This engaging and beautifully written book gives an authoritative but accessible account of some of the most exciting and unexpected recent developments in theoretical physics.– Professor Lionel J Mason, Mathematical Institute, University of OxfordString theory is often paraded as a theory of everything, but there are a large number of untold stories in which string theory gives us insight into other areas of physics. Here, Bill Spence does an excellent job of expl...

Learn about Einstein's theory of relativity from a physics Nobel laureate and "one of the greatest minds of the twentieth century" (New York Review of Books) in six memorable lessonsIt was Richard Feynman's outrageous and scintillating method of teaching that earned him legendary status among students and professors of physics. From 1961 to 1963, Feynman delivered a series of lectures at the California Institute of Technology that revolutionized the teachi...

Perhaps the two most important conceptual breakthroughs in twentieth century physics are relativity and quantum mechanics. Developing a theory that combines the two seamlessly is a difficult and ongoing challenge. This accessible book contains intriguing explorations of this theme by the distinguished physicists Richard Feynman and Steven Weinberg. Richard Feynman's contribution examines the nature of antiparticles, and in particular the relationship between quantum spin and statistics. In...

Relativity and Quantum Mechanics are the two major pillars of 20th century physics. These theories, launched within five years of one another, revolutionized our understanding of nature. They utterly dismantled the conceptual basis of Newtonian physics that had been the gold standard of science for over 200 years, and introduced radically new concepts that defy human intuition. These theories may represent the greatest upheaval in the history of science. Both Relativity and Quantum Mechan...

This book provides a beginner’s guide to this difficult and rarely understood topic.Quantum Physics is not generally easily understood and is a mystery to most people. Along with the theory of relativity, is one of the two major revolutionary ideas that shook the world of physics to the core in the early 20th century.The author takes a complex subject and breaks it down into easy to understand chapters that will provide anyone with a fantastic insight into the amazing world...

This book explores the Micro-World of subatomic particles and forces, including the recently discovered Higgs boson.The pursuit of nature’s smallest parts is one of mankind’s oldest quests, beginning at least 26 centuries ago. But, just in our lifetimes it seems we’ve finally “hit bottom.” Each step deeper into the Micro-World has revealed surprises, and expanded our understanding of nature on all size scales. At the bottom, we see a remarkable unity — nature is the same everywhere...

The double-slit experiment has been widely discussed since the founding of quantum mechanics. Nearly all textbooks on quantum mechanics use the experiment to illustrate the wave-particle duality of light and matter. According to Richard Feynman, the double-slit experiment contains the only mystery of quantum mechanics. After we have unveiled the mystery, we will be able to understand quantum mechanics.What is the mystery then? The mystery lies in the explanation of the counterintui...

All of modern astrophysics and cosmology stands on the foundation of General Relativity that is best expressed in tensors.This book, and its sequel, General Relativity 4: Astrophysics & Cosmology, present the clearest, most comprehensible, and most complete introduction to the tensor calculus of differential topology, which Einstein used to explain the cosmos. Derivations that are difficult to find elsewhere, are all collected here and explained in detail.This book presents...

This book continues our exploration of the most profound theory of science, Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity. We examine more carefully the properties of spacetime, the unity of space and time. We explore the major features of curvature, how to measure it, and how to reduce its complexity to finding distances between nearby points. We find a simple expression, 2M/r, which proves remarkably helpful as we explore the Schwarzchild metric, black holes, time d...

When Stephen Hawking, the most famous scientist living in the twenty-first century, published The Grand Design, he provoked a lively response in the media. Hawking wrote that the laws of physics make God unnecessary when explaining the origin of the universe and everything in it.In Is God Unnecessary?, author Walter Alan Ray presents nine reasons why Hawkings thesis is mistaken. Ray does not use philosophical or theological arguments, but presents the same laws of physics that Hawk...

This book is the second stage of our exploration of Quantum Mechanics in the Everyone’s Guide Series. Readers will benefit from a prior reading of Quantum Mechanics: 1 Particles & Waves. Here, we explore wave packets, the quantum description of particles. We will see how wave packets lead inexorably to the Uncertainty Principle, a hallmark of Quantum Mechanics. We examine the physical and philosophic implications of uncertainty, and whether or not “God plays with dice.” ...

All of modern astrophysics and cosmology stands on the foundation of General Relativity that is best expressed in tensors. This book, and its prequel General Relativity 3, present the clearest, most comprehensible, and most complete introduction to the tensor calculus of differential topology, which Einstein used to explain the cosmos. Derivations that are difficult to find elsewhere, are all collected here and explained in detail.     This book explores:...