Iran’s nuclear program has generated intense controversy ever since the International Atomic Energy Agency reported in 2003 that Iran was secretly pursuing enrichment activities. Although Iranian offi
From molecules to stars, much of the cosmic canvas can be painted in brushstrokes of primary color: the protons, neutrons, and electrons we know so well. But for meticulous detail, we have to dip into
This graduate/research level text is a self-contained exposition of the applications of kinetic theory to basic problems in modern cosmology, such as the role of stable and unstable massive neutrinos and the theory of cosmological helium production. There has been rapid development of the theory of the origin and evolution of the universe in recent years, stimulated in large part by new observations and theories in astrophysics and particle physics. This book takes a different approach and studies what can be concluded from the application to cosmological problems of kinetic theory and, in particular, the Boltzmann equation and its solutions. The book begins with a brief survey of the necessary relativity, cosmodynamics, and kinetic theory, before going on to discuss specific problems, such as the role of stable and unstable massive neutrinos, electron-poritron annihilation, and the theory of cosmological helium production. The focus is in obtaining both theoretical understanding and c
In 1953, reflecting on early ventures in quantum theory, J. Robert Oppenheimer spoke of terror and exaltation, of history happening in a realm so remote from common experience that it was “unlikely to
This book is a history of nuclear weapons. From their initial theoretical development at the start of the twentieth century to the recent tests in North Korea, Jeremy Bernstein seeks to describe the basic science of nuclear weaponry at each point in the narrative. At the same time, he offers accounts and anecdotes of the personalities involved, many of whom he has known firsthand. Dr Bernstein writes in response to what he sees as a widespread misunderstanding throughout the media and hence among the general public of the basic workings and potential impact of nuclear weaponry. For example, he points out that it has been nearly thirty years since anyone has even seen a nuclear detonation. Likewise, the Nagasaki bomb, primitive when compared to more modern devices, generated an explosion roughly the equivalent of eight thousand copies of the truck bomb used by Timothy McVeigh in Oklahoma City.
From April through December of 1945, ten of Nazi Germany's greatest nuclear physicists were detained by Allied military and intelligence services in a kind of gilded cage at Farm Hall, an English coun
