Combines live action with state-of-the-art computer-generated imagery to pinpoint where humans fit in our ever-expanding universe. Explore scientific theories, some of which have never before been visualized on film, from the birth of the cosmos and solar system to the nature of black holes and exploding supernovas.

"Millions of people visit xkcd.com each week to read Randall Munroe's iconic webcomic. His stick-figure drawings about science, technology, language, and love have a large and passionate following. Fans of xkcd ask Munroe a lot of strange questions. What if you tried to hit a baseball pitched at 90 percent the speed of light? How fast can you hit a speed bump while driving and live? If there was a robot apocalypse, how long would humanity last? In...

Examines developments in science and the philosophy of knowledge from the pre-Socratic era to the nineteenth century; traces the emergence of a split between commonsense views of the world, and the abstract world portrayed by advanced physics, mathematics, and logic; and argues that the "consistent-histories" approach to quantum mechanics, developed since the 1980s, places commonsense on solid scientific and philosophical footing.

By the year 1900, most of physics seemed to be encompassed in the two great theories of Newtonian mechanics and Maxwell's theory of electromagnetism. Unfortunately, there were inconsistencies between the two theories that seemed irreconcilable. Although many physicists struggled with the problem, it took the genius of Einstein to see that the inconsistencies were concerned not merely with mechanics and electromagnetism, but with our most elementary...

Presents the answers to over 825 questions about physics and physicists, beginning with a general section dealing with the basics of physics, and exploring movement, energy, fluids, heat and thermodynamics, waves, sound, light, electricity, magnetism, deep theories, and other topics.

This well-known text uses a limited number of basic concepts and techniques -- Hamilton's principle, the theory of the first variation and Bernoulli's separation method -- to develop complete solutions to linear boundary value problems associated with second order partial differential equations such as the problems of the vibrating string, the vibrating membrane, and heat conduction. It is directed to advanced undergraduate and beginning graduate...

Introduces the reader to the laws and theories of basic physics.

"A thrilling, fast-paced excursion through the history of physical discovery . . . from silly putty to string theory" (Dr. Paul Halpern, author of Collider). Following his previous volumes, The Science Book and The Math Book, acclaimed science writer Clifford Pickover returns with a richly illustrated chronology of physics, containing 250 short, entertaining, and thought-provoking entries. In addition to exploring such engaging topics as dark energy,...

Even in the most technical sections, the authors' writing is delightfully lucid, and they give many applications to classical and modern physics . Undergraduates, and those who require some understanding of special relativity for their work in other fields, will find this elegant work a pleasure to read. - Technology This concise account of special relativity is geared toward nonspecialists and belongs in the library of anyone interested in the subject...