Makes these ideas accessible to a general reader complex concepts of relativity and the stimulated emission of light through the use of mathematics no more difficult than one learns in high school.Wri
This graduate/research level text is a self-contained exposition of the applications of kinetic theory to basic problems in modern cosmology, such as the role of stable and unstable massive neutrinos and the theory of cosmological helium production. There has been rapid development of the theory of the origin and evolution of the universe in recent years, stimulated in large part by new observations and theories in astrophysics and particle physics. This book takes a different approach and studies what can be concluded from the application to cosmological problems of kinetic theory and, in particular, the Boltzmann equation and its solutions. The book begins with a brief survey of the necessary relativity, cosmodynamics, and kinetic theory, before going on to discuss specific problems, such as the role of stable and unstable massive neutrinos, electron-poritron annihilation, and the theory of cosmological helium production. The focus is in obtaining both theoretical understanding and c
This book is a history of nuclear weapons. From their initial theoretical development at the start of the twentieth century to the recent tests in North Korea, Jeremy Bernstein seeks to describe the basic science of nuclear weaponry at each point in the narrative. At the same time, he offers accounts and anecdotes of the personalities involved, many of whom he has known firsthand. Dr Bernstein writes in response to what he sees as a widespread misunderstanding throughout the media and hence among the general public of the basic workings and potential impact of nuclear weaponry. For example, he points out that it has been nearly thirty years since anyone has even seen a nuclear detonation. Likewise, the Nagasaki bomb, primitive when compared to more modern devices, generated an explosion roughly the equivalent of eight thousand copies of the truck bomb used by Timothy McVeigh in Oklahoma City.
American retired theoretical physicist Bernstein, best known for his Cranks, Quarks, and the Cosmos , describes the historical oddity of the tiny island of Britain becoming master of the huge tropical
My friendship with Freeman Dyson goes back over a half century. My first contact with him goes back to the late 1950s, when I was at the Institute for Advanced Study, and then evolved when I was a con
This book of essays in four parts, written over a decade and full of surprises for the breadth and variety of its subject matter. The first part is about the foundations of the quantum theory which re
"This book is an essay collection, along with short stories, which attempts to explain some scientific ideas. Jeremy Bernstein was a long time staff writer for The New Yorker Magazine as well as a the
My friendship with Freeman Dyson goes back over a half century. My first contact with him goes back to the late 1950s, when I was at the Institute for Advanced Study, and then evolved when I was a con
