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The book covers all the areas in physics, and each chapter includes explanations and examples to help you develop the understanding you need. Physics does not have to be daunting. This book, complete with practice questions and answers, forms a course which will take you from beginner or intermediate level to having a confident grasp of physics. The book includes: simple step-by-step explanations, to help you grasp new topics or those that have previously...
Description
Test your wits against the puzzle that likely inspired the famous expression "thinking outside the box." Then apply this strategy to a variety of brain teasers, involving matchsticks, cards, light switches, and other objects in interesting and puzzling situations. Also ponder the legendary physics exam question: How can you find the height of a building by using a barometer?
Description
Explore how we study the environments of distant planets and what—or who—may be living on them. Among the many bright minds you'll meet are Vikki Meadows, whose team specializes in habitability and biosignatures, and Frank Drake, whose famous equation puts a number on the civilizations in our galaxy we could potentially detect.
Description
Astronomers today continue the search for exoplanets orbiting around other stars. In this episode, meet astronomers Alex Wolszczan and Dale Frail, who in the 1990s discovered not only the first extrasolar planets, but also the first multi-planet system and the first evidence of planets forming around pulsars.
Description
Explore Pluto's brief decades of fame. Start with Percival Lowell and Clyde Tombaugh's search for another planet lurking beyond Neptune, continue with Gerard Kuiper's pioneering work on airborne observatories that revealed our first glimpse of Pluto's atmosphere, and conclude with the planet's demotion to a dwarf planet that was part of the ring of rock-and-ice objects known as the Kuiper belt.
Description
What began as a faint hiss soon became one of the most crucial signals being studied in astronomy today. In this episode on the cosmic microwave background (CMB), discover how detector designs, satellite observations, and other heroic efforts have shaped our understanding of the entire universe, from its age to the way it behaves today.
Description
In this episode, unpack the mysteries of Hubble's law. First, take a closer look at each part of this deceptively simple equation. Then, encounter the many heroes behind the law, including Vesto Slipher, an astronomer at Arizona's Lowell Observatory, and Georges Lemaître, a Belgian priest and astronomer who may have influenced Hubble's insights.
11) Great Heroes and Discoveries of Astronomy: Episode 13,Pioneers of X-ray and Ultraviolet Astronomy
Description
X-ray and ultraviolet light are invaluable pieces in the puzzle of observational astronomy that have opened our eyes to everything from the solar corona to Earth's magnetic field. Here, take a closer look at the importance of ultraviolet and X-ray astronomy, and the invaluable efforts of scientific heroes like George Carruthers and Riccardo Giacconi.
Description
With so many stars, could we possibly study them all? Enter three women: Williamina Fleming, who developed a method for classifying stars based on their spectra; Annie Jump Cannon, who rearranged the classification system's order using multiple elements; and Cecilia Payne, who established the first temperature scale for stars based on their classifications and spectral appearances.
Description
How did Henrietta Swan Leavitt, the prolific discoverer of variable stars, make sense of "Cepheid variables"? How did she calculate the relationship between their periods and their true luminosities? How did Edwin Hubble use Leavitt's work (known as the Leavitt law) to measure the distance to the Great Andromeda Nebula in the 1920s?
Description
Today, radio astronomy is an immense field that has given rise to some of the most exciting scientific discoveries of the last century. Explore the work of Karl Jansky, who first detected radio waves in the early 1930s, and Grote Roeber, who built the first dedicated radio telescope and kicked off a surge of interest in radio astronomy.
Description
There is perhaps no more famous theory in the field of physics than Albert Einstein's special theory of relativity. After unpacking the details of the infamous equation that revolutionized science, discover how Arthur Eddington catapulted Einstein and his newly proven theories about the relationship between space, time, and gravity worldwide.
16) Great Heroes and Discoveries of Astronomy: Episode 9,Vera Rubin and the Discovery of Dark Matter
Description
Today's physicists and astronomers debate the idea of dark matter: what it's made of, how it works, and what it means for the makeup of our universe. Go back to the beginning and learn about the invaluable contributions of Vera Rubin and Kent Ford, who found the first observational evidence of dark matter.
Description
Supernovae are some of the most luminous events in our universe. Learn why Oscar Duhalde deserves a unique place among astronomical heroes, then examine how astronomers study and classify supernovae and eventually discovered SN 1987A: one of the most infamous and well-studied supernovae of all time.
Description
Here, focus on the story of Edwin Hubble's most famous namesake: the Hubble Space Telescope. Among the heroes who helped make this vision a reality were the astrophysicist Lyman Spitzer; Nancy Roman, NASA's first chief of astronomy; and a team of astronomers and telescope builders who helped repair a critical problem post-launch.
19) Great Heroes and Discoveries of Astronomy: Episode 16,The Heroic Detection of Gravitational Waves
Description
Dig into what gravitational waves are, as well as the enormous observatories and groups of scientists that accomplished the mind-blowing task of detecting them. Focus on the work of teams led by Rai Weiss, Kip Thorne, and Barry Barish, whose Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) detected the tiny chirps of minuscule density waves in spacetime.
Description
Discover the contributions of Jocelyn Bell and other astronomers in the search for neutron stars and black holes. How do astronomers observe these strange objects—and what, exactly, are they? What cutting-edge techniques are today's teams of heroic astronomers using to study topics like stellar death and gravity?
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