New Releases by Steven Weinberg

In this zany and vibrantly illustrated nonfiction guide to all things color, the origins of today''s pigments come alive across continents and history, with oodles of art, tons of science--and extensive interactive backmatter! So what is color? A red apple? A yellow banana? The purple goo from a squished sea snail? Once you start digging, color turns out to be a lot of things--it’s messy, stinky, and even a little bit dangerous. You may already know that it’s art, but it’s science, too! What Is Color? will take readers all over the world, introducing them to talented, brilliant, creative people from scientists to famous artists and everyone in between as we take the color wheel for a spin. Perfect for curious and creative minds who love paintbrushes as much as microscopes, this clever and eye-catching full-color nonfiction book dives deep into the strange, wacky, silly, and occasionally perilous history behind the colors that paint our everyday lives. Readers will get: • A laugh-out-loud funny adventure full of gross-out facts (like how cow pee can be used to make the color yellow!). • Hilarious illustrations that encourage creativity and fun while learning! • A kid-friendly primer on global art history, from Yayoi Kusama to Van Gogh, Basquiat, and many more. • A dazzling full-color book, with rainbow edges and vibrant info-filled endpapers. • Extensive backmatter with a glossary plus art and science activities perfect for the classroom and home!

A Nobel Prize-winning physicist explains what happened at the very beginning of the universe, and how we know, in this popular science classic. Our universe has been growing for nearly 14 billion years. But almost everything about it, from the elements that forged stars, planets, and lifeforms, to the fundamental forces of physics, can be traced back to what happened in just the first three minutes of its existence. In this book, Nobel Laureate Steven Weinberg describes in wonderful detail what happened in these first three minutes. It is an exhilarating journey that begins with the Planck Epoch - the earliest period of time in the history of the universe - and goes through Einstein''s Theory of Relativity, the Hubble Red Shift, and the detection of the Cosmic Microwave Background. These incredible discoveries all form the foundation for what we now understand as the "standard model" of the origin of the universe. The First Three Minutes examines not only what this model looks like, but also tells the exciting story of the bold thinkers who put it together. Clearly and accessibly written, The First Three Minutes is a modern-day classic, an unsurpassed explanation of where it is that everything really comes from.

*FEATURED ON THE TODAY SHOW AS A "GREAT GIFT FOR THE HOLIDAYS"* *Named one of Parents Magazine''s Best Board Books of 2021!* *Don''t miss out on the other Big Jobs books - Dishwasher''s Big Job and Fridge and Oven''s Big Job!* Filled with fun facts, giggles galore, and googly eyes, the Big Jobs board books are the perfect introduction for babies and toddlers to the big world around them, starting at home! With vibrant artwork and clever humor, this original board book series is a celebration of childhood curiosity and the most captivating topic of all--household appliances! In Washer & Dryer''s Big Job, follow along as these amazing appliances show us how your dirty clothes get clean. From sudsing up your smelly socks, stained sweater, and pancake-covered pj’s, to getting them cozy and dry, Washer and Dryer have a big job to do—but so do you! Learn how it’s all done in this rollicking read-aloud that will delight parents and kids alike.

*FEATURED ON THE TODAY SHOW AS A "GREAT GIFT FOR THE HOLIDAYS"* *Don''t miss out on the other Big Jobs books - Washer and Dryer''s Big Job and Fridge and Oven''s Big Job!* Filled with fun facts, giggles galore, and googly eyes, the Big Jobs board books are the perfect introduction for babies and toddlers to the big world around them, starting at home! With vibrant artwork and clever humor, this original board book series is a celebration of childhood curiosity and the most captivating topic of all--household appliances! In Dishwasher''s Big Job, follow along as this amazing appliance shows us how your dirty dishes get clean. Dishwasher has a big job to do taking your sloppy spoon, bedraggled bowl, and spilled sippy cup from soiled to sparkling—but so do you! Learn how it’s all done in this rollicking read-aloud that will delight parents and kids alike.

Nobel Laureate Steven Weinberg explains the foundations of modern physics in historical context for undergraduates and beyond.

Lectures on Astrophysics provides an account of classic and contemporary aspects of astrophysics, with an emphasis on analytic calculations and physical understanding. It introduces fundamental topics in astrophysics, including the properties of single and binary stars, the phenomena associated with interstellar matter, and the structure of galaxies. Nobel Laureate Steven Weinberg combines exceptional physical insight with his gift for clear exposition to cover exciting recent developments and new results. Emphasizing theoretical results, and explaining their derivation and application, this book provides an invaluable resource for physics and astronomy students and researchers.

This is the third in a series of volumes of essays by Steven Weinberg, the previous two having also been published by HUP (Facing Up in 2001, and Lake Views in 2010). Weinberg, recipient of the Nobel Prize (1979) with Abdus Shalam and Sheldon Glashow for their contributions to the electroweak unification theory, is well known not only for his groundbreaking work in physics, but also for his efforts in popularizing science and the history of science, and for his stances on various matters in politics, public policy, and religion. This volume, like the previous two, runs a wide gamut, from the cosmological to the personal. Specific topics include particle physics, quantum mechanics, astronomy, big science, the history of science, space flight, science funding, the limits of current knowledge, and several other subjects ranging from the art of discovery to being wrong. Nearly all of the work included here, again as with the previous two volumes, has been previously published. The author has added introductions to the volume as a whole and to each essay, putting the material in context and adding further explanation where necessary. He has also added a number of explanatory notes.--

A wood-working beaver is looking for companionship in this sweet picture book about loneliness, finding friendship in unexpected places, and plaid—lots and lots of plaid. Fred the beaver has just finished building a den. But not just any den. His DREAM DEN. The problem is, it’s missing one small thing…a friend! And he finds exactly that in Sophia, a spectacular lumberjack who has excellent woodworking skills and is building her own dream den. But when Fred tries to say hi, disaster strikes and Sophia’s den is ruined. How can Fred salvage this friendship? Is he doomed to live a life alone?

Fu nelle colonie greche del Mediterraneo, tra il VI e il V secolo a.C., che vennero formulate le prime congetture sulla sostanza fondamentale di cui è fatto il mondo. «Fisici» e filosofi erano alla ricerca dei principi costituenti dell''universo, e questa indagine - da Talete a Eraclito, da Parmenide a Democrito - condusse alle prime, originali risposte circa la natura e l''apparenza delle cose. Nell''indagare e descrivere una realtà sottostante e unificatrice, gli antichi greci erano come gli scienziati moderni. Ma, secondo il premio Nobel per la fisica Steven Weinberg, la somiglianza finisce qui. Infatti nessuno - a Mileto, a Efeso, ad Abdera o ad Atene - cercò mai di «spiegare» come le teorie sul principio fondamentale del kosmos rendessero conto delle apparenze, così come nessuno tentò di verificare o anche solo giustificare le proprie ipotesi. Non si trattava di pigrizia intellettuale. Semplicemente, i greci non ne avvertivano la necessità e «non lo avevano mai visto fare». Per arrivare a una comprensione scientifica del mondo si dovrà attendere, per Weinberg, la grande rivoluzione intellettuale che, tra il XVI e il XVII secolo, condurrà alla «scoperta» della scienza moderna, vale a dire quell''insieme di pratiche, di canoni e di procedure con cui oggi guardiamo ai fenomeni dell''universo. È stato un cammino lungo e difficile, che dall''Accademia di Platone e il Museo di Alessandria, passando per l''elaborazione compiuta in Europa e nei paesi arabi durante il Medioevo, ha portato alle grandi imprese di Copernico e Keplero, Tycho Brahe e Descartes, Galileo e Newton. Un cammino che l''autore di Spiegare il mondo ripercorre nelle sue tappe fondamentali - con un''attenzione rivolta in particolare alla storia della fisica e dell''astronomia -, soffermandosi sugli snodi concettuali, le discontinuità, gli errori e le vie «sbagliate», senza tralasciare i conflitti sorti in epoche e contesti differenti con i dogmi della fede e le istituzioni religiose, né i rapporti, dai contorni spesso indistinti, con la filosofia e la tecnologia. Un cammino, infine, seguito con una buona dose di irriverenza - in particolare laddove Weinberg non esita a criticare i metodi e le teorie del passato alla luce delle conoscenze attuali - e con la consapevolezza che la scienza, lungi dal garantire una qualche forma di certezza, non è altro che il tentativo di dare una risposta «soddisfacente» alle domande che da sempre l''uomo si pone circa le leggi della natura. Una risposta spesso accidentale, a volte imprevedibile, ma che tuttavia è in grado di avvicinarci a una conoscenza che oltre a essere attendibile è anche fonte di gioia.

De Aristóteles a Isaac Newton, Nobel de Física conta a história da ciência de forma leve e acessível. Nesta história envolvente e reveladora, Steven Weinberg, vencedor do Nobel de Física em 1979, guia o leitor através dos séculos da história da ciência, da Grécia Antiga à Bagdá Medieval, da Academia de Platão à Royal Society. Aristóteles, Descartes, Kepler, Copérnico, Galileu e Isaac Newton são alguns dos protagonistas deste enredo armado com leveza e humor – sem a menor cerimônia, o autor faz um acerto de contas com as contribuições de cada um deles. Weinberg demonstra de forma magistral como a emergência do moderno método científico é em si uma descoberta. Para explicar o mundo retraça esse processo com fôlego e precisão inéditos – assim como o impacto imensurável dessa busca pelo conhecimento humano.

Join a rambunctious T. rex as he journeys across the prehistoric landscape to save the one object he loves—and maybe more—in this boisterous picture book adventure for the youngest dinosaur fans! Rex finds an…Egg. Egg! Egg!! But there’s a volcano that’s about to blow. Blow? Blow!! Can this young dinosaur save his glorious new prize? Find out in this creative, cretaceous romp!

The Nobel Prize–winner shares “a masterful journey through humankind’s scientific coming-of-age” from the Greeks to modern times (Brian Greene). In this rich, irreverent, and compelling history, Nobel Prize-winning physicist Steven Weinberg takes us across centuries of human striving to unravel the mysteries of the world. This sweeping saga ranges from ancient Miletus to medieval Baghdad and Oxford, from Plato’s Academy and the Museum of Alexandria to the cathedral school of Chartres and the Royal Society of London. Weinberg shows that, while the scientists of ancient and medieval times lack our understanding of the world, they also lacked the knowledge, tools, and intellectual framework necessary to go about understand it. Yet over the centuries, through the struggle to solve such mysteries as the curious backward movement of the planets and the rise and fall of the tides, the modern discipline of science eventually emerged. An illuminating exploration of the way we consider and analyze the world around us, To Explain the World is a sweeping, ambitious account of how difficult it was to discover the goals and methods of modern science, and the impact of this discovery on human knowledge and development.

A leading physicist delves into relativity and experimental applications Gravitation and Cosmology: Principles and Applications of the General Theory of Relativity offers a Nobel laureate''s perspectives on the wealth of data technological developments have brought to expand upon Einstein''s theory. Unique in basing relativity on the Principle of Equivalence of Gravitation and Inertia over Riemannian geometry, this book explores relativity experiments and observational cosmology to provide a sound foundation upon which analyses can be made. Covering special and general relativity, tensor analysis, gravitation, curvature, and more, this book provides an engaging, insightful introduction to the forces that shape the universe.

La Méditerranée une mer morte ? On l''entend trop souvent ! Il s''agit d''un malentendu que ce guide dissipera rapidement. Après une période difficile, notre "Grande Bleue" a retrouvé toute sa richesse, pour le plus grand bonheur des plongeurs et des apnéistes. Et qui mieux que Steven Weinberg, infatigable vulgarisateur de la biologie marine, pouvait nous raconter la faune et la flore méditerranéennes ? Dans cette édition entièrement révisée et augmentée de son célèbre "Découvrir la Méditerranée", découvrez 665 espèces illustrées par plus de 1 200 images et décrites par des fiches détaillées. Ce guide se veut être le compagnon indispensable des plongeurs, mais aussi de ceux qui, munis de masque et tuba, iront à la découverte des petits fonds, et tomberont en arrêt non seulement devant la beauté d''une anémone de mer ou une rascasse, mais qui voudront aussi aller plus loin, vers la compréhension, que ce soit celle de la lumière sous-marine, du mimétisme ou de la reproduction. Il séduira l''amateur de vie marine par ses illustrations et par des explications, simples mais exactes, des phénomènes rencontrés.

Nobel Laureate Steven Weinberg combines his exceptional physical insight with his gift for clear exposition to provide a concise introduction to modern quantum mechanics. Ideally suited to a one-year graduate course, this textbook is also a useful reference for researchers. Readers are introduced to the subject through a review of the history of quantum mechanics and an account of classic solutions of the Schrödinger equation, before quantum mechanics is developed in a modern Hilbert space approach. The textbook covers many topics not often found in other books on the subject, including alternatives to the Copenhagen interpretation, Bloch waves and band structure, the Wigner–Eckart theorem, magic numbers, isospin symmetry, the Dirac theory of constrained canonical systems, general scattering theory, the optical theorem, the ''in-in'' formalism, the Berry phase, Landau levels, entanglement and quantum computing. Problems are included at the ends of chapters, with solutions available for instructors at www.cambridge.org/9781107028722.

Just as Henry David Thoreau “traveled a great deal in Concord,” Nobel Prize–winning physicist Steven Weinberg sees much of the world from the window of his study overlooking Lake Austin. In Lake Views Weinberg, considered by many to be the preeminent theoretical physicist alive today, continues the wide-ranging reflections that have also earned him a reputation as, in the words of New York Times reporter James Glanz, “a powerful writer of prose that can illuminate—and sting.” This collection presents Weinberg’s views on topics ranging from problems of cosmology to assorted world issues—military, political, and religious. Even as he moves beyond the bounds of science, each essay reflects his experience as a theoretical physicist. And as in the celebrated Facing Up, the essays express a viewpoint that is rationalist, reductionist, realist, and secular. A new introduction precedes each essay, explaining how it came to be written and bringing it up to date where necessary. As an essayist, Weinberg insists on seeing things as they are, without despair and with good humor. Sure to provoke his readers—postmodern cultural critics, enthusiasts for manned space flight or missile defense, economic conservatives, sociologists of science, anti-Zionists, and religious zealots—this book nonetheless offers the pleasure of a sustained encounter with one of the most interesting scientific minds of our time.

Steven Weinberg, premio Nobel de Física por su contribución a la unificación de dos de las fuerzas básicas de la naturaleza -la fuerza débil y el electromagnetismo-, aborda en este libro la gran aventura intelectual de nuestro tiempo: la búsqueda de una "teoría final", aquella en la que todas las preguntas fundamentales hallarían respuesta sin requerir una explicación en términos de otros principios. Weinberg, que no sólo es un gran físico sino un excelente divulgador, nos explica de manera llana y comprensible la idea de esta "teoría final", los pasos que han conducido hacia ella y los obstáculos que encuentra, dejándonos en la frontera de esa tierra prometida.

This book is unique in the detailed, self-contained, and comprehensive treatment that it gives to the ideas and formulas that are used and tested in modern cosmological research. It divides into two parts, each of which provides enough material for a one-semester graduate course. The first part deals chiefly with the isotropic and homogeneous average universe; the second part concentrates on the departures from the average universe. Throughout the book the author presents detailed analytic calculations of cosmological phenomena, rather than just report results obtained elsewhere by numerical computation. The book is up to date, and gives detailed accounts of topics such as recombination, microwave background polarization, leptogenesis, gravitational lensing, structure formation, and multifield inflation, that are usually treated superficially if at all in treatises on cosmology. Copious references to current research literature are supplied. Appendices include a brief introduction to general relativity, and a detailed derivation of the Boltzmann equation for photons and neutrinos used in calculations of cosmological evolution. Also provided is an assortment of problems.

In this second volume of The Quantum Theory of Fields, available for the first time in paperback, Nobel Laureate Steven Weinberg continues his masterly expoistion of quantum theory. Volume 2 provides an up-to-date and self-contained account of the methods of quantum field theory, and how they have led to an understanding of the weak, strong, and electromagnetic interactions of the elementary particles. The presentation of modern mathematical methods is throughout interwoven with accounts of the problems of elementary particle physics and condensed matter physics to which they have been applied. Exercises are included at the end of each chapter.

In The Quantum Theory of Fields, Nobel Laureate Steven Weinberg combines his exceptional physical insight with his gift for clear exposition to provide a self-contained, comprehensive, and up-to-date introduction to quantum field theory. This is a two-volume work. Volume I introduces the foundations of quantum field theory. The development is fresh and logical throughout, with each step carefully motivated by what has gone before, and emphasizing the reasons why such a theory should describe nature. After a brief historical outline, the book begins anew with the principles about which we are most certain, relativity and quantum mechanics, and the properties of particles that follow from these principles. Quantum field theory emerges from this as a natural consequence. The author presents the classic calculations of quantum electrodynamics in a thoroughly modern way, showing the use of path integrals and dimensional regularization. His account of renormalization theory reflects the changes in our view of quantum field theory since the advent of effective field theories. The book''s scope extends beyond quantum electrodynamics to elementary particle physics, and nuclear physics. It contains much original material, and is peppered with examples and insights drawn from the author''s experience as a leader of elementary particle research. Problems are included at the end of each chapter. This work will be an invaluable reference for all physicists and mathematicians who use quantum field theory, and it is also appropriate as a textbook for graduate students in this area.

In this absorbing commentary on the discovery of the atom''s constituents, Steven Weinberg accomplishes a brilliant fusion of history and science. This is in effect two books, cleverly interwoven. One is an account of a sequence of key events in the physics of the twentieth century, events that led to the discoveries of the electron, proton and neutron. The other is an introduction to those fundamentals of classical physics that played crucial roles in these discoveries. Physical concepts are introduced where needed to understand the historical story, and each new concept builds on physics already explained. Throughout the book, connections are shown between the historic discoveries of subatomic particles and work today at the frontiers of physics. A final chapter describes the discoveries of new elementary particles up to the present day.

Each of these essays, which span 15 years, struggles in one way or another with the necessity of facing up to the discovery that the laws of nature are impersonal, with no hint of a special status for human beings.

El cientifico brillante y el escritor provocador se dan cita en este libro de Steven Weinberg, donde este ganador del premio Nobel cultiva sus principales pasiones: la fisica teorica y un conocimiento profundo de la cultura, la filosofia, la historia y la politica de la ciencia.Cada uno de los ensayos que conforman el volumen, que abarcan un periodo de quince anos, trata de un modo u otro la necesidad de hacer frente al descubrimiento de que las leyes de la naturaleza son impersonales, sin indicio alguno de un estatus especial para los seres humanos. Al defender el espiritu de la ciencia frente a sus adversarias culturales, estos textos expresan un punto de vista reduccionista, realista y completamente secular. En conjunto, permiten a todo tipo de lectores el placer unico de experimentar la brillantez del sentido comun, la lucidez y los conocimientos de una de las mentes cientificas mas interesantes y convincentes de nuestra epoca.En una resena del New York Times, James Glanz comento: "Steven Weinberg es quiza el defensor de mayor autoridad mundial respecto a la idea de que la fisica esta avanzando con rapidez hacia una "teoria final," una explicacion completa de la particulas y fuerzas de la naturaleza que perdurara para siempre como base de toda ciencia. Es tambien un habil prosista capaz de ilustrar a la vez que provoca controversia." Weinberg recibio recientemente el Premio Lewis Thomas, concedido al investigador que mejor encarna al "cientifico como poeta""

Nobel Laureate Steven Weinberg continues his masterly exposition of quantum field theory. This third volume of The Quantum Theory of Fields presents a self-contained, up-to-date and comprehensive introduction to supersymmetry, a highly active area of theoretical physics that is likely to be at the center of future progress in the physics of elementary particles and gravitation. The text introduces and explains a broad range of topics, including supersymmetric algebras, supersymmetric field theories, extended supersymmetry, supergraphs, nonperturbative results, theories of supersymmetry in higher dimensions, and supergravity. A thorough review is given of the phenomenological implications of supersymmetry, including theories of both gauge and gravitationally-mediated supersymmetry breaking. Also provided is an introduction to mathematical techniques, based on holomorphy and duality, that have proved so fruitful in recent developments. This book contains much material not found in other books on supersymmetry, some of it published here for the first time. Problems are included.