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Ten days in physics that shook the world : how physicists transformed everyday life / Brian Clegg.

by Clegg, Brian.

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Icon Books Ltd, 2021.

Physics -- History.

9781785787478 (hc)

Alternate title:

10 days in physics that shook the world

xv, 188 p. : ill. ; 21 cm.

Includes bibliographical references (p. [187]-188)

Introduction -- Day 1: Tuesday, 5 July 1867 : Isaac Newton -- publication of the Principia -- Day 2: Thursday, 24 November 1831 : Michael Faraday -- reading of 'Exponential researches in electricity' -- Day 3: Monday, 18 February 1850 : Rudolf Clausius -- publication of 'On the moving force of heat' -- Day 4: Monday, 11 March 1861 : James Clerk Maxwell -- publication of 'On physical lines of force' -- Day 5: Monday, 26 December 1898 : Marie Curie -- publication of 'On a new, strongly radio-active substance' -- Day 6: Tuesday, 21 November 1905 : Albert Einstein -- publication of 'Does the inertia of a body depend on its energy content?' -- Day 7: Saturday, 8 April 1911 : Heike Hamerlingh Onnes -- discovery of superconductivity -- Day 8: Tuesday, 16 December 1947 : John Bardeen and Walter Brattain -- first demonstration of a working transistor -- Day 9: Wednesday, 8 August 1962 : James R. Biard and Gary Pittman -- patent filed for light emitting diode -- Day 10: Wednesday, 1 October 1969 : Steve Crocker and Vint Cerf -- first link of the internet initiated -- The eleventh day?

"The breakthroughs that have had the most transformative practical impacts, from thermodynamics to the Internet. Physics informs our understanding of how the world works -- but more than that, key breakthroughs in physics have transformed everyday life. We journey back to ten separate days in history to understand how particular breakthroughs were achieved, meet the individuals responsible and see how each breakthrough has influenced our lives. It is a unique selection. Focusing on practical impact means there is no room for Stephen Hawking's work on black holes, or the discovery of the Higgs boson. Instead we have the relatively little-known Rudolf Clausius (thermodynamics) and Heike Kamerlingh Onnes (superconductivity), while Albert Einstein is included not for his theories of relativity but for the short paper that gave us E=mc2 (nuclear fission). Later chapters feature transistors, LEDs and the Internet"--Publisher.

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