1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910788532703321

Autore

Krieger Martin H

Titolo

Doing physics [[electronic resource] ] : how physicists take hold of the world / / Martin H. Krieger

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Bloomington, : Indiana University Press, c2012

ISBN

1-283-62986-0

0-253-00608-2

9786613942319

Edizione

[2nd ed.]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (248 p.)

Disciplina

530.092/2

Soggetti

Ethnology

Physicists

Physics - Methodology

Physics - Philosophy

Science - Social aspects

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Description based upon print version of record.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Cover; DOING PHYSICS; Title; Copyright; Dedication; Contents; PREFACE; 1 THE DIVISION OF LABOR: THE FACTORY; 2 TAKING APART AND PUTTING TOGETHER: THE CLOCKWORKS, THE CALCULUS, AND THE COMPUTER; 3 FREEDOM AND NECESSITY: FAMILY AND KINSHIP; 4 THE VACUUM AND THE CREATION: SETTING A STAGE; 5 HANDLES, PROBES, AND TOOLS: A RHETORIC OF NATURE; 6 PRODUCTION MACHINERY: MATHEMATICS FOR ANALYSIS AND DESCRIPTION; 7 AN EPITOME; NOTES; INDEX

Sommario/riassunto

Doing Physics makes concepts of physics easier to grasp by relating them to everyday knowledge. Addressing some of the models and metaphors that physicists use to explain the physical world, Martin H. Krieger describes the conceptual world of physics by means of analogies to economics, anthropology, theater, carpentry, mechanisms such as clockworks, and machine tool design. The interaction of elementary particles or chemical species, for example, can be related to the theory of kinship-who can marry whom is like what can interact with what. Likewise, the description of physical situations i