Eight Lectures on Theoretical Physics by Max Planck

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Eight Lectures on Theoretical Physics by Max Planck

In 1909 the great German physicist and Nobel Prize winner Max Planck (1858-1947) delivered a series of eight lectures at Columbia University giving a fascinating overview of the new state of physics, which he had played a crucial role in bringing about.

The first, third, fifth, and sixth lectures present his account of the revolutionary developments occasioned when he first applied the quantum hypothesis to blackbody radiation. The reader is given a valuable opportunity to witness Planck's thought processes both on the level of philosophical principles as well as their application to physical processes on the microscopic and macroscopic scales.

 In the second and fourth lectures Planck shows how the new ideas of statistical mechanics transformed the understanding of chemical physics. The seventh lecture discusses the principle of least action, while the final one gives an account of the theory of special relativity, of which Planck had been an early champion.

These lectures are especially important since they reflect Planck's reconsiderations and rethinking of his original discovery of quantum theory. A new Introduction by Peter Pesic places this book in historical perspective among Planck's works and those of his contemporaries. Now available in this inexpensive edition, it will be of particular interest to students of modern physics and of the philosophy and history of science.

 
Max Karl Ernst Ludwig Planck was a German theoretical physicist whose discovery of energy quanta won him the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1918. Planck made many contributions to theoretical physics, but his fame as a physicist rests primarily on his role as the originator of quantum theory, which revolutionized human understanding of atomic and subatomic processes.

Niels Henrik David Bohr was a Danish physicist who made foundational contributions to understanding atomic structure and quantum theory, for which he received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1922. Bohr was also a philosopher and a promoter of scientific research.

James Lees (new introduction) is a researcher at the University of York where he studies thermal transport for use in nanotechnologies. Alongside his research he works in science communication giving talks in all areas of physics and astronomy across the UK, where possible merging in his love of history. He appears in science festivals, such as The Cheltenham Science Festival, The Festival of Ideas and The Deer Shed. He has contributed to a number of publications such as Nouse and Physics Review as well as writing two popular science books Physics In 50 Milestone Moments and Who Knew? Physics.

SKU Unavailable
ISBN 13 9780486697307
ISBN 10 0486697304
Title Eight Lectures on Theoretical Physics
Author Max Planck
Series Dover Books On Physics
Condition Unavailable
Binding Type Paperback
Publisher Dover Publications Inc.
Year published 2003-03-28
Number of pages 160
Cover note Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.