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Table
of Contents
Chapter
1 - Once Over Lightly
Part
I - The Micro-World
Chapter
2 Got Atoms?
Chapter
3 Einstein Who?
Chapter
4 Einstein Settles Atomic Debate
Chapter
5 Inside the Atom
Chapter
6 Elementary Particles
Chapter
7 Antimatter
Chapter
8 Forces
Chapter
9 Energy, Mass, and E=mc2
Chapter
10 Options for Generating Energy
Chapter
11 Particles and Waves
Chapter
12 Galileo and the Principle of Relativity
Chapter
13 Einstein's Theory of Special Relativity
Chapter
14 Einstein and Light
Chapter
15 Al Makes Mom Proud
Chapter
16 Einstein and Quantum Mechanics
Chapter
17 Quantum Mechanics after Einstein
Part
II - Stars
Chapter
18 Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star&ldots;
Chapter
19 Newton and Einstein on Gravity
Chapter
20 Einstein's Theory of General Relativity
Chapter
21 Einstein's Equations Are Solved
Chapter
22 General Relativity: Examples & Tests
Chapter
23 White Dwarfs
Chapter
24 Neutron Stars
Chapter
25 What Are Black Holes?
Chapter
26 The Care and Feeding of Black Holes
Chapter
27 NASA's Great Observatories
Part
III - The Universe
Chapter
28 How Much? How Large? How Old?
Chapter
29 What Is Our Universe?
Chapter
30 Telescopes Are Time Machines
Chapter
31 All the Same Everywhere
Chapter
32 Redshift / Blueshift
Chapter
33 Expansion
Chapter
34 First Light - The CMB
Chapter
35 Dark Matter
Chapter
36 Dark Energy
Chapter
37 Our Special Place in the Cosmos
Chapter
38 The Big Bang Theory
Chapter
39 What Came Before? |
Chapter 1 - Once Over Lightly
You do not need to be a
great musician to appreciate great music. Nor do you need prior math
or physics knowledge to appreciate the exciting discoveries and
intriguing mysteries of our universe which we will explore.
We live in the Golden Age of
Science. More has been discovered in the last century than in all of
prior history. For the first time, we have seen almost to the edge of
our universe, and back almost to the beginning of time. We have seen
the largest structures that exist in nature, and found its smallest
parts. For the first time, science has a coherent story of (almost) everything.
We start in the micro-world,
proceed through the stars, and expand into the cosmos. Along the way,
we will discuss almost all the major discoveries of modern physics,
astronomy and cosmology.
We will encounter several
recurring themes:
-
Einstein's belief in the
simplicity and beauty of nature inspired him to seek unity and
elegance in science.
-
Much that seems vastly
different is often really the same.
-
Everything is intimately
connected, from the smallest to the largest, from atoms to people to
the universe.
-
Great minds sometimes see
what no one else does. Sometimes they are right; sometimes they are wrong.
And there are a lot of
helpful graphics along the way:
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Einstein's Gravity
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continued
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