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A Student's Guide Through the Great Physics Texts

Volume IV: Heat, Atoms and Quanta

  • Textbook
  • © 2016

Overview

Authors:
  1. Kerry Kuehn

    1. Milwaukee, USA

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  • Provides readers with a comprehensive introduction to physics based from foundational texts in physics and astronomy
  • Contains a coherent and self-contained general physics curriculum which can be readily implemented at the college or advanced high-school level
  • Encourages a critical and circumspect approach to the study of natural science, while at the same time developing a suitable foundation for advanced coursework in physics
  • Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras

Part of the book series: Undergraduate Lecture Notes in Physics (ULNP)

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Table of contents (32 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xxvi
    Download chapter PDF

  2. A New Science of Heat

    • Kerry Kuehn
    Pages 1-13

  3. Mathematics and Temperature

    • Kerry Kuehn
    Pages 15-27

  4. Steam Engines and Heat Flow

    • Kerry Kuehn
    Pages 29-44

  5. Carnot’s Cycle

    • Kerry Kuehn
    Pages 45-54

  6. Engines as Thermometers

    • Kerry Kuehn
    Pages 55-67

  7. The Second Law of Thermodynamics

    • Kerry Kuehn
    Pages 69-80

  8. Work, Heat, and Irreversibility

    • Kerry Kuehn
    Pages 81-91

  9. Language: Concepts and Conventions

    • Kerry Kuehn
    Pages 93-98

  10. Energy and Entropy

    • Kerry Kuehn
    Pages 99-111

  11. The Kinetic Theory of Gases

    • Kerry Kuehn
    Pages 113-126

  12. Molecules and Maxwell’s Demon

    • Kerry Kuehn
    Pages 127-142

  13. The Diffusion Equation

    • Kerry Kuehn
    Pages 143-162

  14. Radiant Heat

    • Kerry Kuehn
    Pages 163-179

  15. From Positivism to Objectivity

    • Kerry Kuehn
    Pages 181-196

  16. Entropy, Probability and Atomism

    • Kerry Kuehn
    Pages 197-212

  17. Corpuscles of Light

    • Kerry Kuehn
    Pages 213-230

  18. The Discovery of the Electron

    • Kerry Kuehn
    Pages 231-246

  19. The Birth of Nuclear Physics

    • Kerry Kuehn
    Pages 247-261

  20. Radioactivity

    • Kerry Kuehn
    Pages 263-277
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Keywords

About this book

This book provides a chronological introduction to modern atomic theory, which represented an attempt to reconcile the ancient doctrine of atomism with careful experiments—performed during the 19th century—on the flow of heat through substances and across empty space. Included herein are selections from classic texts such as Carnot’s Reflection on the Motive Power of Fire, Clausius’ Mechanical Theory of Heat, Rutherford’s Nuclear Constitution of Atoms, Planck’s Atomic Theory of Matter and Heisenberg’s Copenhagen Interpretation of Quantum Theory. Each chapter begins with a short introduction followed by a reading selection. Carefully crafted study questions draw out key points in the text and focus the reader’s attention on the author’s methods, analysis and conclusions. Numerical and laboratory exercises at the end of each chapter test the reader’s ability to understand and apply key concepts from the text. Heat, Radiation and Quanta is the last of four volumes in A Student’s Guide through the Great Physics Texts. The book comes from a four-semester undergraduate physics curriculum designed to encourage a critical and circumspect approach to natural science while at the same time preparing students for advanced coursework in physics. This book is particularly suitable as a college-level textbook for students of the natural sciences, history or philosophy. It might also serve as a textbook for advanced high-school or home-schooled students, or as a thematically-organized source-book for scholars and motivated lay-readers. In studying the classic scientific texts included herein, the reader will be drawn toward a lifetime of contemplation.

Authors and Affiliations

  • Milwaukee, USA

    Kerry Kuehn

About the author

Dr. Kerry K. Kuehn is Professor in the Department of Physics at Wisconsin Lutheran College. He is a member of the American Physical Society and is also an Advisory Council member for NASA Wisconsin Space Grant Consortium and Fidelitas (WLC Honors Program).

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