Contributions

  • Leclercq, Bénédicte - Contributor

Publication

2008 - Published in association with Praxis Pub., Berlin, Germany

Language

English

Word Count

33,750 words, Guess

Page Count

135 pages

Identifiers

and 5 more

Classifications

  • LCCQC39 .U93513 2008
  • LCCQB981 .U93 2008

Alternate Titles

  • Understanding fundamental constants

Description

Constants, such as the gravitational constant and the speed of light, are present in all the laws of physics, yet recent observations have cast doubt on one of them. This book examines constants, the role they play in the laws of physics, and whether indeed constants can be verified. The authors provide an overview of the history of the ideas of physics, evoking major discoveries from Galileo and Newton to Planck and Einstein and raising questions provoked by ever more current accurate observations. They investigate the solidity of the foundations of physics and discuss the implications of the discovery of the non-constancy of a constant. From the laboratory to the depths of space, this highly instructive survey explores the paths of gravitation, general relativity and new theories such as that of superstrings. It even goes beyond the subject of constants to explain and discuss many ideas in physics, encountering along the way, for example, such exciting details as the discovery of a natural nuclear reactor at Oklo in Gabon--

Subjects

Series Statement

  • Springer-Praxis books in popular astronomy

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