Magick, Mayhem, and Mavericks
Subtitle: The Spirited History of Physical Chemistry
Publisher: Prometheus Books
Published: November 2002
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 420
ISBN-13: 9781573929769
Subjects: History of science; Physical chemistry; Science/Mathematics; History; Science; Chemistry - Physical & Theoretical; Chemistry, Physical and theoretical; Chemistry, Physical and theore
First sentence: The ancient Greeks were excellent architects, perceptive politicians, and brilliant philosophers-but a bit muddle-minded when it came to the physical sciences.
Table of contents: title: Magick, mayhem, and mavericks; title: Part I. Aristotle and the ancients : mathematics, motion, and machines. Introduction -- The ancients : heavenly geometry -- Aristotle : touching Earth -- The Arabs : Mohammedan amalgamation -- Medieval magick and Renaissance revival : finding the force -- The merchants : mathematics of money and machines of war -- Part II. The European scientific revolution : the passionate pursuit of order. Introduction -- Mathematics : the first wave -- Physics : the first wave -- Chemistry : the first wave -- Mathematics and physics : wave after wave -- Lavoisier : the chemical tsunami -- Part III. The first atomic wars : Dalton to Perrin. Introduction -- Dalton's diminutive friends : an atomic theory -- Thermodynamics : the warmth and how it spreads -- Gnats in sunbeams : kinetic theory of gases -- Statistical mechanics : Maxwell's Demon and Boltzmann's Dream -- Thermochemistry : Willard Gibbs and the quiet insurrection -- Atoms or not? the test of Jean Perrin -- Part IV. Physics and chemistry come to light : spectroscopy to quantum mechanics. Introduction -- Spectroscopy : rainbows from the sun -- Electromagnetism : the nature of the sun -- Atomic structure : pieces and puzzles -- The quantum revolution : little bits of stuff -- Quantum riddle : when is a particle not a particle? When it's a wave -- Part V. The flourish of the physical chemist : affinity and force. Introduction -- Rebels and radicals : quantum chemistry in the United States -- System and symmetry : the further developments of quantum chemistry -- The ionists and affinity : Physikalische Chemie -- Intermolecular forces : the tie that binds -- Heirs to the ionists : physical chemistry crosses the ocean -- Reaction rates : physical chemistry keeps pace -- Part VI. The fruits of their labors : the product of physical chemistry. Introduction -- Physical chemistry and physiology : not so strange bedfellows -- Nonlinear dynamics : physical chemists make waves -- Nanotechnology : how low can you go? -- Extreme quantum: the questions keep coming -- Epilogue.