A portrait of the scientist who had a comet named after him examines his importance to Newtonian physics, his discoveries about the stars and planets, and the personal life of this adventurer, visionary, and diplomat. UP. (view table of contents)

This intriguing book examines the questions of how the ways in which we observe the world determine theories of physics and how we can get reliable results that enable us to make secure predictions. The first chapters deal with the theories of quantum mechanics and relativity and are followed by a discussion of chaotic dynamics. The uncertainty of observations and probabilistic agruments in physics are then treated. Finally, it is argued that the success of prediction is reason for believing in the existence of a world independent of ourselves. (view table of contents)

Product Description: The passage of the Moon across the night sky has long been a familiar, but mysterious, sight to man. Newton, with his laws of motion and inverse square law of gravity, was able to predict all the planetary orbits, at least in principle...read more