The Science of Energy: A Cultural History of Energy Physics in Victorian Britain

Smith, Crosbie

ISBN 10: 0226764214 / ISBN 13: 9780226764214

Verlag: University of Chicago Press, 1999

Book is considered to be in good or better condition. The actual cover image may not match the stock photo. Hard cover books may show signs of wear on the spine, cover or dust jacket. Paperback book may show signs of wear on spine or cover as well as having a slight bend, curve or creasing to it. Book should have minimal to no writing inside and no highlighting. Pages should be free of tears or creasing. Stickers should not be present on cover or elsewhere, and any CD or DVD expected with the book is included. Book is not a former library copy. Bestandsnummer des Verkäufers SEWV.0226764214.G

Inhaltsangabe:

Although we take it for granted today, the concept of "energy" transformed nineteenth-century physics. In The Science of Energy, Crosbie Smith shows how a North British group of scientists and engineers, including James Joule, James Clerk Maxwell, William and James Thomson, Fleeming Jenkin, and P. G. Tait, developed energy physics to solve practical problems encountered by Scottish shipbuilders and marine engineers; to counter biblical revivalism and evolutionary materialism; and to rapidly enhance their own scientific credibility.

Replacing the language and concepts of classical mechanics with terms such as "actual" and "potential" energy, the North British group conducted their revolution in physics so astutely and vigorously that the concept of "energy"--a valuable commodity in the early days of industrialization--became their intellectual property. Smith skillfully places this revolution in its scientific and cultural context, exploring the actual creation of scientific knowledge during one of the most significant episodes in the history of physics.

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor:

Crosbie Smith is reader in History and Cultural Studies of Science and director of the Centre for History and Cultural Studies of Science at Rutherford College, University of Kent at Canterbury. He is coauthor of Energy and Empire: A Biographical Study of Lord Kelvin and coeditor of Making Space for Science: Territorial Themes in the Shaping of Knowledge.

Bibliografische Details

Titel: The Science of Energy: A Cultural History of...
Verlag: University of Chicago Press
Erscheinungsdatum: 1999
Einband: Softcover
Zustand: good