- Intro to The Mechanical Universe:
Introductory preview introduces revolutionary ideas and heroes from Copernicus to Newton,
and links the physics of the heavens and the earth.
- The Law of Falling Bodies: Galileo`s
imaginative experiments proved that all bodis fall with the same constant acceleration.
- Derivatives: The function of mathematics in physical
science and the derivative as a practical tool.
- Inertia: Galileo risks his favored status to answer the
questions of the universe with his law of inertia.
- Vectors: Physics must explain not only why and how much,
but also where and which way.
- Newton's Laws: Newton lays down the laws of force,
mass, and acceleration.
- Integration: Newton and Leibniz arrive at the
conclusion that differentiation and integration are inverse processes.
- The Apple and the Moon: The first authentic
steps toward outer space travel as Newton discovers that gravity describes the forse
between any two particles in the universe.
- Moving in Circles: A look at the Platonic theory
of uniform circular motion.
- Fundamental Forces: All physical phenomena of
nature are explained by four forces, two nuclear forses, gravity and electricity.
- Gravity, Electricity, Magnetism:
Shedding light on the mathematical form of the gravitational, electric and magnetic
forces.
- The Millikan Experiment: A dramatic
recreation of Robert Millikan's classic oil-drop experiment to determine the charge of a
single electron.
- Conservation of Energy: According to one of
the major laws of physics, energy is neither created nor destroyed.
- potential Energy: Potential energy provides a
powerful model for understanding why the world was worked the same way since the beginning
of the time.
- Conservation of Momentum: What keeps the
universe ticking away until the end of time?
- Harmonic Motion: The music and mathematics of
periodic motion.
- Resonance: Why a swaying bridge collapses with a high
wind, and why a wine glass shatters with a higher octave.
- Waves: With an analysis of simple harmonic motion and a
stroke of genius Newton extended mechanics to the propagation of sound.
- Angular Momentum: An old momentum with a new
twist.
- Torques and Gyroscopes: From spinning tops
to the precession of the equinoxes.
- Kepler's Three Laws: The discovery of
elliptical orbits helps describe the motion of or heavenly bodies with unpresedented
accuracy.
- The Kepler Problem: The deduction of Kepler's
laws from Newton's universal law of gravitation is one crowing achievements of Western
thought.
- Energy and Eccentricity: The precise orbit
of a heavenly body - a planet, asteroid, or comet - is fixed by the laws of conservation
of energy and angular momentum.
- Navigating in Space: Voyages to other planets
use the same laws that guide planets around the solar system.
- Kepler to Einstein: From Kepler's laws and the
theory of tides, to Einstein's general theory of relativity, into black holes and beyond.
- Harmony of the Spheres: A last lingering
look back at mechanics to see new connections between old discoveries.
- Beyond the Mechanical Universe: The
world of electricity and magnetism, and 20th-century discoveries of relativity and quantum
mechanics.
- Static Electricity: Eighteenth-century
electricians knew how to spark the interest of an audience with the principles of static
electricity.
- The Electric Field: Michael Faraday's vision of
lines of constant force in space laid the foundation for the modern force field theory.
- Potential and Capacitance: Benjamin
Franklin proposes a successful theory of the Leyden Jar and invents a parallel plate
capacitor.
- Voltage, Energy, and Force: When is
electricity dangerous or benign, spectacular or useful?
- The Electric Battery: Alessandro Volta invents
the electric battery using the internal properties of different metals.
- Electric Circuits: The work of Charles
Wheatstone, Ohm, and Kirchoff leads to the design and analysis of how current flows.
- Magnetism: William Gilbert, physician to Queen Elizabeth
I of England, discovered that the earth behaves like a giant magnet.Modern scientists have
learned even more.
- The Magnetic Field: The law of Biot and Savart,
thr force between electric currents, mpere's law.
- Vector Fields and Hydrodynamics:
Force fields have definite properties of their own suitable for scientific study.
- Electromagnetic Induction: The discovery
of electromagnetic induction in 1831 creates an important technological breakthrough in
the generation of the electric power.
- Alternating Current: Electromagnetic induction
makes it easy to generate alternating current while transformers make it practical to
distribute it over long distances.
- Maxwell's Equations: James Clerk Maxwell
discovers that displacement current produces electromagnetic waves, or light.
- Optics: Many properties of light are properties of waves,
including reflection, refraction and diffraction.
- The Michelson-Morley Experiment: In
1887, an exquisitely designed measurement of the earth's motion through the ether results
in the most brilliant failure in scientific history.
- The Lorentz Transformation: If the speed
of light is to be the same for all observers, then the length of a meter stick, or the
rate of the ficking clock depends on who measures it.
- Velocity and Time: Albert Einstein is motivated
to perfect the central ideas of physics, resulting in a new understanding of the meaning
of space and time.
- Mass, Momentum, Energy: The new meaning of
space and time make it necessary to formulate a new mechanics, therefore E=mc^2.
- Temperature and Gas Laws: Hot discoveries
about the behavior of gases make the connection between temperature and heat.
- Engine of Nature: The Carnot engine, part one,
beginning with simple steam engines.
- Entropy: The Carnot engine, part two, with profound
implications for the behavior of matter and the flow of time through the universe.
- Low Temperatures: With the quest for low
temperatures came the discovery that all elements can exist in each of the basic states of
matter.
- The Atom: A history of the atom, from the ancient Greeks
to the early 20th century, and a new challenge for the world of physics.
- Particles and Waves: Evidence that light can
sometimes act like a particle leads to quantum mechanics, the new physics.
- From Atoms to Quarks: Electron waves attracted
to the nucleus of an atom help account for the periodic table of the elements and
ultimately lead to the search for quarks.
- The Quantum Mechanical Universe: A
last look at where we've been and a peek into the future.