The Physics book foreword by Jim Al-Khalili

Hardback

Measurement and motion : Physics and the everyday world -- Man is the measure of all things : measuring distance -- A prudent question is one half of wisdom : the scientific method -- All is number : the language of physics -- Bodies suffer no resistance but from the air : free falling -- A new machine for multiplying forces : pressure -- Motion will persist : momentum -- The most wonderful productions of the mechanical arts : measuring time -- All action has a reaction : laws of motion -- The frame of the system of the world : laws of gravity -- Oscillation is everywhere : harmonic motion -- There is no destruction of force : kinetic energy and potential energy -- Energy can be neither created or destroyed : the conservation of energy -- A new treatise on mechanics : energy and motion -- We must look to the heavens for the measure of the earth : SI units and physical constants -- Energy and matter : Materials and heat -- The first principles of the universe : models of matter -- As the extension, so the force : stretching and squeezing -- The minute parts of matter are in rapid motion : fluids -- Searching out the fire-secret : heat and transfers -- Elastical power in the air : the gas laws -- The energy of the universe is constant : internal energy and the first law of thermodynamics -- Heat can be a cause of motion : heat engines -- The entropy of the universe tends to a maximum : entropy and the second law of thermodynamics -- The fluid and its vapour become one : changes of state and making bonds -- Colliding billiard balls in a box : the development of statistical mechanics -- Fetching some gold from the sun : thermal radiation -- Electricity and magnetism : Two forces unite -- Wondrous forces : magnetism -- The attraction of electricity : electric charge -- Potential energy becomes palpable motion : electric potential -- A tax on electrical energy : electric current and resistance -- Each metal has a certain power : making magnets -- Electricity in motion : the motor effect -- The dominion of magnetic forces : induction and the generator effect -- Light itself is an electromagnetic disturbance : force fields and Maxwell's equations -- Man will imprison the power of the sun : generating electricity -- A small step in the control of nature : electronics -- Animal electricity : bioelectricity -- A totally unexpected scientific discovery : storing data -- An encyclopedia on the head of a pin : nanoelectronics -- A single pole, either north or south : magnetic monopoles -- Sound and light : The properties of waves -- There is geometry in the humming of the strings : music -- Light follows the path of least time : reflection and refraction -- A new visible world : focusing light -- Light is a wave : lumpy and wave-like light -- Light is never known to bend into the shadow : diffraction and interference -- The north and south sides of the ray : polarization -- The trumpeters and the wave train : the Doppler effect and redshift -- These mysterious waves we cannot see : electromagnetic waves -- The language of spectra is a true music of the spheres : light from the atom -- Seeing with sound : piezoelectricity and ultrasound -- A large fluctuating echo : seeing beyond light -- The quantum world : Our uncertain universe -- The energy of light is distributed discontinuously in space : energy quanta -- They do not behave like anything that you have ever seen : particles and waves -- A new idea of reality : quantum numbers -- All is waves : matrices and waves -- The cat is both alive and dead : Heisenberg's uncertainty principle -- Spooky action at a distance : quantum entanglement -- The jewel of physics : quantum field theory -- Collaboration between parallel universes -- Nuclear and particle physics : Inside the atom -- Matter is not infinitely divisible -- A veritable transformation of matter -- The constitution of matter : the nucleus -- The bricks of which atoms are built up : subatomic particles -- Little wisps of cloud : particles in the cloud chamber -- Opposites can explode : antimatter -- In search of atomic glue : the strong force -- Dreadful amounts of energy : nuclear bombs and power -- A window on creation : particle accelerators -- The hunt for the quark : the particle zoo and quarks -- Identical nuclear particles do not always act alike : force carriers -- Nature is absurd : quantum electrodynamics -- The mystery of the missing neutrinos : massive neutrinos -- I think we have it : the Higgs boson -- Where has all the antimatter gone? : matter-antimatter asymmetry -- Stars get born and die : nuclear fusion in stars -- Relativity and the universe : Our place in the cosmos -- The windings of the heavenly bodies : the heavens -- Earth is not the centre of the universe : models of the universe -- No true times or true lengths : from classical to special relativity -- The sun as it was about eight minutes ago : the speed of light -- Does Oxford stop at this train? : special relativity -- A union of space and time : curving spacetime -- Gravity is equivalent to acceleration : the equivalence principle -- Why is the travelling twin younger? : paradoxes of special relativity : curving spacetime -- Evolution of the stars and life : mass and energy -- Where spacetime simply ends : black holes and wormholes -- The frontier of the known universe : discovering other galaxies -- The future of the universe : the static or expanding universe -- The cosmic egg, exploding at the moment of creation : the big bang -- Visible matter alone is not enough : dark matter -- An unknown ingredient dominates the universe : dark energy -- Threads in a tapestry : string theory -- Ripples in spacetime : gravitational waves

Explore the laws and theories of physics in this accessible introduction to the forces that shape our Universe, our planet, and our everyday lives. Using a bold, graphic-led approach The Physics Book sets out more than 80 key concepts and discoveries that have defined the subject and influenced our technology since the beginning of time. With the focus firmly on unpicking the thought behind each theory - as well as exploring when and how each idea and breakthrough came about - seven themed chapters examine the history and developments in areas such as Energy and Matter, and Electricity and Magnetism, as well as quantum, nuclear, and particle physics. Eureka moments abound: from Pythagoras's observations of the pleasing harmonies created by vibrating strings, and Galileo's experiments with spheres, to Isaac Newton's apple and his conclusions about gravity and the laws of motion. You'll also learn about Albert Einstein's revelations about relativity; how the accidental discovery of cosmic microwave background radiation confirmed the Big Bang theory; the search for the Higgs boson particle; and why most of our Universe is missing. If you've ever wondered exactly how physicists formulated - and proved - their abstract concepts, The Physics Book is the book for you