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In this era of genetic engineering, nanotechnology, cell phones, computers, and the Internet, science literacy becomes an essential element of survival for both individuals and society as a whole.This unique work makes a positive contribution to that end through the biographies of fifteen American scientists, men and women from paleontology to artificial intelligence, written by high school students from the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy.Each student has carefully researched and interviewed a scientist, and written a thoughtful and intriguing portrait focusing on the fascinating life, work, and unique inspiration that motivated each featured scientist to excel in his or her field.This compelling collection will open the eyes of both students and laypersons around the world to the joys and challenges of doing science. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

A wonderful book!
I think this is the perfect book to introduce young people to the fascinating world of scientific discovery. I espeicially liked the chapter on Edward Witten: the Theory of Everything by Maria Wilson. I thought that it was the best chapter in the entire book! Maria Wilson is amazing. I hope she writes her own book someday. I would totally buy a book by Maria Wilson.

Scientists are human!
This is a great read not only for young adults but for anyone who wants to learn about why scientists are drawn to science. You also get easy-to-follow lessons on science that the average person can understand. We get glimpses into their personal life and how they overcame whatever barriers were in place to achieve what they did.

A personal look at scientists
An interesting approach to understanding the scientists that have truly shaped our world as we know it. I attend a school in Illinois where this book was launched, and have met both Dr. Lederman as well as the student authors presented here. They really did enjoy making this book, and put quite a variety within it: from paleontologists to physicists, each presented with each others unique writing style. With this intimate view of the scientists themselves, the reader may achieve a personal outlook of what makes a great scientist, as well as answer the question: What is science? How does science work for us? as those interviewed here describe their work and lives in layman terms. A good book for a young reader interested in science. ... Read more

Product Description
When scientists peer through a telescope at the distant stars in outer space or use a particle-accelerator to analyze the smallest components of matter, they discover that the same laws of physics govern the whole universe at all times and all places. Physicists call the eternal, ubiquitous constancy of the laws of physics symmetry. Nobel Laureate Leon M. Lederman and physicist Christopher T. Hill explain the supremely elegant concept of symmetry and all its profound ramifications to life on Earth and the universe at large in this eloquent, accessible popular science book. They not only clearly describe concepts normally reserved for physicists and mathematicians, but they also instill an appreciation for the profound beauty of the universe's inherent design.Central to the story of symmetry is an obscure, unpretentious, but extremely gifted German mathematician named Emmy Noether. In some of her earliest work she proved that the law of the conservation of energy was connected to the idea of symmetry and thus laid the mathematical groundwork for what may be the most important concept of modern physics.Lederman and Hill reveal concepts about the universe, based on Noether's work, that are largely unknown to the public and have wide-reaching implications in connection with the Big Bang, Einstein's theory of relativity, quantum mechanics, and many other areas of physics. Through ingenious analogies and illustrations, they bring these astounding notions to life. This book will open your eyes to a universe you never knew existed. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (26)

Gauge invariance in a nutshell
Reading the book is like having an amazing journey or being enlightened by one of your favorite teachers, lecturers or professors.The authors managed to start with describing the universality of physical laws, which are essentially eternal as far as we can tell, then linked these tentalizing observations with the concept of symmetry via Noether's theorem.

The book then deliberately slows down its pace to give the reader a chance to absorb the various manifestations of Noether's theorem (spoiler ahead! - "for every conservation law, there must exist a continous symmetry").

Once the authors think the reader is comfortable with this vital link, they then rather briskly describe gauge tranformation and link this with the Standard Model, at the same time guiding the reader to appreciate the majesty of particle physics but also understand that science is still very far away from knowing eveything about the world even if the Large Hadron Collider can yield information about the Higgs boson, which is also described in the book.

Simple mathematics (no calculus required) are kept in the appendix and notes section conveniently and tastefully.

In summary: a very coherent and clear introduction of symmetry (i.e. group theory, gauge transformation) to the lay person like me.

Math and physics as symmetry reflections from one another...?
The book seems written as a tribute to Emmy Noether and her theorem: "For each symmetry there is a conserved magnitude and the other way around". Symmetries lie at the heart of each law of conservation and in fact originate them. Dr. Lederman goes into the underlying symmetries and tries to explain from the bottom up the relationship between the mathematical symmetries and the conservation laws (other authors only mention that this relationship exists and leave it as dogma for you to believe).

Dr. Lederman starts with a thorough explanation of classical physics beginning with the friction dominated world of the Greek. Then he moves on to Newton's Laws of motion to finalize with the concept of "inertia". He explained the concepts of force, momentum, acceleration, work and energy in such a way that for the first time I think I understood them and the relationship between them. If physics had been thought this way in high school I would have enjoyed it far more and I would have probably known what I was dealing with when I solved the equations "mechanically". Momentum was a term that I thought was made up just to name the result of a formula, but I did not think there was a notion or concept behind it. The author explains how the symmetries deriving from rotations in three-dimensional space relate to the laws of conservation of momentum. This part of the book really gave me interesting insights and was full of "a-ha" moments.

Afterwards the author moved to more difficult terrain, namely particle physics, of which he offered a good summary. The "particle zoo" is well represented including the "charges" (electromagnetic charge, color, etc.) with which the various particles interact. The relationships between other symmetries and other conservation laws like the conservation laws of energy, angular momentum, etc. are more difficult to understand, since some are based on what the author calls "hidden" symmetries. Relating to particle physics I truly enjoyed Fearful Symmetry: The Search for Beauty in Modern Physics (Princeton Science Library) which additionally explains the four forces and the standard model as well as Einstein's general and special relativity theories a bit more thoroughly and Deep Down Things: The Breathtaking Beauty of Particle Physics which gives an excellent explanation of the wave equation, the particle zoo, quanta, etc. but requires a bit more effort to read.

Why it is impossible to extract energy from a perpetual motion machine or from changes in the physical laws over time is clearly explained using the example of "ACME", a fictitious company. The explanation is firmly rooted in basic symmetry principles/conservation laws and was truly revealing to me. I was one of those naive persons who believed science could find ways of "magically" producing energy without understanding that basic laws preclude this possibility. ("I won't get fooled again...!") The global implications of this (including ecological implications) are excellently explained.

In addition to all of the above, I definitely need to say that the author has a truly beautiful writing style. This is probably one of the best written books that I have read: a joy to read. Excellent translation into Spanish by Tusquets/Metatemas, by the way.

quantum
Clearly one of the best books on quantum mechanics and relativity I've ever read. I wish a book of this quality was around when I took physics in college.It explains CPT symmetry and special relativity very well.The math and details are well referenced and explained in the notes.Read it twice.The second time is when it really hits home.He also helps with the understanding of Gauge Theory/ Quantum Field Theory and QED.Enjoy

Not Easy ... but Deeply Satisfying
This review must begin with a description of the context in which I encountered "Symmetry and the Beautiful Universe" by Leon Lederman and Christopher Hill.I'm looking for a text to help guide a course on symmetry, the basics of group theory, and the relationship of both to modern physics - all for a class of scientifically curious but mathematically challenged seniors (average age 75).I'm pleased to report that this might serve my purpose, provided I supplement it with more on finite groups and the importance of irreducible representations.I don't usually post reviews on Amazon, but a friend, having seen the mixed reviews of Lederman on Amazon, suggested Anthony Zee's book, "Fearful Symmetry," as an alternative (and I have also posted a review of Zee). The bottom line:Lederman is more difficult reading but vastly superior to Zee in topic order, in philosophical approach, and in the level of detail appropriate to the general scientific reader.I want to cite, in particular, the way in which Lederman tries to put flesh on the elusive concept of a gauge transformation.This treatment is the ONLY ONE I have found that has a prayer of connecting with the general reader, especially if that reader has been prepared by reading the first two chapters of "QED" by Richard Feynman (a truly superior book) in which the path integral approach to the behavior of photons is explained graphically.Lederman takes Feynman one step further by examining what would happen if a gauge transformation were suddenly applied to a traveling particle.Suddenly, the vertex of a Feynman diagram takes on a visceral physical meaning that the audience I am targeting might be able to understand.Terrific stuff.

vague, lacks tight logical connections
The link between symmetry and conservation laws would be a great topic for popularization, and I would love to see a book that would do for symmetry what, e.g., Feynman's QED: The Strange Theory of Light and Matter does for field theory. Unfortunately, this book just doesn't accomplish what it set out to do. The big problem is that it lacks tight logical connections. There is no clear unifying thread of reasoning that would allow the lay reader to make sense of it all. I'm a physicist, so I can see what he's getting at, but I don't think I would have been able to make much sense out of the book if I hadn't already been familiar with the subject. ... Read more

Product Description
This work is a survey of the best science education practices with special emphasis on scientific research training. Its content aims to provide a great help to all teachers dealing with talented students and to all scientists and activists in the field of science education. Science education is an important element of the recruitment of further generations for scientific research. This complex process begins at the nursery and ends by the completion of a PhD study. A key point is the science education of high school students, who are in a very susceptible age to ask clear questions about the world around them, and to seek answers in a methodological way, as science does. This age, from 14 to 19 is the age of self-test, where the adolescent tries his strength and capabilities. The hierarchy-free atmosphere of a good scientific group gives the talented high school student a freedom and a chance to break from the original social and economic circumstances of the family. This work summarizes the best contributions from a workshop helping to establish more of these research training practices in Central-Eastern European countries. ... Read more

Product Description
The Times Literary Supplement called their previous book, Symmetry and the Beautiful Universe: "[A] tour de force of physics made simple."

Quantum theory is the bedrock of contemporary physics and the basis of understanding matter in its tiniest dimensions and the vast universe as a whole. But for many, the theory remains an impenetrable enigma.

Nobel Prize laureate Leon M. Lederman and Fermi lab theoretical physicist Christopher T. Hill seek to remedy this situation by both drawing on their scientific expertise and their talent for communicating science to the general reader. In this lucid, informative book, designed for the curious, they make the seemingly daunting subject of quantum physics accessible, appealing, and exciting.

Their story is partly historical, covering the many "Eureka" moments when great scientists--Max Planck, Albert Einstein, Niels Bohr, Werner Heisenberg, Erwin Schrödinger, and others--struggled to come to grips with the bizarre realities that quantum research revealed. Although their findings were indisputably proven in experiments, they were so strange and counterintuitive that Einstein refused to accept quantum theory, despite its great success.

The authors explain the many strange and even eerie aspects of quantum reality at the subatomic level, from "particles" that can be many places simultaneously and sometimes act more like waves, to the effect that a human can have on their movements by just observing them!

Finally, Drs. Lederman and Hill delve into quantum physics' latest and perhaps most breathtaking offshoots--field theory and string theory. The intricacies and ramifications of these two theories will give the reader much to ponder. In addition, the authors describe the diverse applications of quantum theory in its almost countless forms of modern technology throughout the world.

Using eloquent analogies and illustrative examples, Quantum Physics for Poets render even the most profound reaches of quantum theory understandable and something for us all to savor. ... Read more

Product Description
Particle physicists explore the microworld of the atom; cosmologists study the universe on a large scale. This study follows the merger of these fields as the authors seek to define the "theory of everything". It describes the development of the current views of the nature of space, time, matter and fundamental forces, and explores what these views reveal about the formation of the universe. The text expands on some of the discoveries of 20th-century science, the explorations of inner space and outer space, and of the promises they hold for decoding beginnings, ends and the ultimate laws of nature. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

One of the best of a wonderful series!!!
Over the years our family has purchased between 20 and 30 volumes from the SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN series.This volume, the 28th, remains among, or perhaps might be, THE most profound of the series.As another reviewer has already mentioned, the presentation is clear, concise, and beautifully illustrated.It underscores the interplay of technological advancement with theory, while offering one of the most cogent discussions of inflation and the standard model I have seen.Likewise, while many writers have chronicled the contributions of various theoreticians, few have provided as comprehensive an historical overview of the devices and instrumentation by which so much theoretical work has been experimentally substantiated.

I also suspect that, like myself, many laypersons reading better-known treatments of the Big Bang might have overlooked the logical impossibility of chemical elements as we now know them to have existed in the immense-but-grapefruit-sized mass that constituted our universe at or shortly after it's 'inception.'The popular scientific literature is full of discussions of the "fusion furnaces of the stars" and their role in producing heavier elements.But this volume,originally written before the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) and the abandonment of the Superconducting Super-Collider (SSC), contains the most striking depiction of how atoms and subatomic particles themselves would have to have been formed from still smaller entities.Simultaneously breath-taking and awe-inspiring, in its entirety the book allows the reader to come away with his or her head in the heavens and both feet [still] on the ground.Five stars!!!

Big subject in a small book
As the name of this reference implies, it provides a good review from particle physics to astrophysics, and of significance, relates inner space to outer space. Both theoretical and experimental methods are explored. The classical big-bang theory is clearly discussed, as are its difficulties and the solutions provided by inflation theory.

Extremely clear and easy to read, plus beautiful!
I have read lots of popular science books about particle physics and this is way out in front of the pack!It clarified many things that other authors just assumed the reader could understand.For example, the sectionon how to build synchrotrons and accelerators and why the devices areshaped the way they are was so clear.Plus the color photographs anddrawings make it a lovely book to just browse through.If you loveparticle physics, or are even just a little intrigued, this book is a must! I intend to reread it sometime. ... Read more

Product Description
This book is intended to provide a treatment of the theory and applications of Stochastic Neural Networks,that is networks able to learn random processes from experience, on the basis of recent developments on this subject. The mathematical frameworks on which the theory is founded embrace the approximation of non-random functions as well as the theory of stochastic processes. The networks so defined constitute an original and very promising model of human brain neural activity consistent with the need of learning from a stochastic environment. Moreover, the problem of speech modeling, both for synthesis and recognition, is faced as concrete and significant application in the field of artificial intelligence of the theory is presented.

IOS Press is an international science, technical and medical publisher of high-quality books for academics, scientists, and professionals in all fields.

Some of the areas we publish in:

-Biomedicine
-Oncology
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Product Description
This digital document is an article from Phi Delta Kappan, published by Thomson Gale on February 1, 2006. The length of the article is 2401 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Alternative approaches to high-stakes testing: Mr. Lederman and Mr. Burnstein propose a novel way to increase student engagement and counter the pressures of high-stakes testing.(A SPECIAL SECTION ON T*E*S *T*I*N*G)
Author: Leon M. Lederman
Publication: Phi Delta Kappan (Magazine/Journal)
Date: February 1, 2006
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 87Issue: 6Page: 429

Distributed by Thomson Gale ... Read more

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This digital document is an article from Issues in Science and Technology, published by Thomson Gale on June 22, 2007. The length of the article is 1226 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Education and U.S. competitiveness.(FORUM)(Letter to the editor)
Author: Leon M. Lederman
Publication: Issues in Science and Technology (Magazine/Journal)
Date: June 22, 2007
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 23Issue: 4Page: 16(4)

Article Type: Letter to the editor

Distributed by Thomson Gale ... Read more

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Chapters: Herbert Simon, Ludwig Mies Van Der Rohe, Leon M. Lederman, Karl Menger, László Moholy-Nagy, Leonid Hurwicz, Albert Henry Krehbiel, Sergey Degayev, Lee de Forest, Frank W. Gunsaulus, Tamara Sher, Nambury S. Raju, William Alden Edson, William J. Mitsch, S. I. Hayakawa, Ralph Brill, Randy Barnett, Edward Wagenknecht, Edward T. Hall, Jane Heap, Angelo Mangiarotti, Lori Andrews, Hubert Stanley Wall, John Henry Waddell, Walter Mccrone, Aaron Siskind, Victor Conrad, Arthur E. Martell, Robert Piotrowski, Myron L. Bender, Leon Stover, Max Dehn, Jeanne Gang, Dennis Schmitz, Cosmo Campoli, Ludwig Hilberseimer, Alfred Caldwell, James Armsey, Serge Chermayeff, Lewis Collens, John L. Anderson, John Rettaliata, Sarah Whiting, Harry Callahan, Stuart L. Deutsch, Jane Calvin, John F. O. Bilson, Henry Holmes Smith, Mohammad Shahidehpour, Michael Davis, James G. Carr, Joe Baugher, Hans Reissner, David P. Boder, Patrick Corrigan, Muhammad S. Eissa, Harry Gunning, Thomas Lyle Martin, Jr., Walter Peterhans, George Anselevicius, Henry Townley Heald, Edward Reingold. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 287. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, born Maria Ludwig Michael Mies (March 27, 1886 August 17, 1969) was a German-American architect. He was commonly referred to and addressed by his surname, Mies, by his colleagues, students, writers, and others. Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, along with Walter Gropius and Le Corbusier, is widely regarded as one of the pioneering masters of Modern architecture. Mies, like many of his post World War I contemporaries, sought to establish a new architectural style that could represent modern times just as Classical and Gothic did for their own eras. He created an influential 20th century architectural style, stated with extreme clarity and simplicit...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=17897 ... Read more

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Chapters: Roger Penrose, Freeman Dyson, Benoît Mandelbrot, Leon M. Lederman, Riccardo Giacconi, John Archibald Wheeler, Masatoshi Koshiba, Stephen Hawking, Anthony James Leggett, Vitaly Ginzburg, Chien-Shiung Wu, Peter Higgs, Peter Grünberg, Raymond Davis, Jr., Joseph Hooton Taylor, Jr., Yoichiro Nambu, Michael Fisher, François Englert, Victor Frederick Weisskopf, Bruno Rossi, Yakir Aharonov, Kenneth G. Wilson, Pierre-Gilles de Gennes, Albert Fert, George Eugene Uhlenbeck, Mitchell Feigenbaum, Gerardus 't Hooft, Conyers Herring, Leo Kadanoff, Michael Berry, Robert Brout, Theodore Harold Maiman, Maurice Goldhaber, Daniel Kleppner, Peter Hirsch, Bertrand Halperin, Philippe Nozieres, David J. Thouless, Dan Shechtman, Giuseppe Occhialini. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 203. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: Stephen William Hawking, CH, CBE, FRS, FRSA (born 8 January 1942) is a British theoretical physicist, whose scientific career spans over forty years. His books and public appearances have made him an academic celebrity and he is an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, a lifetime member of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, and in 2009 was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award in the United States. Hawking was the Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge for thirty years, taking up the post in 1979 and retiring on 1 October 2009. He is also a Fellow of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge and a Distinguished Research Chair at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics in Waterloo, Ontario. He is known for his contributions to the fields of cosmology and quantum gravity, especially in the context of black holes. He has also achieved success with works of popular science in which he discusses his own theories an...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=19376148 ... Read more