It Must Be Beautiful: Great Equations of Modern Science

Description

A refreshingly rich and encompassing perspective of our world, this examination demonstrates how, of the four forces of physical nature, it is electromagnetic force that activates nature as well as our bodies and brains. Arguing that electromagnetism plays an indispensable role in virtually all of modern technology, this book conveys how deeply embedded and intimately linked human beings are to earthly nature. Using lucid, understandable terms, it explains the electromagnetic workings of some of the core devices of modern technology—such as the transistor and radar—and shares a number of engaging vignettes about its discoverers and well as anecdotes drawn from the author's own experience A series of essays on the most famous equations of modern science by experts in their fields. It must be beautiful / Graham Farmelo -- A revolution with no revolutionaries : the Planck-Einstein equation for the energy of a quantum / Graham Farmelo -- The sextant equation : E = mc2 / Peter Galison -- The rediscovery of gravity : the Einstein equation of general relativity / Roger Penrose -- Erotica, aesthetics and Schrödinger's wave equation / Arthur I. Miller -- A piece of magic : the Dirac equation / Frank Wilczek -- Understanding information, bit by bit : Shannon's equations / Igor Aleksander -- Hidden symmetry : the Yang-Mills equation / Christine Sutton -- A mirror in the sky : the Drake equation / Oliver Morton -- Equations of life : the mathematics of evolution / John Maynard Smith -- The best possible time to be alive : the logistic map / Robert May -- An environmental fairy tale : the Molina-Rowland chemical equations and the CFC problem / Aisling Irwin -- Afterword : how great equations survive / Steven Weinberg