A Brief Guide to the Great Equations (48 page)

noetic-noematic correlation,
159

normative laws,
84
,
85

‘Note on the Electromagnetic Theory of Light, A’ (Maxwell),
289
n Notes from Underground
(Dostoyevsky),
109

nuclear fission,
174–77

objective knowledge,
61–62

objectivity,
159
,
160
,
170
,
189
,
291
n

Ode to Newton
(Halley),
88

‘On Electromagnetic Waves in Air and Their Reflection’ (Hertz),
146

1+1=2,
13–14
,
15
,
18
,
45
,
46
,
108
,
272
,
274
n

1+1=4,
109

‘On Faraday’s Lines of Force’ (Maxwell),
137–39

‘On Irreversible Radiation Processes’ (Planck),
124–25

On Motion
(Strato),
52

‘On Physical Lines of Force’ (Maxwell),
139–42

‘On Quantum Mechanics’ (Born and Jordan),
244–45

‘On Quantum Mechanics II’ (Born, Heisenberg and Jordan),
245–46

‘On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies’ (Einstein),
165–68

‘On the Influence of Gravitation on the Propagation of Light’ (Einstein),
193–95

‘On the Quantum-Mechanical Reinterpretation of Kinematic and Mechanical Relations’ (Heisenberg),
220–21
,
241–44
,
257

On the World Systems
(Galileo),
33

Oppenheimer, J. Robert,
175–76

optics,
136
,
217

Oresme, Nicholas,
56

orreries,
140

Ørsted, Hans Christian,
134

Orwell, George,
87
,
107–8
,
109
‘Outline of a General Theory of Relativity and a Theory of Gravitation’ (Einstein and Grossman),
197
,
201–2

overall speed,
50
,
281
n
–82
n

Oxford ‘calculators,’
56

packing fraction,
173

Pais, Abraham,
176
,
184
,
210
,
291
n

Pappus of Alexandria,
29
,
283
n

particle accelerators,
172

particle theory,
217–19
,
226–28
,
263
,
264
,
265

Pascal, Blaise,
29
,
40

Pauli, Wolfgang,
182
,
226–27
,
297
n

Heisenberg uncertainty principle and,
236–37
,
238
,
244
,
245
,
247
,
248
,
251–53
,
254–55
,
257

Pauling, Linus,
182

People’s History of the United States, A
(Zinn),
152–54

percussive force,
55

perfected phenomena,
51

Persia,
54
,
115

Peter I ‘the Great,’ Czar of Russia,
94

Phaedrus
(Plato),
41

Philoponus, John,
53–54
,
56

photons,
217
,
256
,
257

Planck, Max,
112
,
113,
122
,
172
,
233
,
247
,
250

black body radiation studied by,
123
–
25
,
214–15

E
=
hv
formula of,
110
,
222

quantum theory and,
214–15

second law of thermodynamics symbolically formulated by,
111

Planck’s constant,
244

Plato,
33
,
35–41
,
45
,
110
,
277
n

Plimpton 322 cuneiform tablet,
24,
25
,
26
,
28
,
278
n
–79
n

Podolsky, Boris,
259

poems,
274
n
–75
n,
277
n

Poincaré, Henri,
148–49
,
164
,
187
,
215–16

political philosophy,
23
,
85–87
,
268

polygonal spirals,
103
,
104

Posidonius,
71

‘Postulates of Impotence’ (Whittaker),
129
,
253

prime numbers, infinity of,
32

Principia
(Newton),
19–20
,
86

contents of,
59–62
,
283
n

gravity law in,
70
,
77
,
81–82

Principia Mathematica
(Whitehead and Russell),
15

probabilities,
226–29
,
251
,
252
,
253

probability coefficients,
218
,
221

projectile motion,
51–52
,
53–54
,
282
n

proofs,
27
,
29
,
31
,
32
,
42–45
,
98

certainty vs.,
33

visual presentations of,
42–43
,
43

see also
Pythagorean theorem, proofs of Protestant Reformation,
66

protons,
172
,
216

Pythagoras,
17
,
21
,
24
,
27
,
33
,
35
,
44
,
277
n,
278
n Pythagorean Proposition, The
(Loomis),
31
,
279
n

Pythagorean theorem,
17
,
21–41
,
42–45
,
161
,
267
,
271

ancient discovery of,
21
,
24–26
,
28
,
277
n
–78
n

in Einstein’s general relativity theory,
33
,
192
,
279
n

in Einstein’s special relativity theory,
33
,
166–67
,
167

in Euler’s work,
101

as Freemason symbol,
24

Hobbes’s initial encounter with,
21–23
,
32
,
33
,
276
n

independent discoveries of,
25

in Plato’s
Meno,
35–41

practical applications of,
24
,
25–26
,
31
,
32–33

rediscovery of,
21

rule of,
23–26
,
27
,
28
,
31
,
32–33
,
34

Pythagorean theorem, proofs of,
23–24
,
27–41
,
42–45
,
87
,
268

accessibility of,
32
,
33–34

as emblematic demonstration of reasoning,
33–34

in Euclid’s
Elements,
22
,
24
,
27–28
,
28,
29
,
31
,
34
,
42
,
273
n

fascination of,
21
,
31–35

new,
29–31
,
30,
44–45

Paris science museum display of,
42

Schopenhauer on,
34

Pythagorean Theorem, The: A
4
,000–Year History
(Maor),
33

Pythagorean triplets,
24–25
,
24,
161
,
278
n
–79
n

quadratic equations,
274
n

quanta,
217–18

‘Quantization as a Problem of Proper Values’ (Schrödinger),
223–25
,
251

quantum leap,
216

quantum physics,
47
,
104
,
113
,
125
,
127
,
130
,
191
,
211
,
214–29
,
230
,
235–60
,
261–65

classical models of,
238–39

classical physics and,
216–17
,
219
,
238
,
239
,
240
,
247
,
250
,
258–59
,
263
,
264–65

Copenhagen interpretation of,
249
,
259–60

discontinuities in,
239
,
248–50
,
252
–
53
,
256

growing extension of,
215–21

1911   Solvay conference on,
215–16
,
222

Planck’s introduction of,
214–15

see also
Heisenberg uncertainty principle; Schrödinger’s equation

quantum states,
224–25

Quartered Safe Out Here: A Recollection of the War in Burma
(Fraser),
43–44

quaternion proofs,
31

radiation,
122
,
172
,
216
,
250

black body,
123–25
,
214–15

radium,
168
,
172

Ramanujan, Srinivasa,
102–3
,
182

rational numbers,
95
,
99–106

Rayleigh, Lord,
127
,
163

red shift, gravitational,
193
,
200
,
207

reference frames,
159–64
,
166–70
,
189

Reflections on the Motive Power of Heat
(S. Carnot),
116–17

religion,
65–66

primitive,
47–48
,
280
n

Renaissance,
66
,
97

rest frames,
166
,
169
,
170
,
290
n

Rhind papyrus,
273
n
–74
n

Ricci-Curbastro, Gregorio,
197

Riemann, Bernhard,
196–97

Rigden, John,
168

right triangles,
21–41
,
97

isosceles,
35–41

sine function of,
97
,
100–102

see also
Pythagorean theorem

Roosevelt, Franklin Delano,
175

Rosen, Nathan,
259

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead
(Stoppard),
71

Rosenthal-Schneider, Ilse,
205

Royal Astronomical Society,
186–87
,
201–2
,
203–7

Royal Society of London,
76
,
79
,
85
,
116
,
147
,
185–87
,
203–7

rules,
42–45

definition of,
23

of Pythagorean theorem,
23–26
,
27
,
28
,
31
,
32–33
,
34

Rules for the Direction of the Human Mind, The
(Descartes),
33–34

Rumford, Count,
113,
115–16

Russell, Bertrand,
15

Russian Academy of Sciences,
94
,
97–98

Rutherford, Ernest,
173
,
215
,
216

Saint-Simon, Henri de,
86

Santorio, Santorio,
56

Saturday
(McEwan),
154

Schama, Simon,
152
,
154

Schopenhauer, Arthur,
34
,
45

Schrödinger, Erwin,
220
,
221–25
,
221,
230
,
246–54
,
257–58
,
268

Schrödinger’s cat,
228

Schrödinger’s equation,
214–29
,
268

configuration space in,
224
,
225
,
227
,
246
,
247

interpretations of,
225–29
,
251–52

probabilities in,
226–29
,
251

ψ-function in,
223–25
,
226
,
228
,
246–47
,
248
,
251

as visualizable theory,
218–19
,
220
,
221
,
223–24
,
246
,
249
,
251
,
252

as wave equation,
221
,
222–25
,
226–28
,
246–54
,
257–58
,
268

science,
32
,
34
,
41
,
57
,
92–93

as affective process,
18–19
,
230–34
,
270–71

analogies in,
137

anosognosia and,
152–55

contrarian,
129–31

critics of,
209–13

discovery process in,
90

experimental,
200

Galileo’s defence of,
65–68

great discoveries as previously missed in,
171–72

hermeneutics in,
288
n

historically contingent development of,
105

impossibility and,
128–31

nature of concepts in,
268–70

playful attitude in,
183–84

role of trust in,
284
n