EDITORIAL INFORMATION

Grandes Ideas de la Física has an added value rather difficult to measure and quantify, and this is the satisfaction that the readers can experience as they can get to understand the different fundamental pillars of Physics. The two intentions of this book are to give a vision of the nature of the physical sciences. To do this, a small number of ideas has been selected, such as: the conservation of energy, the second law of thermodynamics, the relativity of time and quantum theory. Each one of them has had an impact as well as an application beyond the field of science. The other intention of the book is humanistic; the human personality of the different scientists related to great ideas in physics studied here is likewise reflected. Fragments of notes and original writings are included, as well as the commented biographies on the human character of the scientists, some of them little known on the part of the general public and that are surprising enough, given the important role they have played in the progress and development of physics.

(Extracted from the back cover).

GENERAL TABLE OF CONTENTS

-Contenido.

-Extractos.

-Introducción.

-Julius Robert Mayer.

-1. La Conservación de la Energía.

-A. Las Leyes de Conservación.
-B. La Energía Gravitacional.
-C. La Energía Cinética.
-D. Unidades de Longitud, Masa, Peso y Energía.
-E. Las Leyes de Conservación y Libertad Humana.
-F. La Energía Calorífica.
-G. La Conservación de la Energía y la Limitada Vida del Mundo.
-H. Reacciones a Posibles Violaciones de la Conservación de la Energía.

-William Thomson.

-2. La Segunda Ley de la Termodinámica.

-A. Fenómenos Reversibles e Irreversibles.
-B. Estados de un Sistema y Probabilidad de las Configuraciones.
-C. Energía Mecánica y Calor.
-D. El Flujo Irreversible del Calor.
-E. Realización de Trabajo a Partir de Calor.
-F. Entropía y Orden.
-G. Resistencia a las Implicaciones de la Segunda Ley.
-H. La Segunda Ley Aplicada a la Sociedad Humana.
-I. Utilización de la Segunda Ley para Refutar la Teoría de la Evolución.

-Albert Einstein.

-3. La Relatividad del Tiempo.

-A. Un Resumen de la Relatividad.
-B. La Ciencia que Condujo a la Teoría de la Relatividad.
-C. La Teoría de la Relatividad.
-D. Abolición del Espacio y del Tiempo Absolutos.
-E. Aproximación de Einstein a la Ciencia.
-F. La Influencia de la Teoría de la Relatividad sobre la Literatura.
-G. Relatividad y Escultura.

-Werner Heisenberg.

-4. La Dualidad Onda-Partícula de la Naturaleza.

-A. Ondas.
-B. El Efecto Fotoeléctrico.
-C. El Experimento de la Doble Rendija.
-D. El Papel del Observador y la Naturaleza de la Realidad.
-E. Física Cuántica y Lenguaje.
-F. El Principio de Incertidumbre de Heisenberg y el Fin del Determinismo en la Ciencia.
-G. Determinismo, Causalidad y Elecci&oocuten en el Mundo Cuántico.

-Ejemplo Práctico.

-Apéndice A. Una Revisión de Algunos Conceptos Matemáticos Básicos.

-Apéndice B. La Segunda Ley de la Termodinámica y el Comportamiento de los Sistemas con un Gran Número de Moléculas.

-Indice.

OUR REVIEW

There are certain considerations and themes in modern physics whose importance is so vital that it is strange that they are not more widely divulged in a simple, pleasant way. Lightman intends to do so in his book, and it appears that he is succeeding in it, as he gives to his work a unique dimension in which both men and ideas share a similar protagonism. Utilizing mathematics very sparingly indeed, the work is perfectly structured and balanced, a work where the reader will discover a marvellous world full of possibilities, sometimes contradictory and sometimes completely logical.

The great minds of these latter times are allowing us to understand much better the shape and the very sense of the cosmos. So as to help us to achieve this global understanding, Lightman finishes his chapters with questions for a debate and even exercises that will allow us to find out whether we have assimilated the previous teachings well enough. The contribution of texts belonging to the great scientists improves the ease with which this book can be read. In a few words, this is a very interesting addition to the literature for the divulgation of physics that must satisfy all its readers.