New Releases by Steven Weinberg

A Nobel Prize-winning physicist explains what happened at the very beginning of the universe, and how we know, in this popular science classic. Our universe has been growing for nearly 14 billion years. But almost everything about it, from the elements that forged stars, planets, and lifeforms, to the fundamental forces of physics, can be traced back to what happened in just the first three minutes of its existence. In this book, Nobel Laureate Steven Weinberg describes in wonderful detail what happened in these first three minutes. It is an exhilarating journey that begins with the Planck Epoch - the earliest period of time in the history of the universe - and goes through Einstein''s Theory of Relativity, the Hubble Red Shift, and the detection of the Cosmic Microwave Background. These incredible discoveries all form the foundation for what we now understand as the "standard model" of the origin of the universe. The First Three Minutes examines not only what this model looks like, but also tells the exciting story of the bold thinkers who put it together. Clearly and accessibly written, The First Three Minutes is a modern-day classic, an unsurpassed explanation of where it is that everything really comes from.

Nobel Laureate Steven Weinberg explains the foundations of modern physics in historical context for undergraduates and beyond.

Stars -- Binaries -- The interstellar medium -- Galaxies.

One of the world’s most captivating scientists challenges us to think about nature’s foundations and the entanglement of science and society. Steven Weinberg, author of The First Three Minutes, offers his views on fascinating aspects of physics and the universe, but does not seclude science behind disciplinary walls, or shy away from politics.

Fu nelle colonie greche del Mediterraneo, tra il VI e il V secolo a.C., che vennero formulate le prime congetture sulla sostanza fondamentale di cui è fatto il mondo. «Fisici» e filosofi erano alla ricerca dei principi costituenti dell''universo, e questa indagine - da Talete a Eraclito, da Parmenide a Democrito - condusse alle prime, originali risposte circa la natura e l''apparenza delle cose. Nell''indagare e descrivere una realtà sottostante e unificatrice, gli antichi greci erano come gli scienziati moderni. Ma, secondo il premio Nobel per la fisica Steven Weinberg, la somiglianza finisce qui. Infatti nessuno - a Mileto, a Efeso, ad Abdera o ad Atene - cercò mai di «spiegare» come le teorie sul principio fondamentale del kosmos rendessero conto delle apparenze, così come nessuno tentò di verificare o anche solo giustificare le proprie ipotesi. Non si trattava di pigrizia intellettuale. Semplicemente, i greci non ne avvertivano la necessità e «non lo avevano mai visto fare». Per arrivare a una comprensione scientifica del mondo si dovrà attendere, per Weinberg, la grande rivoluzione intellettuale che, tra il XVI e il XVII secolo, condurrà alla «scoperta» della scienza moderna, vale a dire quell''insieme di pratiche, di canoni e di procedure con cui oggi guardiamo ai fenomeni dell''universo. È stato un cammino lungo e difficile, che dall''Accademia di Platone e il Museo di Alessandria, passando per l''elaborazione compiuta in Europa e nei paesi arabi durante il Medioevo, ha portato alle grandi imprese di Copernico e Keplero, Tycho Brahe e Descartes, Galileo e Newton. Un cammino che l''autore di Spiegare il mondo ripercorre nelle sue tappe fondamentali - con un''attenzione rivolta in particolare alla storia della fisica e dell''astronomia -, soffermandosi sugli snodi concettuali, le discontinuità, gli errori e le vie «sbagliate», senza tralasciare i conflitti sorti in epoche e contesti differenti con i dogmi della fede e le istituzioni religiose, né i rapporti, dai contorni spesso indistinti, con la filosofia e la tecnologia. Un cammino, infine, seguito con una buona dose di irriverenza - in particolare laddove Weinberg non esita a criticare i metodi e le teorie del passato alla luce delle conoscenze attuali - e con la consapevolezza che la scienza, lungi dal garantire una qualche forma di certezza, non è altro che il tentativo di dare una risposta «soddisfacente» alle domande che da sempre l''uomo si pone circa le leggi della natura. Una risposta spesso accidentale, a volte imprevedibile, ma che tuttavia è in grado di avvicinarci a una conoscenza che oltre a essere attendibile è anche fonte di gioia.

In To Explain the World, pre-eminent theoretical physicist Steven Weinberg offers a rich and irreverent history of science from a unique perspective - that of a scientist. Moving from ancient Miletus to medieval Baghdad to Oxford, and from the Museum of Alexandria to the Royal Society of London, he shows that the scientists of the past not only did not understand what we understand about the world - they did not understand what there is to understand. Yet eventually, through the struggle to solve such mysteries as the backward movement of the planets and the rise and fall of tides, the modern discipline of science emerged.

Die Quantenmechanik stellt die zentrale Revolution der modernen Naturwissenschaft dar und reicht in ihrer Bedeutung weit uber die Physik hinaus: weder Chemie noch Biologie auf der molekularen Skala waren ohne sie verstandlich. Moderne Informationstechnologie, vom Laptop uber das Mobiltelefon und den Flachbildschirm bis hin zum Supercomputer, ware ohne quantenmechanische Effekte undenkbar. Sie beschreibt die Welt auf der atomaren und subatomaren Skala und ist damit der Ausgangspunkt unseres modernen Weltbildes. Gleichzeitig stellt sie eine Provokation dar: im Menschen tief verankerte intuitive Vorstellungen vom Funktionieren der Welt, die mit den Prinzipien der klassischen Physik noch gut vereinbar waren, mussen aufgegeben werden. Ihre Akzeptanz liegt somit vor allem in dem enormen empirischen Erfolg begrundet, den sie trotz ihrer recht einfachen Grundstruktur aufweist: es handelt sich um die am besten experimentell uberprufte wissenschaftliche Theorie uberhaupt, und im Rahmen der von ihr behaupteten Anwendbarkeit sind bis dato nicht die kleinsten Abweichungen gefunden worden. Der Verfasser dieses Buches, der Nobelpreistrager Steven Weinberg, hat unter anderem durch seine Theorie der Vereinheitlichung zweier der vier Fundamentalwechselwirkungen der Natur, der schwachen und der elektromagnetischen Wechselwirkung, einen der wichtigsten Beitrage uberhaupt zu dieser Revolution geleistet. In diesem Buch, das auf seinen Vorlesungen an der Universitat von Texas in Austin aufbaut, gibt er seine personliche Sicht der Quantenphysik, die durch streng logischen Aufbau, prazise sprachliche Darstellung und mathematische Klarheit und Vollstandigkeit besticht. Das Buch richtet sich an Studierende der Naturwissenschaften, insbesondere der Physik. Es begleitet Studierende in ihrer ersten theoretischen Vorlesung zur Quantenmechanik im Bachelorstudium und schlagt die Brucke zu fortgeschrittenen Vorlesungen uber Quantenmechanik im Masterstudium. Begleitet wird der Text von Ubungsaufgaben, die es den Studierenden erlauben, ihr Wissen unmittelbar anzuwenden, aber auch ihr Verstandnis zu testen. Neben einer Vorlesungsbegleitung eignet sich die Quantenmechanik von Weinberg aufgrund ihrer Prazision und Klarheit auch hervorragend zum Selbststudium. Inhalt: - historische Anfange der Quantentheorie - Schrodingers Wellenmechanik: Wasserstoffatom und harmonischer Oszillator - Grundlagen der Quantenmechanik: Zustande, Observable, Symmetrien - Interpretationen der Quantenmechanik - Spin und Drehimpulse - Naherungsverfahren: Storungsrechnung, Variationsrechnung, Born-Oppenheimer-Naherung, WKB-Naherung - Zeitabhangige Storungstheorie

A leading physicist delves into relativity and experimental applications Gravitation and Cosmology: Principles and Applications of the General Theory of Relativity offers a Nobel laureate''s perspectives on the wealth of data technological developments have brought to expand upon Einstein''s theory. Unique in basing relativity on the Principle of Equivalence of Gravitation and Inertia over Riemannian geometry, this book explores relativity experiments and observational cosmology to provide a sound foundation upon which analyses can be made. Covering special and general relativity, tensor analysis, gravitation, curvature, and more, this book provides an engaging, insightful introduction to the forces that shape the universe.

Nobel Laureate Steven Weinberg combines his exceptional physical insight with his gift for clear exposition to provide a concise introduction to modern quantum mechanics. Ideally suited to a one-year graduate course, this textbook is also a useful reference for researchers. Readers are introduced to the subject through a review of the history of quantum mechanics and an account of classic solutions of the Schrödinger equation, before quantum mechanics is developed in a modern Hilbert space approach. The textbook covers many topics not often found in other books on the subject, including alternatives to the Copenhagen interpretation, Bloch waves and band structure, the Wigner–Eckart theorem, magic numbers, isospin symmetry, the Dirac theory of constrained canonical systems, general scattering theory, the optical theorem, the ''in-in'' formalism, the Berry phase, Landau levels, entanglement and quantum computing. Problems are included at the ends of chapters, with solutions available for instructors at www.cambridge.org/9781107028722.

The New York Times’s James Glanz has called Steven Weinberg “perhaps the world’s most authoritative proponent of the idea that physics is hurtling toward a ‘final theory,’ a complete explanation of nature’s particles and forces that will endure as the bedrock of all science forevermore. He is also a powerful writer of prose that can illuminate—and sting... He recently received the Lewis Thomas Prize, awarded to the researcher who best embodies ‘the scientist as poet.’” Both the brilliant scientist and the provocative writer are fully present in this book as Weinberg pursues his principal passions, theoretical physics and a deeper understanding of the culture, philosophy, history, and politics of science. Each of these essays, which span fifteen years, struggles in one way or another with the necessity of facing up to the discovery that the laws of nature are impersonal, with no hint of a special status for human beings. Defending the spirit of science against its cultural adversaries, these essays express a viewpoint that is reductionist, realist, and devoutly secular. Each is preceded by a new introduction that explains its provenance and, if necessary, brings it up to date. Together, they afford the general reader the unique pleasure of experiencing the superb sense, understanding, and knowledge of one of the most interesting and forceful scientific minds of our era.

The Nobel Prize-winning physicist and bestselling author of The First Three Minutes describes the grand quest for a unifying theory of nature--one that can explain forces as different as the cohesion inside the atom and the gravitational tug between the sun and Earth. Wirting with dazzling elegance and clarity, he retraces the steps that have led modern scientists from relativity and quantum mechanics to the notion of super-strings and the idea that our universe may coexist with others. But Weinberg asks as many questions as he answers, among them: Why does each explanation of the way nature works point to other, deeper explanations? Why are the best theories not only logical but beautiful? And what implications will a final theory have for our philosophy and religious faith? Intellectually daring, rich in anecdote and aphorism, Dreams of a Final Theory launches us into a new cosmos and helps us make sense of what we find there.

Steven Weinberg, premio Nobel de Física por su contribución a la unificación de dos de las fuerzas básicas de la naturaleza -la fuerza débil y el electromagnetismo-, aborda en este libro la gran aventura intelectual de nuestro tiempo: la búsqueda de una "teoría final", aquella en la que todas las preguntas fundamentales hallarían respuesta sin requerir una explicación en términos de otros principios. Weinberg, que no sólo es un gran físico sino un excelente divulgador, nos explica de manera llana y comprensible la idea de esta "teoría final", los pasos que han conducido hacia ella y los obstáculos que encuentra, dejándonos en la frontera de esa tierra prometida.

A collection of articles by Nobel prize-winning physicist Steven Weinberg in which he reflects on and discusses topics such as cosmology; political and religious issues around the world; Albert Einstein; and missile defense systems.

This is a uniquely comprehensive and detailed treatment of the theoretical and observational foundations of modern cosmology, by a Nobel Laureate in Physics. It gives up-to-date and self contained accounts of the theories and observations that have made the past few decades a golden age of cosmology.

In this second volume of The Quantum Theory of Fields, available for the first time in paperback, Nobel Laureate Steven Weinberg continues his masterly expoistion of quantum theory. Volume 2 provides an up-to-date and self-contained account of the methods of quantum field theory, and how they have led to an understanding of the weak, strong, and electromagnetic interactions of the elementary particles. The presentation of modern mathematical methods is throughout interwoven with accounts of the problems of elementary particle physics and condensed matter physics to which they have been applied. Exercises are included at the end of each chapter.

In The Quantum Theory of Fields, Nobel Laureate Steven Weinberg combines his exceptional physical insight with his gift for clear exposition to provide a self-contained, comprehensive, and up-to-date introduction to quantum field theory. This is a two-volume work. Volume I introduces the foundations of quantum field theory. The development is fresh and logical throughout, with each step carefully motivated by what has gone before, and emphasizing the reasons why such a theory should describe nature. After a brief historical outline, the book begins anew with the principles about which we are most certain, relativity and quantum mechanics, and the properties of particles that follow from these principles. Quantum field theory emerges from this as a natural consequence. The author presents the classic calculations of quantum electrodynamics in a thoroughly modern way, showing the use of path integrals and dimensional regularization. His account of renormalization theory reflects the changes in our view of quantum field theory since the advent of effective field theories. The book''s scope extends beyond quantum electrodynamics to elementary particle physics, and nuclear physics. It contains much original material, and is peppered with examples and insights drawn from the author''s experience as a leader of elementary particle research. Problems are included at the end of each chapter. This work will be an invaluable reference for all physicists and mathematicians who use quantum field theory, and it is also appropriate as a textbook for graduate students in this area.

Plus de 550 illustrations pour décrire les formes de vie merveilleuses des côtes et des fonds de la mer Rouge et de l''océan Indien. Les biotopes et 500 espèces différentes de la flore et de la faune marines sont présentés aux amoureux de la mer, depuis le touriste muni d''un masque et d''un tuba jusqu''au plongeur chevronné. L''auteur, Steven Weinberg, est professeur de biologie à l''Ecole européenne de Luxembourg et pratique la plongée depuis près d''un demi-siècle ! Son autre passion, la photographie, se marie harmonieusement avec ses activités subaquatiques. Avec ses autres titres : " la Méditerranée ", " l''Atlantique, la Manche et ta mer du Nord ", " la Mer des Caraïbes et l''Atlantique tropical " et " l''Océan Pacifique tropical ", la collection " Découvrir " est désormais incontournable pour le plongeur qui s''intéresse à la vie sous-marine.

Plus de 500 illustrations pour découvrir la vie des côtes de l''Atlantique, de la Manche et de la mer du Nord, du sud de l''Espagne à la Norvège ! Les biotopes et 400 espèces différentes de la flore et de la faune marines sont présentés aux amoureux de la mer, de l''estivant promeneur au plongeur chevronné, en passant par le pêcheur à pied.

In this absorbing commentary on the discovery of the atom''s constituents, Steven Weinberg accomplishes a brilliant fusion of history and science. This is in effect two books, cleverly interwoven. One is an account of a sequence of key events in the physics of the twentieth century, events that led to the discoveries of the electron, proton and neutron. The other is an introduction to those fundamentals of classical physics that played crucial roles in these discoveries. Physical concepts are introduced where needed to understand the historical story, and each new concept builds on physics already explained. Throughout the book, connections are shown between the historic discoveries of subatomic particles and work today at the frontiers of physics. A final chapter describes the discoveries of new elementary particles up to the present day.

El cientifico brillante y el escritor provocador se dan cita en este libro de Steven Weinberg, donde este ganador del premio Nobel cultiva sus principales pasiones: la fisica teorica y un conocimiento profundo de la cultura, la filosofia, la historia y la politica de la ciencia.Cada uno de los ensayos que conforman el volumen, que abarcan un periodo de quince anos, trata de un modo u otro la necesidad de hacer frente al descubrimiento de que las leyes de la naturaleza son impersonales, sin indicio alguno de un estatus especial para los seres humanos. Al defender el espiritu de la ciencia frente a sus adversarias culturales, estos textos expresan un punto de vista reduccionista, realista y completamente secular. En conjunto, permiten a todo tipo de lectores el placer unico de experimentar la brillantez del sentido comun, la lucidez y los conocimientos de una de las mentes cientificas mas interesantes y convincentes de nuestra epoca.En una resena del New York Times, James Glanz comento: "Steven Weinberg es quiza el defensor de mayor autoridad mundial respecto a la idea de que la fisica esta avanzando con rapidez hacia una "teoria final," una explicacion completa de la particulas y fuerzas de la naturaleza que perdurara para siempre como base de toda ciencia. Es tambien un habil prosista capaz de ilustrar a la vez que provoca controversia." Weinberg recibio recientemente el Premio Lewis Thomas, concedido al investigador que mejor encarna al "cientifico como poeta""

自然界为人类留下许多不解之谜,而宇宙的起源是最大的谜,本书解释关于宇宙起源近几十年来科学界的最新成果和主要代表性理论。

Perhaps the two most important conceptual breakthroughs in twentieth century physics are relativity and quantum mechanics. Developing a theory that combines the two seamlessly is a difficult and ongoing challenge. This accessible book contains intriguing explorations of this theme by the distinguished physicists Richard Feynman and Steven Weinberg. Richard Feynman''s contribution examines the nature of antiparticles, and in particular the relationship between quantum spin and statistics. In his essay, Steven Weinberg speculates on how Einstein''s theory of gravitation might be reconciled with quantum theory in the final laws of physics. Both these Nobel laureates have made huge contributions to fundamental research in physics, as well as to the popularization of science. Anyone interested in the development of modern physics will find this a fascinating book.

Depuis l''invention des religions monothéistes, l''humanité poursuit le rêve d''une théorie ultime, d''une loi unique. Un plaidoyer pour la science lourde, dont l''auteur, prix Nobel de physique en 1979, espère un jour conjurer le déclin.

Available for the first time in paperback, The Quantum Theory of Fields is a self-contained, comprehensive, and up-to-date introduction to quantum field theory from Nobel Laureate Steven Weinberg. Volume I introduces the foundations of quantum field theory.