginginPublicationData
Segre,Emilio.
Fromx-raystoquarks.
TranslationofPersonaggiescopertenella
fisicacontemporanea.
Bibliography:p.
I1.nclPuhdyessicisn—deHxiesst.ory. 2. Physicists—Biography.
I.Title.
QC7.S4413 530'.09 80-466
ISBN0-7167-1146-
ISBN0-7167-1147-8pbk.
Copyright©1980byEmilioSegre
Nopartofthisbookmaybereproducedbyanymechanical,photographic,or
electronicprocess,orintheformofaphonographicrecording,normayitbestored
inaretrievalsystem,transmitted,orotherwisecopiedforpublicorprivateuse,
withoutthewrittenpermissionofthepublisher.
PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
98 76 54 32
Contents
Preface ix
Chapter1 Introduction 1
Thephysicists’worldin1895. Newhorizons. Pieter
Zeeman. JosephJohnThomson. 'WilhelmConradRontgen.
Chapter2 H.Becquerel,theCuries,andtheDiscoveryof
Radioactivity 26
Becquerel's“predestined”discovery. TheCuriesandagreat
leapforward.
Chapter3 RutherfordintheNewWorld:
TheTransmutationofElements 46
Rutherford’searlycareer. Investigationsin
radioactivity. Disciplesandthediscoveryoftransmutation.
Chapter4 Planck,UnwillingRevolutionary:
TheIdeaofQuantization 61
Thetheoreticalpillarsofphysics. Anencompassingproblem:
theblackbody. MaxPlanck.
Chapter3 Einstein—NewWaysofThinking:Space,Time,
Relativity,andQuanta 78
Anunconventionalyouth. Relativity. Grainsoflightand
molecularhits. Frompatentofficetoworldfame.Theworld
ordercollapsesandspaceiscurved. Thelateryearsand
Einstein’ssolitude.
w 1
Contents
Chapter6 SirErnestandLordRutherford
ofNelson 101
BacktoEngland. Newlightonalphaparticles. The
atomicnucleus. Theplanetaryatom. Samebutdifferent:
theconceptofisotopism. Thedisintegrationofthe
nucleus. DirectoroftheCavendishLaboratory.
Chapter7 BohrandAtomicModels 119
TheyoungBohrandthehydrogenatom. X-rayscomeinto
theirown. Thequantizedatomestablished."Weimarand
Copenhagenphysics. Theexclusionprinciple.
Chapter8 ATrueQuantumMechanics
atLast 149
LouisdeBroglie:matterwaves. WernerHeisenbergand
WolfgangPauli:magicmatrices. PaulAdrienMaurice
Dirac:abstractionandmathematicalbeauty. Erwin
Schrodinger. Themeaningoftheequations. Anewlookat
reality:complementarity. Mysteriesexplained,butdoubts
remain.
Chapter9 TheWonderYear1932:Neutron,Positron,
Deuterium,andOtherDiscoveries 175
Thediscoveryoftheneutron. Thediscoveryof
deuterium. Thepositron. Thenewnuclearphysics.
Chapter10 EnricoFermiandNuclearEnergy 200
DiscoveriesatRome. Thediscoveryoffission. Thestepsto
theatomicbomb. Transuranicelements. Physics
mobilized. Consequencesofthebomb. Fermi’sfinalwork.
Chapter1 E.O.LawrenceandParticle
Accelerators 223
Large-scalephysics. Thefirstaccelerators. Lawrenceand
thecyclotron. Policiesandpersonalities. Racingfor
ever-higherenergies.
vi
k
Contents
Chapter12 BeyondtheNucleus 241
Theelementaryparticles. ThenewscienceinJapan.
Discoveryofthepion. Ahordeofnewparticles.
Antinucleons. Thedownfallofparity.
Thebubblechamber. Orderinthewilderness.
Chapter13 NewBranchesfromtheOldStump 270
Quantumelectrodynamics. Laserandmaser. Nuclear
physics. TheMossbauereffect. Superconductivity. Other
macroscopicquantumeffects. Attheboundariesofphysics:
astrophysics,biology. Theperplexedscientist.
Chapter14 Conclusions 290
Futuretrends. Theinnardsofphysics.
Appendixes 1. Stefan’slaw.Wien’slaw 299
2. Planck’shuntfortheblackbodyradiation
formula 300
3. Einstein’sheuristicargumentforpostulating
theexistenceoflightquanta 302
104.. Brownianmotion 304
5. Blackbodyenergyfluctuationsaccordingto
Einstein 306
6. Specificheatofsolidsaccordingto
Einstein 308
7. AandBofEinstein 309
8. J.J.Thomson’sparabolamethodforfinding
elmofions 311
9. Bohr’shydrogenatom 312
Quantummechanicsinanutshell 314
Bibliography 316
NameIndex 327
SubjectIndex 333
vii
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