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Tales from the Annals of Physics
Penguin
December 2005
320 pages ISBN: 0143036033 Trade Size
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Non-Fiction
Physics, once known as "natural philosophy," is the most
basic science, explaining the world we live in, from the
largest scale down to the very, very, very smallest, and our
understanding of it has changed over many centuries. In
Black Bodies and Quantum Cats, science writer Jennifer
Ouellette traces key developments in the field, setting
descriptions of the fundamentals of physics in their
historical context as well as against a broad cultural
backdrop. Newton�s laws are illustrated via the film Addams
Family Values, while Back to the Future demonstrates the
finer points of special relativity. Poe�s "The Purloined
Letter" serves to illuminate the mysterious nature of
neutrinos, and Jeanette Winterson�s novel Gut Symmetries
provides an elegant metaphorical framework for string theory. An enchanting and edifying read, Black Bodies and Quantum
Cats shows that physics is not an arcane field of study but
a profoundly human endeavor�and a fundamental part of our
everyday world.
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