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One of the paradoxes of the physical sciences is that as our knowledge has progressed, more and more diverse physical phenomena can be explained in terms of fewer underlying laws, or principles. In Hidden Unity, eminent physicist John Taylor puts many of these findings into historical perspective and documents how progress is made when unexpected, hidden unities are uncovered between apparently unrelated physical phenomena. Taylor cites examples from the ancient Greeks to the present day, such as the unity of celestial and terrestrial dynamics (17th century), the unity of heat within the rest of dynamics (18th century), the unity of electricity, magnetism, and light (19th century), the unity of space and time and the unification of nuclear forces with electromagnetism (20th century). Without relying on mathematical detail, Taylor's emphasis is on fundamental physics, like particle physics and cosmology. Balancing what is understood with the unestablished theories and still unanswered questions, Taylor takes readers on a fascinating ongoing journey. John C. Taylor is Professor Emeritus of Mathematical Physics at the University of Cambridge. A student of Nobel laureate Abdus Salam, Taylor's research career has spanned the era of developments in elementary particle physics since the 1950s. He taught theoretical physics at Imperial College, London, and at the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, and he has lectured worldwide. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society and a Fellow of the Institute of Physics.
E-Book Content
HIDDEN UNITY IN NATURE’S LAWS
JOHN C. TAYLOR
Cambridge University Press
HIDDEN UNITY IN NATURE’S LAWS As physics has progressed through the ages it has succeeded in explaining more and more diverse phenomena with fewer and fewer underlying principles. This lucid and wide-ranging book explains how this understanding has developed by periodically uncovering unexpected “hidden unities” in nature. The author deftly steers the reader on a fascinating path that goes to the heart of physics – the search for and discovery of elegant laws that unify and simplify our understanding of the intricate universe in which we live. Starting with the ancient Greeks, the author traces the development of major concepts in physics right up to the present day. Throughout, the presentation is crisp and informative, and only a minimum of mathematics is used. Any reader with a background in mathematics or physics will find this book provides fascinating insight into the development of our fundamental understanding of the world, and the apparent simplicity underlying it. John C. Taylor is professor emeritus of mathematical physics at the University of Cambridge. A pupil of the Nobel Prize–winner Abdus Salam, Professor Taylor has had a long and distinguished career. In particular, he was a discoverer of equations that play an important role in the theory of the current “standard model” of particles and their forces. In 1976, he published the first textbook on the subject, Gauge Theories of Weak Interactions. He has taught theoretical physics at Imperial College, London, and the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, and he has lectured around the world. In 1981 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society.
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HIDDEN UNITY IN NATURE’S LAWS JOHN C. TAYLOR University of Cambridge
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PUBLISHED BY CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS (VIRTUAL PUBLISHING) FOR AND ON BEHALF OF THE PRESS SYNDICATE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE The Pitt Building, Trumpington Street, Cambridge CB2 IRP 40 West 20th Street, New York, NY 10011-4211, USA 477 Williamstown Road, Port Melbourne, VIC 3207, Australia http://www.cambridge.org © Cambridge University Press 2001 This edition © Cambridge University Press (Virtual Publishing) 2003 First published in printed format 2