The Roots of Things Topics in Quantum Mechanics [Paperback]

Grometstein explains modern physics with enthusiasm, wit and insight. As he presents the usual milestones in the history of modern physics, his central focus is the historical debate regarding the nature of light: is it a particle or is it a wave? This book will be read by generations of students in physical science who seek a well written discussion of these important issues. Grometstein includes material which is quite recent, thus making the present volume particularly useful.Grometstein explains modern physics with enthusiasm, wit and insight. As he presents the usual milestones in the history of modern physics, his central focus is the historical debate regarding the nature of light: is it a particle or is it a wave? This book will be read by generations of students in physical science who seek a well written discussion of these important issues. Grometstein includes material which is quite recent, thus making the present volume particularly useful.Conventions, Abbreviations, Symbols. 1. Themes. Appendix DIR: Paul Dirac. 2. O Light Divine. Appendix FOU: Fourier Analysis. Appendix FRE: Frequency. Appendix MEC: Mechanism. 3. The Young Experiment (1801) Appendix GED: Gedanken Experiments. 4. A Whiff of Ether (1887). Appendix ABE: Aberration. Appendix RIT: Ritz Stars. Appendix PDX: Paradox and Antinomy. 5. Prof. Planck is Desperate (1901). Appendix PLA: Max Planck. Appendix STA: Standing Waves. 6. The Photoelectric Effect (1902). 7. Dr. Einstein's Light Arrows (1905). 8. Young Revisited (1909). 9. The Nuclear Atom (1904-1912). Appendix SPH: Spheres. 10. Bohr's Atom (1903-1925). Appendix ACC: Accelerated Charges. 12. A Princely Postulate (1924). Appendix ENE: Energy of an Electron. 13. Realism and Other Isms. 14. Inventing the Wave Equation (1926). Appendix WEL: Well-Behaved Waves. Appendix CMP: Completeness. 15. Collapsing the Wave. Appendix HEI: Werner Heisenberg. Appendix COM: Commutativity. 16. Copenhagen Takes Over (1925-?). AppendlCÐ