Atoms, Nature, and Man: Man-made Radioactivity in the Environment
Atoms, Nature, and Man: Man-made Radioactivity in the Environment

Author: Neal O. Hines

Publisher: Good Press

Published: 2023-10-27

Total Pages: 96

ISBN-13:

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In 'Atoms, Nature, and Man: Man-made Radioactivity in the Environment', Neal O. Hines delves into the intricate relationship between human activities and the environment, particularly focusing on the impact of man-made radioactivity. Through a meticulous exploration of scientific research and data, Hines elucidates the ways in which radiation from nuclear testing, accidents, and waste disposal permeates the natural world, affecting both ecosystems and human health. Written in a clear and accessible style, the book provides a comprehensive overview of the subject, making it a valuable resource for both scholars and general readers interested in environmental science. Hines' balanced approach to the topic underscores the urgency of addressing the consequences of human intervention in the environment, highlighting the need for sustainable practices and responsible decision-making. As an expert in the field, Neal O. Hines brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to 'Atoms, Nature, and Man', making it essential reading for anyone concerned with the future of our planet.

Ludwig Boltzmann
Ludwig Boltzmann

Author: Carlo Cercignani

Publisher: OUP Oxford

Published: 2006-01-12

Total Pages: 348

ISBN-13: 0191606987

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This book presents the life and personality, the scientific and philosophical work of Ludwig Boltzmann, one of the great scientists who marked the passage from 19th- to 20th-Century physics. His rich and tragic life, ending by suicide at the age of 62, is described in detail. A substantial part of the book is devoted to discussing his scientific and philosophical ideas and placing them in the context of the second half of the 19th century. The fact that Boltzmann was the man who did most to establish that there is a microscopic, atomic structure underlying macroscopic bodies is documented, as is Boltzmann's influence on modern physics, especially through the work of Planck on light quanta and of Einstein on Brownian motion. Boltzmann was the centre of a scientific upheaval, and he has been proved right on many crucial issues. He anticipated Kuhn's theory of scientific revolutions and proposed a theory of knowledge based on Darwin. His basic results, when properly understood, can also be stated as mathematical theorems. Some of these have been proved: others are still at the level of likely but unproven conjectures. The main text of this biography is written almost entirely without equations. Mathematical appendices deepen knowledge of some technical aspects of the subject.

Atoms and Alchemy
Atoms and Alchemy

Author: William R. Newman

Publisher: University of Chicago Press

Published: 2010-05-05

Total Pages: 265

ISBN-13: 0226577031

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Since the Enlightenment, alchemy has been viewed as a sort of antiscience, disparaged by many historians as a form of lunacy that impeded the development of rational chemistry. But in Atoms and Alchemy, William R. Newman—a historian widely credited for reviving recent interest in alchemy—exposes the speciousness of these views and challenges widely held beliefs about the origins of the Scientific Revolution. Tracing the alchemical roots of Robert Boyle’s famous mechanical philosophy, Newman shows that alchemy contributed to the mechanization of nature, a movement that lay at the very heart of scientific discovery. Boyle and his predecessors—figures like the mysterious medieval Geber or the Lutheran professor Daniel Sennert—provided convincing experimental proof that matter is made up of enduring particles at the microlevel. At the same time, Newman argues that alchemists created the operational criterion of an “atomic” element as the last point of analysis, thereby contributing a key feature to the development of later chemistry. Atomsand Alchemy thus provokes a refreshing debate about the origins of modern science and will be welcomed—and deliberated—by all who are interested in the development of scientific theory and practice.

The Swerve
The Swerve

Author: Stephen Greenblatt

Publisher: Random House

Published: 2012

Total Pages: 370

ISBN-13: 0099572443

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One of the world's most celebrated scholars, Greenblatt has crafted both an innovative work of history and a thrilling story of discovery, in which one manuscript, plucked from a thousand years of neglect, changed the course of human thought and made possible the world as we know it.