Why Things Are the Way They Are
Editorial Reviews
Review
'... strongly recommended to physicists and non-physicists alike.' Stuart Palmer and Katherine Palmer, Physics World
'... written for the intelligent general reader and purposefully avoids use of mathematics ... will be useful as a support book for teachers, helping them to answer deep and awkward questions from bright students.' Geoff Auty, School Science Review
' ... entertaining and informative'. E. Noponen, Endeavour
Book Description
This fascinating book explains why the materials we can see and touch behave as they do. In a completely nontechnical style, using only basic arithmetic, the author explains how the properties of materials result from the way they are composed of atoms and why it is they have the properties they do: for example, why copper and rubies are colored, why metals conduct heat better than glass, why magnets attract an iron nail but not a brass pin, and how superconductors are able to conduct electricity without resistance. The book is intended for general readers, and uses mainly words, pictures and analogies, with only a minimum of very simple mathematics. The author explains how it is possible to understand the basic properties of matter, and translates the technical jargon of physics into a language that can be understood by anyone with an interest in science who wants to know why the world around us behaves in the way that it does.
Why Things Are the Way They Are,B. S. Chandrasekhar,Cambridge University Press,0521456606,Condensed matter,Physics,Quantum theory,Science,Science/Mathematics,Solid State Physics,Condensed matter physics (liquids & solids),Science / Physics
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