Galileos Pendulum by Roger G Newton
Newton sets the stage for Galileos discovery with a look at biorhythms in living organisms and at early calendars and clockscontrivances of nature and culture that, however adequate in their time, did not meet the precise requirements of seventeenth-century science and navigation.
The range of things that measure time, from living creatures to atomic clocks, brackets Newton's intriguing narrative of time's connections, in the middle of which stands Galileo's famous discovery about pendulums..Science buffs will delight in the links Newton makes in this readable tour of how humanity marks time. -- Gilbert Taylor * Booklist *
[A] short, clear and fascinating book about time, our relationship to it and our growing ability to measure it...It takes in along the way Newton, Faraday, Einstein, the one-handed clock of the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence and John Harrison's entry for the Longitude Prize. * Financial Times *
This delightful short book addresses the problem of time measurement, viewed in its different aspects through history. It is centered on the keen observation made anecdotally in the cathedral of Pisa by Galileo Galilei, when he was only 17, that the time it took the hanging chandelier to complete one oscillation was independent of how far it was swinging...The far-reaching and pervading properties of the harmonic oscillator are presented clearly and concisely as a crucial building block for our understanding of nature in this very interesting and engaging book. -- Germaine Cornelissen * Key Reporter *
[A] short, clear and fascinating book about time, our relationship to it and our growing ability to measure it...It takes in along the way Newton, Faraday, Einstein, the one-handed clock of the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence and John Harrison's entry for the Longitude Prize. * Financial Times *
This delightful short book addresses the problem of time measurement, viewed in its different aspects through history. It is centered on the keen observation made anecdotally in the cathedral of Pisa by Galileo Galilei, when he was only 17, that the time it took the hanging chandelier to complete one oscillation was independent of how far it was swinging...The far-reaching and pervading properties of the harmonic oscillator are presented clearly and concisely as a crucial building block for our understanding of nature in this very interesting and engaging book. -- Germaine Cornelissen * Key Reporter *
Roger G. Newton is Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Physics at Indiana University.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9780674018488 |
| ISBN 10 | 0674018486 |
| Title | Galileos Pendulum |
| Author | Roger G Newton |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Paperback |
| Publisher | Harvard University Press |
| Year published | 2005-10-01 |
| Number of pages | 176 |
| Prizes | Nominated for Sidney Edelstein Prize 2005 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |