gamma-ray astronomy, 199, 243
gamma rays, 8, 183, 190, 191, 225
gases, 60, 246
expelled from supernovae, 222–23
ionized, 107, 245
Gates, Bill, x
Gauguin, Paul, 265, 268
Gauss, Carl Friedrich, 156
Gauss’s law for electricity, 165
Gauss’s law for magnetism, 165
Geiger-Müller tubes, 193, 194
Geisler, Benjamin, 99
general relativity, theory of, 19, 228, 269–70
generators, 156–57, 166
geomagnetic storms, 154
George II, King of England, 147
Giacconi, Riccardo, 17, 193, 195, 196, 216, 243
Gilbert, William, 152, 154–55
Gill, David, 30
Glashow, Sheldon, 22, 116, 167
glassbows, 99–102
global warming, 185
glories (Brocken spectres), 97–98
gluons, 9, 18, 116
Goddard Space Flight Center, 251
gold, 6–7, 151
Gold, Thomas, 225
Goudsmit, Samuel, 215
grand unified theory, 167
gravitational acceleration, 40–43, 46–47
gravitational constant, 284
gravitational potential energy, 246, 256–57, 258
astronomy and, 172–73, 174
kinetic energy and, 171–72
of X-ray bursts, 256–57, 258
gravitational redshift, 227, 232–33
gravity, 24, 39, 45, 55–58, 167, 171, 270
artificial, 55–58
centripetal force and, 56–57
free fall and, 47–48
hydrostatic pressure and, 71–73
spacetime and, 226–27
of stars, 218
weight and, 41
see also universal law of gravitation
gravity well, 226, 227–28
Gray, Stephen, 128–29
Great Wall of galaxies, 5
Greece, ancient, 115, 126, 150
Greene, Brian, 23
greenhouse gases, 164–65, 183, 186
Greenpeace International, 182
Green Stripe, The (Matisse), 267
Gregory, Frederick, 155
Grindlay, Josh, 248, 250, 255, 257
guitar, 112, 113, 119
Gursky, Herb, 195, 216
GX 1+4 (X-ray source), 201, 244
GX 301-2 (X-ray source), 201
GX 304-1 (X-ray source), 201
half-life, 7, 183
Hamilton, Andrew, 233
Hankin, Markos, 100, 162
harmonics:
resonance and, 111, 114–16
in stringed instruments, 114–15
of tuning fork, 115–16
harp, 112
Harvard University, 26–27
Hawking, Stephen, 230, 242
Hawking radiation, 231
Haymes, Bob, 200
HDE 226868 (supergiant star), 240–41
heat, 169
of body, 176–77, 179
as form of energy, 174–75
in nuclear power plant, 184
of stars, 218–19
Heise, John, 248
Heisenberg, Werner, 268–69
helium, 7, 183, 256
in core-collapse supernova, 218–19
in X-ray ballooning, 203
Henderson, Thomas, 30, 236
Hercules (constellation), 196, 243
hertz, 104
Hertzsprung, Ejnar, 33
Her X-1 (X-ray source), 196, 243
Hewish, Antony, 32n, 225
Hipparcos (High Precision Parallax Collecting Satellite), 31
Hoffman, Jeffrey, 254–55
Holocaust, 11–13
homopolar motor, 161
Hooke, Robert, 126
Hubble, Edwin, 33, 34–36
Hubble’s constant, 35–36
Hubble’s law, 35
Hubble Space Telescope, 187–88, 199, 222, 243
Hubble Ultra Deep Field, 18, 260
Hulsizer, Robert, xiv–xv
Humboldt, Alexander von, 236
Huygens, Christian, 126
hybrid cars, 170, 179
Hydrodynamica (Bernoulli), 73
hydrogen, 6, 151, 238, 251, 256
absorption lines of, 238
in core-collapse supernova, 218–19
in nuclear fusion, 186–87
in X-ray binary system, 246
hydrostatic pressure, 65–73
gravity and, 71–73
trees and, 72–73
Ibn al-Haytham, 79
ice, 61
IceCube (telescope), 190
India, 150, 185
induction lightning, 143
inertia, law of, 38–39
infrared radiation, 104, 176–77, 190, 192–93, 232
insulators, 128–29, 131–32, 136
intergalactic medium (plasma), see plasma
International Energy Agency, 182
Internet, x
interplanetary plasma, see solar wind
ions, 40, 131, 139
electric current and, 131
Iran, 183, 184–85
iron, 150–51
in Earth’s core, 152–53
in star cores, 219
isotopes, 6–7, 8
iTunes U, x
James I, King of England, 70
Jansky, Karl, 190
Jencks, Charles, 266
jet stream, 204–5
Jews, 11–12
Johnson, B. C., 74
Joss, Paul, 256
Joule, James, 174–75
joule (unit of energy), 137, 174, 175–76
“Journey into a Schwarzschild black hole” (film series), 233
JR-Maglev train, 164
Judd, Donald, 266
Jupiter (planet), 49–50, 223–24, 279, 281, 282
moons of, 189
Jupiter missile, 17
Kandinsky, Wassily, 268
Kangaroo Jack, 210–11
Kaufman, Susan, xiii, 78, 88, 99, 173–74, 202
Kenya, 242
Kepler, Johannes, 51, 126, 189, 190, 281
Kepler’s laws, 190
kilocalorie, 177
kinetic energy (KE), 154, 170, 173, 176, 179, 221, 246
gravitational potential energy and, 171–72
Kodak, 205
Koolhaas, Rem, 266
Kosmos 428 satellite, 253
Lagrangian point, 244
Land, Edwin, 92
large extra dimensions, theory of, 229–30
Large Hadron Collider (LHC), 231, 260
and creation of black holes, 229–30
Large Magellanic Cloud, 222–23
Lawrence, Andy, 195
Leavitt, Henrietta Swan, 31–32
Leeb, Steven, xiv
Leibniz, Gottfried, 126
Levitron, 164
Lewin, Emanuel “Chuck,” xii, xv, 16, 186
Lewin, Emma, 16, 88, 114
Lewin, Gustav, 11
Lewin, Huibertha, 2
Lewin, Jacob, 11–12
Lewin, Jakob, 16
Lewin, Julia, 11–12
Lewin, Pauline, 15, 16, 266
Lewin, Walter, Sr., 13–16
Lewin, Walter H. G.:
art collaborations of, 263, 264–67
art collection of, 262
birth of, 11
career of, xiii–xiv
early education of, 1–2
New York Times piece on, x
teaching style of, xi–xii, xiv, xv, 263, 270–71
university education of, 10–11, 16
World War II experience of, 11–16
Lewin Gottfeld, Emma, 11
Leyden jars, 155
LGM-1 (pulsar), 225
Lick Observatory, 196–97
Lien, 265
Life Is Beautiful (film), 12
light, 225
auroras and, 153
black holes and speed of, 232
in camera obscura, 78–79
as electromagnetic wave, 166
in Newton’s prism experiment, 80
polarized, 91–93
refraction of, 80–82
scattering of, 3–4, 93
of sparks, 139
speed of, 19, 104, 269
in split-beam experiment, 94–95
as wave, 92, 94–96
wavelength of, 104
white, 80, 82, 85
X-rays and, 191–92
lighthouse effect, 225
Light Line Experiment, 263
lightning, 136, 253
blue jet form of, 148
distance of, 144
electric current in, 138–39, 141, 143–44
electric fields and, 137–38
electric shock of, 138–39
energy released by, 144–45
frequency of occurence of, 143
at high altitudes, 147–48
lightning rods and, 147
maximum power of, 144
in mythology, 143
ozone and, 144–45
red sprite form of, 148
sparks and, 138–41
voltage and, 137–38
light travel time distance, 35
linear polarizer, 92
liquids, pressure in, see hydrostatic pressure
Lockheed Missiles and Space Company, 212
lodestones, 150
“Looking at 20th-Century Art Through the Eyes of a Physicist,” 267
Los Alamos National Laboratory, 258–59
luminosity:
brightness and, 32–33
in Cepheid variables, 32–34
of X-rays, 246
M-1, see Crab Nebula
M31, see Andromeda galaxy
McClintock, Jeff, 211–12, 234, 242, 254, 255
McCracken, Ken, 200, 213
maglev trains, 162–65
magnesium, 151
Magnete, Magneticisque Corporibus, et de Magno Magnete Tellure, De(On the Magnet and Magnetic Bodies, and on That Great Magnet the Earth) (Gilbert), 152, 155
magnetic bremsstrahlung, 192
magnetic force, 39
magnetism, magnetic fields, 149–67, 261
in ancient era, 150
in animals, 152
auroras and, 153–54
compasses and, 151–52, 157
diamagnetic materials and, 151
of Earth, 152–53
electromagnetism and, 154–57
iron and, 150–51
liquid, 151
in maglev trains, 162–65
Maxwell’s equations and, 165
in migrating birds, 152
monopoles and, 165
of neutron star, 224
paramagnetic materials and, 151
solar wind and, 153–54
of Sun, 153
superconductors and, 163
in television sets, 149–50
and theory of everything, 167
magnetite (iron oxide), 150
Malevich, Kazimir, 265, 268
mammalian femurs, 25–27, 26, 277–78
manometer, 67–69, 77
Maraschi, Laura, 251–52
Mars, 9, 223–24
atmosphere of, 154
magnetic field of, 154
Mars Climate Orbiter, 22
Marshall, Herman, 255
Marshall Space Flight Center, 17
mass, 130, 172
calculating, 281–84
of Earth, 45
Planck, 230
of protons, 229
of Sun, 279
weight and, 41–43, 45
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), ix, xiv, 10, 11, 18, 214
Matisse, Henri, 267–68
matter, 6, 173, 187
in black holes, 225–26
flow of, in binary systems, 244–45
quarks and, 9
in space, 107
and vibrating strings, 116
X-ray heating of, 192
Maxwell, James Clerk, 156, 165–67, 261
Maxwell’s equations, 165–67, 270
Mayall, Nicholas, 196–97
measurements, measuring, ix, 21–36
air pressure, 61–63
astronomy and, 27–28
and degree of accuracy, 8, 23–25
distance of lightning, 144
electrical current, 141
of interstellar space, see stellar distances, measurement of
of mammalian femur, 25–27, 26, 277–78
static electricity, 155
uncertainty and, ix–x, 22
and universal law of gravitation, 49–51
mechanical energy, 173
megaparsec, 35
Meitner, Lise, 32n
mercury (element), 7, 66–67, 151
Mercury (planet), 4–5, 279
Messier, Charles, 196
Messier catalog, 196
meteorites, 4
Michell, John, 228
micro black holes, 229–31
microscopes, 130
microwave radiation, 190
Milky Way galaxy, 2, 5, 33, 203
black hole of, 226, 245
radio wave emissions in, 190
Millennium Bridge, 124
Miller, Jon, 234
MIT World, 134
molecules, 6, 60, 131
Mondrian, Piet, 265–66, 268
Monet, Claude, 267, 268
monopoles, 165–66
Monroe, Marilyn, 268
Moon, 3, 17, 41, 49, 50–51, 227, 233, 236, 244
angular size of, 30
calculating distance of, 282–83
gravitational acceleration of, 172
gravitational attraction and, 39
in occultation of Crab Nebula, 197–98
as vacuum, 107
X-rays from, 193–94
motion, converting energy into:
levitation demonstration of, 161–62
motors and, 157, 159–61
torque and, 157–58, 159
see also Newton’s laws
motors, 157
building, 159–61
homopolar, 161
Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus, 117
M-theory, 23
Murdin, Paul, 241–42
music, 103
harmonics in, 114
MXB 1636-53 (X-ray source), 254–55, 257
MXB 1659-29 (X-ray source), 250
MXB 1730-335 (X-ray source), 252–53
MXB 1735-44 (X-ray source), 254–55
nanometers, 105
Napoleon I, Emperor of France, 141
NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration), 17, 24, 99, 193, 202, 206, 213, 251, 258
National Science Foundation, 203
natural philosophy, 126
natural selection, 34
Nature, 241, 255
Naval Research Laboratory, 195
neon, 219
Netherlands, 1, 10, 155, 158, 201
neutrinos, 6, 116, 220–21
thermal, 221
neutrino telescopes, 190
neutrons, 9, 130, 197, 220–21
in core-collapse supernova, 221–22
in plasma, 107
neutron stars, 172–73, 192, 226, 230, 235, 251, 257
in binary systems, 239–40, 242–45
in core-collapse supernova, 217, 219–21
of Crab Nebula, 224
discovery of, 217
lighthouse effect of, 225
magnetic field of, 224
magnetic poles of, 245
as pulsars, 224–25
rotation of, 224–25
size of, 223–24
supernova and, 197, 217–20, 221
surface temperature of, 217
X-ray heating of, 246
New Generation Energy, 186
Newton, Isaac, xiv, 9, 21
, 39, 41, 44, 48, 49–50, 58, 79, 94, 126, 146, 165, 166, 189, 244, 261, 268, 280, 284
achievements of, 38, 51
light prism of, 80
newton (unit of force), 40
Newton’s laws, 38–48, 58, 172, 269
calculating distance between Earth and Moon with, 282–83
calculating mass with, 281–84
calculating orbital periods with, 279–81
first (law of inertia), 38–39, 51
free fall and, 47–48
gravitational acceleration and, 40–43
impact of, 50–51
second (calculation of force), 39–43, 46
third (acceleration), 46–48, 56
and universal law of gravitation, 49–51
weightlessness and, 47–48
New York, N.Y., 72
New York Times, x
nickel, 151
nitrogen, 153
Nobel Prize, 167, 217
nodes, 111
nonconductors, 128–29, 131–32, 136
Norma (constellation), 195
northern lights (aurora borealis), 10, 153–54, 245
note-pairing, 114
nuclear decay, 7–8
nuclear energy, 183–85
nuclear fission, 183–85, 186–87, 218
nuclear fusion, 186–87, 188, 219, 223, 251
in stars, 218
nuclear reactors, 170, 183–85
Obama, Barack, 181, 190
oboe, 112, 119
occultation, 197
octaves, 114
oil embargo, 181
Olympic Games of 1972, 264
Oort, Jan, 201–2
OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries), 181
Opticks (Newton), 80
orbital plane, 29
Orion (constellation), 237
Orosz, Jerry, 242
oscilloscope, 115, 118
Ørsted, Hans Christian, 155–56
Ørsted satellite, 153
Overbeck, Jim, 200
overtones, 112
oxygen, 6–7, 107, 151, 153, 219
in magnetite, 150
ozone and, 144–45
paddle wheel, 174–75
Paik, Nam June, 150
Paolini, Frank, 193, 195
Paradijs, Jan van, 255, 257
parallax, 28–31, 33, 34, 36
parallax angle, 28–30
paramagnetic materials, 151
Pascal, Blaise, 66, 126
Pauli, Wolfgang, 268
PBS, 23
Pederson, Holger, 257
pendulums, 52–55
air drag (friction) and, 52
amplitude of, 52–54, 106
conservation of energy and, 168–69, 173–74
period of, 52, 54–55, 106
simple, 52, 109
Perseus cluster, 108
Peterson, Larry, 200
photoelectric absorption, 207
photons, 208, 238
Physical Review Letters, 215
physics, 5–6, 50, 261, 262
as natural philosophy, 126
pioneers of, 268
piano, 112, 113, 114, 116
Picasso, Pablo, 268
piccolo, 120
Piene, Otto, 263–64, 267
pipe organ, 120–21
Pissarro, Camille, 267
Planck, Max, 268
Planck mass, 230
plasma (intergalactic medium):