Encyclopaedic Dictionary Of Physics Vol 3

J. Thewlis' encyclopedic dictionary of physics provides a comprehensive overview of the key concepts and principles that underpin the study of physics. With detailed definitions and explanations, this volume covers topics including quantitative measurements, thermodynamics, particle physics, and wave theory. This classic work remains an essential resource for scholars and students of physics, and a valuable reference for researchers and practitioners in related fields. This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

The Coming of Materials Science both covers the discipline of materials science, and draws an impressionistic map of the present state of the subject. The first chapter examines the emergence of the materials science concept, in both academe and industry. The second and third chapters delve back into the prehistory of materials science, examining the growth of such concepts as atoms, crystals and thermodynamics, and also examine the evolution of a number of neighbouring disciplines, to see what helpful parallels might emerge. The book contains numerous literature references. Many refer to the earliest key papers and books, while others are to sources, often books, offering a view of the present state of a topic. Early references are to the past but as the book continues, it brings the reader up to date with more recent sources. The author, Professor Robert Cahn FRS, has striven to be critical about the history of the discipline of materials science and to draw general conclusions about scientific practice from what he has discovered about the evolution of materials science. Further issues that the book highlights include: What is a scientific discipline? How do disciplines merge and differentiate? Can a discipline also be interdisciplinary? Is materials science a real discipline? A large range of themes is presented in the book and readers are invited to interact with the author if they reach alternative conclusions. This book is not just for reading and reference, but exists to stimulate thought and provoke discussion as well.

Progress in Physics has been created for publications on advanced studies in theoretical and experimental physics, including related themes from mathematics.