In this groundbreaking union of art and science, rocker-turned-neuroscientist Daniel J. Levitin explores the connection between music—its performance, its composition, how we listen to it, why we enjoy it—and the human brain.Taking on prominent thinkers...

The gripping, entertaining, and vividly-told narrative of a radical discovery that sent shockwaves through the scientific community and forever changed the way we understand the world.Werner Heisenberg’s “uncertainty principle” challenged centuries of...

There is a vast range of astronomical equipment available to the amateur astronomer and this pocket-sized handbook will help the amateur make an informed choice about which instruments are best suited to his or her needs covering binoculars, telescopes,...

'IF' is one of the most important and interesting words in the English language. It is used to express hypothetical thought - an essential part of human reasoning and decision making. This type of thought occurs wherever there is uncertainty, and...

The solar system has always been a messy place in which gravity wreaks havoc. Moons form, asteroids and comets crash into planets, ice ages commence, and dinosaurs disappear. By describing the dramatic consequences of such disturbances, this...

Freeman Dyson’s latest book does not attempt to bring together all of the celebrated physicist’s thoughts on science and technology into a unified theory. The emphasis is, instead, on the myriad ways in which the universe presents itself to us--and how,...

"A fine example of how to present 'classical' physical mathematics." — American ScientistWritten for advanced undergraduate and graduate students, this volume provides a thorough background in the mathematics needed to understand today's more advanced...

"Maxwell is without peer. This printing is an opportunity to become thoroughly acquainted with the thoughts of the greatest of our electrical scientists." — School Science and MathHere is the final elaboration of Maxwell's theory of electromagnetism,...

Professor of Mathematics at Stanford University from 1950 until his death in 1968, Charles Loewner occasionally taught as a Visiting Professor at the University of California at Berkeley. After his 1955 course at Berkeley on continuous groups, Loewner's...

This text considers waves the great unifying concept of physics. With minimal mathematics, it emphasizes the behavior common to specific phenomena—earthquake waves studied by seismologists; waves and ripples on oceans, lakes, and ponds; waves of sound...

This graduate-level text employs a formal, classical viewpoint to survey the fundamentals of quantum optics. Its coverage includes the quantum theory of partial coherence and the nature of the relations between classical and quantum theories of coherence...

This history of physics focuses on the question, "How do bodies act on one another across space?" The variety of answers illustrates the function of fundamental analogies or models in physics, as well as the role of so-called unobservable entities...

Compact, clear, and precise in its presentation, this distinguished, widely used textbook offers graduate students and advanced undergraduates a diverse and well-balanced selection of topics.Subjects include the electrostatic field in vacuum; boundary...

"Singlemindedly devoted to its job of educating potential many-particle theorists…deserves to become the standard text in the field." — Physics Today"The most comprehensive textbook yet published in its field and every postgraduate student or teacher in...

Intended for graduate and advanced undergraduate students, this text explores quantum mechanical techniques from the viewpoint of chemistry and materials science. Dynamics, symmetry, and formalism are emphasized. An initial review of basic concepts from...

Astronomy as a science began with the Ionian philosophers, with whom Greek philosophy and mathematics also began. While the Egyptians and Babylonians had accomplished much of astronomical worth, it remained for the unrivalled speculative genius of the...

In this immensely readable book, noted cosmologist Rocky Kolb reveals the very human struggles of astronomy superstars seeking cosmic truths while lost in the clouds of confusion. Punctuated by the author's razor-sharp wit, this book provides anyone...

"In the gallery of what might be called the martyrs of thought, the image of Galileo recanting before the Italian Inquisition stirs the minds of educated modern men second only to the picture of Socrates drinking the Hemlock. That image of Galileo is out...

Robert Dale presents a detailed description of the development of algorithms for the generation of referring expressions, and of the underlying structures that motivate these algorithms, in a dynamic domain. He provides a number of novel results in both...

Trained in both classics and computer science, Bolter considers the cultural impact of computers on our age, comparing the computer to earlier technologies that redefined fundamental notions of time, space, language, memory, and human creativity...