Tony Rothman

George Sudarshan

Two physicists examine philosophical and scientific questions in the imaginary setting of a modern day Platonic Academy

Doubt And Certainty

Tony Rothman offers a primer on the science of the big bang and the questions we still can't answer about the origins of the universe. Enlisting thoughtful analogies and a step-by-step approach, Rothman guides readers through dark matter, dark energy, quantum gravity, and other topics at--and beyond--the cutting edge of cosmology.

A Little Book about the Big Bang

For everyone who breaks out in a sweat at the thought of thermodynamics or quantum mechanics, now there's a concise and comprehensive text that's the ideal remedial remedy--guaranteed to produce advanced results. Filled with features such as chapter summaries, a who's who list, and biographical and historical tidbits, plus illustrations, photos, equations, and diagrams.

From Aristotle to Einstein, and Beyond

Instant Physics

The World is Round

The surprising truth behind many of the most cherished "facts" in science history Morse invented the telegraph, Bell the telephone, Edison the light bulb, and Marconi the radio . . . right? Well . . . the truth is slightly more complicated. The history of science and technology is riddled with apocrypha, inaccuracies, and falsehoods, and physicist Tony Rothman has taken it upon himself to throw a monkey wrench into the works. Combining a storyteller's gifts with a scientist's focus and hardheaded devotion to the facts-such as they may be-Rothman breaks down many of the most famous "just-so" stories of physics, astronomy, chemistry, biology, and technology to give credit where credit is truly due. From Einstein's possible misunderstanding of his own theories to actress Hedy Lemarr's role in the invention of the radio-controlled torpedo, he dredges his way through the legends of science history in relating the fascinating stories behind some of the most important, and often unsung, breakthroughs in science. Tony Rothman, PhD (Bryn Mawr, PA), is a Research Associate at Bryn Mawr College. He is the author of seven other critically acclaimed science books and a frequent contributor to leading science publications, including Scientific American and Discover.

And Other Fables from Science and Technology

Everything's Relative

Fukagawa Hidetoshi

Between the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries Japan was totally isolated from the West by imperial decree. During that time, a unique brand of homegrown mathematics flourished, one that was completely uninfluenced by developments in Western mathematics. People from all walks of life--samurai, farmers, and merchants--inscribed a wide variety of geometry problems on wooden tablets called sangaku and hung them in Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines throughout Japan. Sacred Mathematics is the first book published in the West to fully examine this tantalizing--and incredibly beautiful--mathematical tradition. Fukagawa Hidetoshi and Tony Rothman present for the first time in English excerpts from the travel diary of a nineteenth-century Japanese mathematician, Yamaguchi Kanzan, who journeyed on foot throughout Japan to collect temple geometry problems. The authors set this fascinating travel narrative--and almost everything else that is known about temple geometry--within the broader cultural and historical context of the period. They explain the sacred and devotional aspects of sangaku, and reveal how Japanese folk mathematicians discovered many well-known theorems independently of mathematicians in the West--and in some cases much earlier. The book is generously illustrated with photographs of the tablets and stunning artwork of the period. Then there are the geometry problems themselves, nearly two hundred of them, fully illustrated and ranging from the utterly simple to the virtually impossible. Solutions for most are provided. A unique book in every respect, Sacred Mathematics demonstrates how mathematical thinking can vary by culture yet transcend cultural and geographic boundaries.

Japanese Temple Geometry

Sacred Mathematics

These iconoclastic and witty essays are about what happens when scientists jump on band-wagons. Tony Rothman applies creative skepticism to contemporary fashions in science, including the "standard model" Big Bang theory, geodesic domes, the concept of nuclear winter, and sociological applications of the second law of thermodynamics. "Rothman proves himself an excellent communicator... I am grateful to him for he has enlarged my vision, increased my understanding, and made me more aware of the beauty of the patterns and connections of all the world."--Dick Kovan, New Scientist "These six delightful essays address and substantiate the sociological underpinnings of the scientific enterprise... I highly recommend this volume of excellent essays that remind us all of the `folly of mistaking a paradox for a discovery, a metaphor for a proof, a torrent of verbiage for a spring of capital truth, and oneself for an oracle...'"--Dennis W. Cheek, Science Books & Films Originally published in 1989. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Physical Fashions and Fictions

Science a la Mode

﻿In three volumes, The Course of Fortune —A Novel of the Great Siege of Malta, follows the adventures of a young Spanish soldier-of-fortune Francisco de Barai over the course of fifteen of the most turbulent years in the most turbulent century in history, adventures that climax in the Great Siege of Malta of 1565. During that most momentous of all sieges, tens of thousands of Turks descend on the island, defended by some 600 Knights of Malta and another few thousand mercenaries and Maltese civilians. The horrific and heroic events are recounted with the utmost attention to historical accuracy, just as the entire escalating chain of events is played out against a finely researched tapestry of Renaissance values, superstitions and culture. Tony Rothman is a physicist and writer. He received a B.A. in physics from Swarthmore College in 1975, and a Ph.D. from the Center for Relativity at the University of Texas, Austin in 1981. After leaving Texas, he did post-doctoral work at Oxford, Moscow and Cape Town. Rothman’s scientific research has been in cosmology, the study of the early universe, and he has authored approximately sixty scientific papers on that subject. He has taught physics at Princeton, Harvard and elsewhere. Apart from his scientific work, Rothman is the author of eleven books, both fiction and nonfiction. The most recent is Firebird, a scientific suspense novel concerning a race for nuclear fusion (Wildside Press, 2015). He has also authored seven plays, contributes to a number of national magazines, including Scientific American and Discover, and has been nominated for the Pulitzer Prize.

The Course of Fortune, A Novel of the Great Siege of Malta (HC)

Steve Warner

Physics Mastery for Advanced High School Students gives you the most effective tips, tricks and tactics from Get 800, a prep company of PhDs dedicated to their students reaching their academic goals. Physics Mastery is an essential part of every study plan to help you - get a perfect score on the SAT physics subject test, and AP physics and 2 exams - improve enough to get into the school you want - review high school physics in the fastest, most effective way possible The material in this physics prep book includes: 1. 12 comprehensive yet concise physics review chapters 2. 100 worked examples 3. 400 problems 4. Multiple solutions for all questions (available as a downloadbale PDF) Physics Mastery Table Of Contents (Selected) Actions to Complete Before You Read This Book General Strategies for Solving Physics Problems Physics Basics Review Problems Involving Dimensions, Units and Vectors Kinematics Review Kinematics Problems Particle Mechanics Review Particle Mechanics Problems Rotation and Angular Momentum Review Rotation and Angular Momentum Problems ... Modern Physics Review Modern Physics Problems Actions to Complete After You Have Read This Book About the Author

Complete Physics Review with 400 SAT and AP Physics Questions

Physics Mastery for Advanced High School Students

Stand on the shoulders of giants and discover the real stories behind many of the most cherished "facts" in science history Forget everything you learned in school. Abandon the sound-bitten histories of textbooks. Disregard the articles you read in your favorite magazines. The history of science is riddled with errors and misconceptions. Facts have been whitewashed by narcissism and nationalism. Brilliant scientists, burdened by procrastination, have practically handed credit for their discoveries over to their more ambitious nemeses. In Everything’s Relative, Tony Rothman debunks centuries of commonly held beliefs to reveal the real truths behind the greatest moments in science. From Einstein’s possible misunderstanding of his own theories to actress Hedy Lemarr’s role in the invention of the radio-controlled torpedo, Everything’s Relative barrels through centuries of legends to reveal the even more fascinating stories behind some of the most important breakthroughs in science. Some of the surprising truths revealed include: Henry Young, the American inventor, discovered radio waves a full half-century before Heinrich Hertz Abel Niepce de Saint Victor discovered radioactivity forty years before Henri Becquerel The cotton gin existed in India and Asia long before Eli Whitney claimed to have invented it Thomas Edison did not invent the first incandescent bulb; he invented the first practical one The Koreans invented moveable type half a century before Johannes Gutenberg

Tony Rothman

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