Mr Tompkins has become known and loved by many thousands of readers (since his first appearance over fifty years ago) as the bank clerk whose fantastic dreams and adventures lead him into a world ins
A distinguished physicisttakes an enlightening look at three scientists whose work unlocked manymysteries: Galileo, the first to examine the process of free and restricted fall; Newton, o
Outstanding text by one of the 20th century's foremost physicists dramatically explains how the central laws of physical science evolved, from Pythagoras' discovery of frequency ratios in the 6th cent
In this fascinating book, a renowned physicist outlines the discoveries and theories that illuminate the evolution of our world. One of the founders of Big Bang theory, George Gamow employs language t
Lucid, accessible introduction to the influential theory of energy and matter features careful explanations of Dirac's anti-particles, Bohr's model of the atom, and much more. Numerous drawings. 1966
Mr Tompkins is back! The mild-mannered bank clerk with the short attention span and vivid imagination has inspired, charmed and informed young and old alike since the publication of the hugely successful Mr Tompkins in Paperback (by George Gamow) in 1965. In this 1999 book, he returns in a new set of adventures exploring the extreme edges of the universe - the smallest, the largest, the fastest, the farthest. Through his experiences and his dreams, you are there at Mr Tompkins' shoulder watching and taking part in the merry dance of cosmic mysteries: Einstein's relativity, bizarre effects near light-speed, the birth and death of the universe, black holes, quarks, space warps and antimatter, the fuzzy world of the quantum, and that ultimate cosmic mystery of all … love. This text is revised, updated and expanded by best-selling popular-science author Russell Stannard (who wrote the much-acclaimed Uncle Albert series of books for children).
Mr Tompkins is back! The mild-mannered bank clerk with the short attention span and vivid imagination has inspired, charmed and informed young and old alike since the publication of the hugely successful Mr Tompkins in Paperback (by George Gamow) in 1965. In this 1999 book, he returns in a new set of adventures exploring the extreme edges of the universe - the smallest, the largest, the fastest, the farthest. Through his experiences and his dreams, you are there at Mr Tompkins' shoulder watching and taking part in the merry dance of cosmic mysteries: Einstein's relativity, bizarre effects near light-speed, the birth and death of the universe, black holes, quarks, space warps and antimatter, the fuzzy world of the quantum, and that ultimate cosmic mystery of all … love. This text is revised, updated and expanded by best-selling popular-science author Russell Stannard (who wrote the much-acclaimed Uncle Albert series of books for children).
Since his first appearance over sixty years ago, Mr Tompkins has become known and loved by many thousands of readers as the bank clerk whose fantastic dreams and adventures lead him into a world inside the atom. George Gamow's classic provides a delightful explanation of the central concepts in modern physics, from atomic structure to relativity, and quantum theory to fusion and fission. Roger Penrose's foreword introduces Mr Tompkins to a new generation of readers and reviews his adventures in light of recent developments in physics.
George Gamow's first Tompkins book, Mr Tompkins in Wonderland, created a 'toy universe' where, as his son comments in the preface to this 2010 reprint, 'the maximum speed of light is assumed to be 10 miles per hour, while all the laws of general relativity still hold'. Since the death of the author in 1968, the Mr Tompkins series has gone through a number of reincarnations. The latest reincarnation, The Adventures of Mr Tompkins (www.theadventuresofmrtompkins.com), has Mr Tompkins not only visiting physicists, well also one biologist in Mr Tompkins Learns the Facts of Life but he also visits a slew of scientists from all branches of science and mathematics, from their very beginnings to the present time, from Aristotle to Watson and Crick.
First published in 1945, in the aftermath of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Atomic Energy in Cosmic and Human Life offers a unique account of the problem of atomic energy and the underlying principles of radioactive decay. Written by the pre-eminent physicist George Gamow, and dedicated to the hope of lasting peace, the book was originally designed to give a complete picture of what atomic energy is, where it comes from, and how it can be used for better or worse. Featuring a number of graphs and illustrations by the author himself, this small volume will continue to be of value to those interested in the history of the study of radioactivity.
Over 120 delightful pen-and-ink illustrations by the author add another dimension of good-natured charm to these wide-ranging explorations. A mind-expanding volume for the layman and the science-mind