Einstein For Dummies E-Book

Carlos Calle

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Wissenschaft und neue Technologien
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 577

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2011

Beschreibung

Genius demystified, the Dummies way! In 1905, Albert Einstein revolutionized modern physics with his theory of relativity. He went on to become a twentieth-century icon-a man whose name and face are synonymous with "genius." Now, at last, ordinary readers can explore Einstein's life and work in this new For Dummies guide. Physicist Carlos Calle chronicles Einstein's career and explains his work-including the theories of special and general relativity-in language that anyone can understand. He shows how Einstein's discoveries affected everything from the development of the atom bomb to the theory of quantum mechanics. He sheds light on Einstein's personal life and beliefs, including his views on religion and politics. And he shows how Einstein's work continues to affect our world today, from nuclear power to space travel to artificial intelligence.

Leseprobe

Einstein For Dummies

by Carlos I. Calle, PhD

Einstein For Dummies®

Published byWiley Publishing, Inc.111 River St.Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774www.wiley.com

Copyright © 2005 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana

Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana

Published simultaneously in Canada

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, 978-750-8400, fax [phone]. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, [phone], fax [phone], or online at http://www.wiley.com/go/permissions.

Trademarks: Wiley, the Wiley Publishing logo, For Dummies, the Dummies Man logo, A Reference for the Rest of Us!, The Dummies Way, Dummies Daily, The Fun and Easy Way, Dummies.com, and related trade dress are trademarks or registered trademarks of John Wiley & Sons, Inc., and/or its affiliates in the United States and other countries, and may not be used without written permission. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Wiley Publishing, Inc., is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book.

LIMIT OF LIABILITY/DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY: The publisher and the author make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this work and specifically disclaim all warranties, including without limitation warranties of fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales or promotional materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for every situation. This work is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional services. If professional assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought. Neither the publisher nor the author shall be liable for damages arising herefrom. The fact that an organization or Website is referred to in this work as a citation and/or a potential source of further information does not mean that the author or the publisher endorses the information the organization or Website may provide or recommendations it may make. Further, readers should be aware that Internet Websites listed in this work may have changed or disappeared between when this work was written and when it is read.

For general information on our other products and services, please contact our Customer Care Department within the U.S. at 877-762-2974, outside the U.S. at 317-572-3993, or fax [phone].

For technical support, please visit www.wiley.com/techsupport.

Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats. Some content that appears in print may not be available in electronic books.

Library of Congress Control Number: 2005923739

ISBN-13: 978-0-7645-8348-3

ISBN-10: 0-7645-8348-4

Manufactured in the United States of America

10 9 8 7 6 5 4

1O/QT/RQ/QV/IN

About the Author

Carlos I. Calle, PhD, is a senior research scientist at NASA Kennedy Space Center and the founder and director of NASA’s Electrostatics and Surface Physics Laboratory. He holds a doctorate in theoretical nuclear physics from Ohio University. He is the recipient of numerous NASA awards, including the Spaceflight Awareness Award in 2003 for exceptional contributions to the space program. With his laboratory staff, he has developed new testing techniques for the Space Shuttle Thermal Control System and for the thermal shrouds on the International Space Station modules.

Calle has been working on the physical properties of the lunar and Martian soil and is currently designing and building instrumentation for future planetary exploration missions. As one of the world experts on the electrostatic properties of the lunar and Martian dust, he has been working on methods to keep dust from the space suits and equipment being planned for the lunar exploration missions.

Calle is the author of Superstrings and Other Things: A Guide to Physics, a book on physics for the general reader. He has authored over 100 scientific papers in nuclear physics, relativity, particle electrostatics, the properties of the Martian soil, and the lunar surface dust.

He has lectured on physics and relativity at several colleges and universities and is a regular speaker at the physics department at Florida Institute of Technology.

When he is away from his lab at NASA, Calle likes to spend his time drawing, painting, and sculpting, usually from life. He is married to Luz Marina Calle, also a NASA scientist. Their son and daughter-in-law, Daniel and Emily, are software engineers.

Dedication

To my wife and fellow NASA scientist, Dr. Luz Marina Calle. Your constant support and encouragement truly made this book possible.

Author’s Acknowledgments

My warm thanks go first to my editor, Joan Friedman, for her invaluable and efficient editing of this book. Her intelligence, her insightful remarks, and her attention to detail enhance the clarity of the book.

I also wish to thank Joyce Pepple at Wiley and the outstanding team that she put together for this book. Kathy Cox, acquisitions editor at Wiley, believed in the project and provided support and editorial assistance; Lisa Reed created the beautiful and accurate illustrations; and Heather Dismore provided helpful editorial support. Finally, Dr. Brian Murphy of Butler University reviewed the entire manuscript and provided helpful insights, suggestions, and corrections.

I wish to acknowledge also the professional reviews of Dr. Scott Hyman at Sweet Briar College and Dr. Jim Mantovani at Florida Institute of Technology. Their important and helpful suggestions improved the book.

Many other people, directly or indirectly, made possible the completion of this book. I am grateful to my agent, Susan Protter, for her support throughout the project. Special thanks to my son, Daniel, and to his wife, Emily, for their enthusiasm and support. Thanks also to Dr. Dominique Leveau and to Tanya Leveau for their warm understanding.

Publisher’s Acknowledgments

We’re proud of this book; please send us your comments through our Dummies online registration form located at www.dummies.com/register/.

Some of the people who helped bring this book to market include the following:

Acquisitions, Editorial, and Media Development

Project Editor: Joan Friedman

Acquisitions Editor: Kathy Cox

Technical Editor: Brian Murphy, PhD

Editorial Supervisor: Carmen Krikorian

Editorial Manager: Michelle Hacker

Editorial Assistants: Hanna Scott, Melissa S. Bennett

Cover Photos: ©Abbie Enneking/2005

Cartoons: Rich Tennant (www.the5thwave.com)

Composition Services

Project Coordinator: Adrienne Martinez

Layout and Graphics: Carl Byers, Andrea Dahl, Kelly Emkow, Joyce Haughey, Stephanie D. Jumper, Heather Ryan, Mary Gillot Virgin

Special Art: Lisa Reed

Proofreaders: Leeann Harney, Jessica Kramer, Dwight Ramsey, Aptara

Indexer: Aptara

Special HelpHeather Dismore

Publishing and Editorial for Consumer Dummies

Diane Graves Steele, Vice President and Publisher, Consumer Dummies

Joyce Pepple, Acquisitions Director, Consumer Dummies

Kristin A. Cocks, Product Development Director, Consumer Dummies

Michael Spring, Vice President and Publisher, Travel

Kelly Regan, Editorial Director, Travel

Publishing for Technology Dummies

Andy Cummings, Vice President and Publisher, Dummies Technology/General User

Composition Services

Gerry Fahey, Vice President of Production Services

Debbie Stailey, Director of Composition Services

Part I

A Genius Awakens

In this part . . .

If you don’t know much about Einstein, this part gives you an overview of who he was and what he did.

In this part, I discuss Einstein’s life as a young boy growing up in Germany, as an independently minded young man keeping to himself in school, and as a rebellious college student getting in trouble with his professors. I also introduce you to the incredible explosion of ideas during his miracle year, when he made most of the discoveries that changed the science of physics forever.

Chapter 1

Who Was Einstein?

In This Chapter

Introducing Einstein

Describing his work and why it was important

A bout a hundred years ago, an unknown civil servant in Switzerland decided that existing theories in the field of physics were not quite right, and he decided to fix them. What he did was so important that Time magazine selected him as the person of the 20th century, ahead of kings, queens, presidents, artists, movie stars, and religious leaders.

Who was Einstein, and what did he do? In this chapter, I introduce you to Einstein’s genius, what he discovered, and the importance of his work — topics that get much more detailed attention in subsequent chapters.

Dissecting That Famous Brain

After giving birth to her only son in 1879, Albert Einstein’s young mother thought for a moment that he was “a monster.” The baby had a strangely shaped and large head. The doctor calmed her down, explaining that it’s not uncommon for a baby to have a misshapen head right after birth, and assuring her that the size of his head was going to be just fine. The doctor was right about the size — in just a few weeks, the proportions evened out. But the angular shape of Einstein’s head would remain for the rest of his life.

The unusual shape of Einstein’s head didn’t make him different than other boys. But his brain did. The way his brain worked was anything but ordinary.