Pursuing Power and Light

Technology and Physics from James Watt to Albert Einstein
Erscheinungsjahr 2010
ISBN: 978-0-8018-9358-2
Verlag: Johns Hopkins University Press

Buch, Englisch, 192 Seiten, Format (B × H): 159 mm x 235 mm, Gewicht: 390 g

Reihe: Johns Hopkins Introductory Studies in the History of Science

In the nineteenth century, science and technology developed a close and continuing relationship. The most important advancements in physics—the science of energy and the theory of the electromagnetic field—were deeply rooted in the new technologies of the steam engine, the telegraph, and electric power and light. Bruce J. Hunt here explores how the leading technologies of the industrial age helped reshape modern physics.

This period marked a watershed in how human beings exerted power over the world around them. Sweeping changes in manufacturing, transportation, and communications transformed the economy, society, and daily life in ways never before imagined. At the same time, physical scientists made great strides in the study of energy, atoms, and electromagnetism. Hunt shows how technology informed science and vice versa, examining the interaction between steam technology and the formulation of the laws of thermodynamics, for example, and that between telegraphy and the rise of electrical science.

Hunt’s groundbreaking introduction to the history of physics points to the shift to atomic and quantum physics. It closes with a brief look at Albert Einstein’s work at the Swiss patent office and the part it played in his formulation of relativity theory. Hunt translates his often-demanding material into engaging and accessible language suitable for undergraduate students of the history of science and technology.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Hunt, Bruce J

Fachgebiete

• Naturwissenschaften Physik Elektromagnetismus Optik
• Interdisziplinäres Wissenschaften Wissenschaften Interdisziplinär Naturwissenschaften, Technik, Medizin
• Technische Wissenschaften Technik Allgemein Technikgeschichte

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Acknowledgments
Introduction: A World Transformed
1. Steam and Work
2. Energy and Entropy
3. The Kinetic Theory: Chaos and Order
4. Electricity: Currents and Networks
5. Electromagnetism: Ether and Field
6. Electric Power and Light
7. Into a New Century
Epilogue: Einstein at the Patent Office
Suggested Further Reading
Index

Über Autor(innen)

Hunt, Bruce J
Bruce J. Hunt is a professor of history at the University of Texas at Aus4n and the author of The Maxwellians and Imperial Science: Cable Telegraphy and Electrical Physics in the Victorian British Empire.

Bruce J. Hunt is a professor of history at the University of Texas at Aus4n and the author of The Maxwellians and Imperial Science: Cable Telegraphy and Electrical Physics in the Victorian British Empire.