A Student's Guide Through the Great Physics Texts: Volume IV: Heat, Atoms and Quanta (Undergraduate Lecture Notes in Physics Book 4)

This book provides a chronological introduction to modern atomic theory, which represented an attempt to reconcile the ancient doctrine of atomism with careful experiments―performed during the 19th century―on the flow of heat through substances and across empty space. Included herein are selections from classic texts such as Carnot’s Reflection on the Motive Power of Fire, Clausius’ Mechanical Theory of Heat, Rutherford’s Nuclear Constitution of Atoms, Planck’s Atomic Theory of Matter and Heisenberg’s Copenhagen Interpretation of Quantum Theory. Each chapter begins with a short introduction followed by a reading selection. Carefully crafted study questions draw out key points in the text and focus the reader’s attention on the author’s methods, analysis and conclusions. Numerical and laboratory exercises at the end of each chapter test the reader’s ability to understand and apply key concepts from the text. Heat, Radiation and Quanta is the last of four volumes in A Student’s Guide through the Great Physics Texts. The book comes from a four-semester undergraduate physics curriculum designed to encourage a critical and circumspect approach to natural science while at the same time preparing students for advanced coursework in physics. This book is particularly suitable as a college-level textbook for students of the natural sciences, history or philosophy. It might also serve as a textbook for advanced high-school or home-schooled students, or as a thematically-organized source-book for scholars and motivated lay-readers. In studying the classic scientific texts included herein, the reader will be drawn toward a lifetime of contemplation. ## From the Back Cover This book provides a chronological introduction to modern atomic theory, which represented an attempt to reconcile the ancient doctrine of atomism with careful experiments―performed during the 19th century―on the flow of heat through substances and across empty space. Included herein are selections from classic texts such as Carnot’s __Reflection on the Motive Power of Fire__ , Clausius’ __Mechanical Theory of Heat__ , Rutherford’s __Nuclear Constitution of Atoms__ , Planck’s __Atomic Theory of Matter,__ and Heisenberg’s __Copenhagen Interpretation of Quantum Theory__. Each chapter begins with a short introduction followed by a reading selection. Carefully crafted study questions draw out key points in the text and focus the reader’s attention on the author’s methods, analysis and conclusions. Numerical and laboratory exercises at the end of each chapter test the reader’s ability to understand and apply key concepts from the text. __Heat, Radiation and Quanta__ is the last of four volumes in __A Student’s Guide through the Great Physics Texts__. The book comes from a four-semester undergraduate physics curriculum designed to encourage a critical and circumspect approach to natural science while at the same time preparing students for advanced coursework in physics. This book is particularly suitable as a college-level textbook for students of the natural sciences, history or philosophy. It might also serve as a textbook for advanced high-school or home-schooled students, or as a thematically-organized source-book for scholars and motivated lay-readers. In studying the classic scientific texts included herein, the reader will be drawn toward a lifetime of contemplation. ## About the Author Dr. Kerry K. Kuehn is Professor in the Department of Physics at Wisconsin Lutheran College. He is a member of the American Physical Society and is also an Advisory Council member for NASA Wisconsin Space Grant Consortium and Fidelitas (WLC Honors Program). This book provides a chronological introduction to modern atomic theory, which represented an attempt to reconcile the ancient doctrine of atomism with careful experiments -- performed during the 19th century -- on the flow of heat through substances and across empty space. Included herein are selections from classic texts such as Carnot's Reflection on the Motive Power of Fire, Clausius' Mechanical Theory of Heat, Rutherford's Nuclear Constitution of Atoms, Planck's Atomic Theory of Matter and Heisenberg's Copenhagen Interpretation of Quantum Theory. Each chapter begins with a short introduction followed by a reading selection. Carefully crafted study questions draw out key points in the text and focus the reader's attention on the author's methods, analysis and conclusions. Numerical and laboratory exercises at the end of each chapter test the reader's ability to understand and apply key concepts from the text. Heat, Radiation and Quanta is the last of four volumes in A Student's Guide through the Great Physics Texts. The book comes from a four-semester undergraduate physics curriculum designed to encourage a critical and circumspect approach to natural science while at the same time preparing students for advanced coursework in physics. This book is particularly suitable as a college-level textbook for students of the natural sciences, history or philosophy. It might also serve as a textbook for advanced high-school or home-schooled students, or as a thematically-organized source-book for scholars and motivated lay-readers. In studying the classic scientific texts included herein, the reader will be drawn toward a lifetime of contemplation. -- Provided by publisher Front Matter....Pages i-xxvi A New Science of Heat....Pages 1-13 Mathematics and Temperature....Pages 15-27 Steam Engines and Heat Flow....Pages 29-44 Carnot’s Cycle....Pages 45-54 Engines as Thermometers....Pages 55-67 The Second Law of Thermodynamics....Pages 69-80 Work, Heat, and Irreversibility....Pages 81-91 Language: Concepts and Conventions....Pages 93-98 Energy and Entropy....Pages 99-111 The Kinetic Theory of Gases....Pages 113-126 Molecules and Maxwell’s Demon....Pages 127-142 The Diffusion Equation....Pages 143-162 Radiant Heat....Pages 163-179 From Positivism to Objectivity....Pages 181-196 Entropy, Probability and Atomism....Pages 197-212 Corpuscles of Light....Pages 213-230 The Discovery of the Electron....Pages 231-246 The Birth of Nuclear Physics....Pages 247-261 Radioactivity....Pages 263-277 Atomic Fission....Pages 279-294 Nuclear Structure....Pages 295-308 The Discovery of the Neutron....Pages 309-319 Neutron Scattering....Pages 321-330 X-Ray Diffraction....Pages 331-343 Compton Scattering....Pages 345-353 Electron Scattering and Diffraction....Pages 355-364 Matter Waves....Pages 365-375 Bohr’s Atomic Model....Pages 377-391 Atomic Spectra and Quantum Numbers....Pages 393-407 The Periodic Table of the Elements....Pages 409-422 Wave Mechanics....Pages 423-441 The Quantum Paradox....Pages 443-456 Back Matter....Pages 457-463