E=mc2
Author | : David Bodanis |
Publisher | : Bloomsbury Publishing USA |
Total Pages | : 356 |
Release | : 2009-05-26 |
ISBN-10 | : 9780802718211 |
ISBN-13 | : 0802718213 |
Rating | : 4/5 (11 Downloads) |
Book excerpt: Generations have grown up knowing that the equation E=mc2 changed the shape of our world, but never understanding what it actually means, why it was so significant, and how it informs our daily lives today--governing, as it does, everything from the atomic bomb to a television's cathode ray tube to the carbon dating of prehistoric paintings. In this book, David Bodanis writes the "biography" of one of the greatest scientific discoveries in history--that the realms of energy and matter are inescapably linked--and, through his skill as a writer and teacher, he turns a seemingly impenetrable theory into a dramatic human achievement and an uncommonly good story.