Engineering Physics

The Sun, as our nearest star, is of enormous importance for life on Earth, providing the warm radiation and light which allowed complex life to evolve. The Sun plays a key role in influencing our climate, while solar storms and high-energy events can threaten our communication infrastructure and satellites.

Is it possible for something or someone to be made invisible? This question, which has intrigued authors of science fiction for over a century, has become a headline-grabbing topic of scientific research. In this book, science writer and optical physicist Gregory J. Gbur traces the science of invisibility from its sci-fi origins in the nineteenth-century writings of authors such as H. G. Wells and Fitz James O'Brien to modern stealth technology, invisibility cloaks, and metamaterials. He explores the history of invisibility and its science and technology connections.

As we navigate through life we instinctively model time as having a flowing present that divides a fixed past from open future. This model develops in childhood and is deeply saturated within our language, thought, and behavior, affecting our conceptions of the universe, freedom, and the self. Yet as central as it is to our lives, physics seems to have no room for this flowing present. What Makes Time Special? demonstrates this claim in detail and then turns to two novel positive tasks.

For the larger-than-life personalities now staking their fortunes on the development of rocket ships, the new race to explore space could be a dead end, a lucrative opportunity - or the key to humanity's salvation. Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos take center stage in this fast-paced narrative as they attempt to disrupt the space economy, feed their own egos, and maybe even save the world.

Black holes, predicted by Albert Einstein's general theory of relativity more than a century ago, have long intrigued scientists and the public with their bizarre and fantastical properties. Although Einstein understood that black holes were mathematical solutions to his equations, he never accepted their physical reality - a viewpoint many shared. After introducing the basics of the special and general theories of relativity, this book describes black holes both as astrophysical objects and theoretical "laboratories".

In researching one of history's greatest scientific quests, a mission to measure the Earth and define the meter, Ken Alder stumbled on a 200-year-old secret: The meter, it turns out, is in error. This is a story of two men, a secret, and a timeless human dilemma: is it permissible to perpetuate a small lie in the service of a larger truth?

Based on the newly released personal letters of Albert Einstein, Walter Isaacson explores how an imaginative, impertinent patent clerk, a struggling father in a difficult marriage who couldn't get a teaching job or a doctorate, became the mind reader of the creator of the cosmos, the locksmith of the mysteries of the atom and the universe. His success came from questioning conventional wisdom and marveling at mysteries that struck others as mundane.

"The Accelerating Universe is not only an informative book about modern cosmology. It is rich storytelling and, above all, a celebration of the human mind in its quest for beauty in all things." (Alan Lightman, author of Einstein's Dreams)

What is the nature of the material world? How does it work? What is the universe and how was it formed? What is life? Where do we come from and how did we evolve? How and why do we think? What does it mean to be human? How do we know? There are many different versions of our creation story. This book tells the version according to modern science. It is a unique account, starting at the Big Bang and travelling right up to the emergence of humans as conscious intelligent beings, 13.8 billion years later.

Breakthrough takes us on a breathtaking, mind-altering tour of the eureka! moments of modern physics. Charting the spellbinding stories of the scientists who predicted and discovered the existence of unknown planets, black holes, invisible force fields, ripples in the fabric of space-time, unsuspected subatomic particles and even antimatter, Marcus Chown reveals science's greatest mystery: its astonishing predictive power.

Ever heard of string theory, general relativity, or the Riemann Hypothesis and thought, “What in the world are they even talking about?” You’re not alone—and this book is your shortcut through the fog. "The Hardest Stuff Simplified" breaks down some of the most complicated ideas in the universe—from quantum field theory to philosophy of consciousness—and makes them not just understandable but actually fun. With metaphors, humor, and a sharp instinct for clarity, JJ walks you through the kind of topics that usually live in dusty college textbooks and brings them to life. You don’t need a PhD.

In this visionary book, Dr. Tim Gregory challenges prevailing narratives around climate change, arguing that the goal of net zero is not simply to replace fossil fuels with renewables, but to power civilization using sources of energy that do not emit carbon dioxide. He unequivocally shows that only one emissions-free energy source can rise to that challenge: nuclear power.

L'essentiel à connaître sur la physique quantique ! Beaucoup d'entre nous ignorent à quoi la physique quantique renvoie précisément : d'où vient le terme " quantique " ? Quand cette science a-t‑elle vu le jour ? Pourquoi doit-on la distinguer de la physique classique ? En 50 notions, Blandine Pluchet vous emmène à travers un fascinant voyage au coeur de l'infiniment petit. Grâce aux découvertes de physiciens du xxe siècle tels que Planck, Einstein ou encore Bohr, quanta, photons, électrons et autres composants de la matière n'auront bientôt plus de secrets pour vous !

Frankenstein: Or, Modern Prometheus by Mary Shelley had a huge impact on Gothic horror and science fiction genres. The name Frankenstein has become part of our everyday language, often used in derogatory terms to describe scientists who have overstepped a perceived moral line. But how did a 19-year-old woman with no formal education come up with the idea for an extraordinary novel such as Frankenstein?

End Times is a compelling work of skilled reportage that peels back the layers of complexity around the unthinkable - and inevitable - end of humankind. From asteroids and artificial intelligence to volcanic supereruption to nuclear war, veteran science reporter and TIME editor Bryan Walsh provides a stunning panoramic view of the most catastrophic threats to the human race.

Instead of “what if the South won the Civil War?” cosmologists ask, “what if the constants that make up the fundamental building blocks of physics were different?” Physicists argue that any slight change to the laws of physics would mean a disruption in the evolution of the universe - and our existence. With the many factors that had to align for us to exist, it can seem like the laws of physics might seem finely tuned to make our existence possible. Instead of a supernatural or divine explanation, this book explores the possibility is that our universe isn’t the only one.

Today, across the universe, at the heart of every galaxy, and dotted throughout, mature black holes are creating chaos. And in a quiet part of the universe, the Swift satellite has picked up evidence of a gruesome death caused by one of these dark powers. High-energy X-ray flares shooting out from deep within the Draco constellation are thought to be the dying cries of a white dwarf star being ripped apart by the intense tides of a supermassive black hole—heating it to millions of degrees as it is shredded at the event horizon.

Immerse yourself in the world of future propulsion with "Warp Drive Propulsion Systems." This eBook opens the door to the captivating realm of faster-than-light travel as you've never seen it before. Journey through chapters rich in scientific knowledge and driven by curiosity to unearth the secrets of warp technology. "Warp Drive Propulsion Systems" is your first-class voyage to understanding the concept of warp drive, its history, development, and notable achievements in the field. Engage with the intriguing physics of warp drive, explore the principle of faster-than-light travel, and ...

Inventor and scientist Nikola Tesla believed in the existence of life on other planets. One night in his laboratory in the Colorado mountains, he noted electronic signals that he deduced came from intelligent life on another planet. While we have still not been able to prove the existence of alien life, Tesla’s article from 1901 provides an arresting look at the possibility of interplanetary communication.

Fritjof Capra and the Systems View of Life (Great Minds, Book 3): 2017 Revised, Updated, and Reformatted Edition is a passionate study about the great contemporary physicist and a review of all of his published books, including extensive quotes. The author considers Fritjof Capra as one of the most important authors on new science and systems research and considers as genius Capra's unique gift to formulate and explain complex scientific and philosophical insights and interrelations in a way that the educated listener can understand.