Particle Physics for Non-Physicists: A Tour of the Microcosmos
by Steven Pollock
The Great Courses: Science and Mathematics (1247), The Great Courses (1247)
112 Members (4.50)
On This Page
Description
Would you like to know how the universe works? Scientists have been asking that question for a long time and have found that many of the answers can be found in the study of particle physics, the field that focuses on those impossibly tiny particles with unbelievably strange names - the hadrons and leptons, baryons and mesons, muons and gluons - so mystifying to the rest of us. And now, in a fascinating and accessible series of 24 lectures, you can take the mystery out of the remarkable show more field that in only 100 years has unlocked the secrets of the basic forces of nature. Professor Pollock will make you familiar with the fundamental particles that make up all matter, from the tiniest microbe to the sun and stars. And you'll also learn the "rules of the game" - the forces that drive those particles and the ways in which they interact - that underlie the workings of the universe. The lectures have been designed to be enriching for everyone, regardless of scientific background or mathematical ability. Virtually all you'll need as you enter this fascinating world are your curiosity, common sense, and, as Professor Pollock notes, "an open mind for the occasional quantum weirdness." As you move through the lectures, you'll also gain a knowledge of how those particles fit into perhaps the greatest scientific theory of all time: the Standard Model of particle physics; a grasp of key terms like "gauge symmetry," "quantum chromodynamics," and "unified quantum field Theory;" and an appreciation of how particle physics fits in with other branches of physics - including cosmology and quantum mechanics - to create our overall understanding of nature.. show less
Tags
Recommendations
Member Reviews
Members
- Recently Added By
Lists
Books Read in 2016
4,666 works; 197 members
Author Information
5 Works 156 Members
Series
Work Relationships
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Particle Physics for Non-Physicists: A Tour of the Microcosmos
- People/Characters
- Steven Pollack; Tycho Brahe; Johannes Kepler; Isaac Newton; Albert Einstein; J.J. Thomson (show all 14); Ernest Rutherford; Niels Bohr; Max Born; Werner Heisenberg; Michael Faraday; Max Planck; Paul Dirac; Sam Ting
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 112
- Popularity
- 288,834
- Rating
- (4.50)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook
- ISBNs
- 7
- ASINs
- 7
