Galileo's pendulum : from the rhythm of time to the making of matter

Author/Creator:

Newton, Roger G.

Publication/Creation:

Cambridge, Mass. : Harvard University Press, 2004

Format:

Book

Edition:

1st ed.

More Details

Additional/Related Title Information

Full Title:

Galileo's pendulum : from the rhythm of time to the making of matter / Roger G. Newton

Related/Included Titles:

Frontmatter --
Contents --
Preface --
Introduction --
1. Biological Timekeeping: The Body's Rhythms --
2. The Calendar: Different Drummers --
3. Early Clocks: Home-Made Beats --
4. The Pendulum Clock: The Beat of Nature --
5. Successors: Ubiquitous Timekeeping --
6. Isaac Newton: The Physics of the Pendulum --
7. Sound and Light: Oscillations Everywhere --
8. The Quantum: Oscillators Make Particles --
Notes --
References --
Illustration Credits --
Index

Subjects/Genre

Subjects:

Time measurements
Pendulum

Description/Summary

Table of Contents:

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Preface -- Introduction -- 1. Biological Timekeeping: The Body's Rhythms -- 2. The Calendar: Different Drummers -- 3. Early Clocks: Home-Made Beats -- 4. The Pendulum Clock: The Beat of Nature -- 5. Successors: Ubiquitous Timekeeping -- 6. Isaac Newton: The Physics of the Pendulum -- 7. Sound and Light: Oscillations Everywhere -- 8. The Quantum: Oscillators Make Particles -- Notes -- References -- Illustration Credits -- Index

Bibliography:

Includes bibliographical references (p. [142]-145) and index.

Summary:

Bored during Mass at the cathedral in Pisa, the seventeen-year-old Galileo regarded the chandelier swinging overhead--and remarked, to his great surprise, that the lamp took as many beats to complete an arc when hardly moving as when it was swinging widely. Galileo's Pendulum tells the story of what this observation meant, and of its profound consequences for science and technology. The principle of the pendulum's swing--a property called isochronism--marks a simple yet fundamental system in nature, one that ties the rhythm of time to the very existence of matter in the universe. Roger Newton sets the stage for Galileo's discovery with a look at biorhythms in living organisms and at early calendars and clocks--contrivances of nature and culture that, however adequate in their time, did not meet the precise requirements of seventeenth-century science and navigation. Galileo's Pendulum recounts the history of the newly evolving time pieces--from marine chronometers to atomic clocks--based on the pendulum as well as other mechanisms employing the same physical principles, and explains the Newtonian science underlying their function. The book ranges nimbly from the sciences of sound and light to the astonishing intersection of the pendulum's oscillations and quantum theory, resulting in new insight into the make-up of the material universe. Covering topics from the invention of time zones to Isaac Newton's equations of motion, from Pythagoras' theory of musical harmony to Michael Faraday's field theory and the development of quantum electrodynamics, Galileo's Pendulum is an authoritative and engaging tour through time of the most basic all-pervading system in the world. Table of Contents: Preface Introduction 1. Biological Timekeeping: The Body's Rhythms 2. The Calendar: Different Drummers 3. Early Clocks: Home-Made Beats 4. The Pendulum Clock: The Beat of Nature 5. Successors: Ubiquitous Timekeeping 6. Isaac Newton: The Physics of the Pendulum 7. Sound and Light: Oscillations Everywhere 8. The Quantum: Oscillators Make Particles Notes References Index Reviews of this book: The range of things that measure time, from living creatures to atomic clocks, brackets Newton's intriguing narrative of time's connections, in the middle of which stands Galileo's famous discovery about pendulums...Science buffs will delight in the links Newton makes in this readable tour of how humanity marks time.--Gilbert Taylor, Booklist

Language:

English

Language Note:

English

Physical Type/Description:

1 online resource (166 p.)

General Note:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Additional Identifiers

Catalog ID (MMSID):

9936720533302486

ISBN:

9780674266247
0674266242
9780674041486
0674041488

OCLC Number:

1043663903
456284019
979621190
923112450

Other Identifiers:

doi: 10.4159/9780674041486