The Write Stuff at the UCD School of Physics
After the success of Let There Be Light (Imperial College Press, 2008), Prof. Alex Montwill and Dr. Ann Breslin released The Quantum Adventure: Does God Play Dice (Imperial College Press), a highly entertaining look at quantum mechanics, from Isaac Newton to Max Planck to Richard Feynman; from the ultraviolet catastrophe to the nature of reality. The adventure began with a reluctant acceptance of concepts which seemed irrational and contrary to common sense. As the theory developed, it led to conclusions so absurd that even Einstein began to have second thoughts, saying he could not believe that God ran the Universe on the basis of chance, by ‘throwing dice’. Quantum theory is at the core of cutting-edge research today in numerous fields. In October 2012, the Nobel Prize in Physics was given to Serge Haroche and David J. Wineland for “ground-breaking experimental methods that enable measuring and manipulation of individual quantum systems," highlighting the growing importance of quantum mechanical systems and quantum computing.
The Quantum Adventure is a delightful read, with personal stories about all the main players (Planck, Bohr, Schrödinger, Heisenberg, Einstein, Dirac, Feynman, and many others) woven into the history and formulation of quantum mechanics. Hundreds of images throughout help to make the book a must read for anyone interested in quantum mechanics.
Prof. Peter Hogan with co-authors H. Asada and T. Futamase have written Equations of Motion in General Relativity (Oxford University Press), an account of the theory and results on gravitational equations of motion since the discovery in 1974 of the binary neutron star system PSR 1913+16. Expanding on Prof. Hogan’s research area in General Relativity (Equations of Motion, Gravitational Waves, Exact Solutions of Einstein's Equations and Cosmology), the book offers a guide to prospective researchers in the areas of the motion of small black holes and extended bodies, in external gravitational and electromagnetic fields. The book concludes with a discussion of few-body systems in Newtonian gravity and in general relativity.
Equations of Motion in General Relativity is a concise and highly readable investigation into state-of-the-art problems of motion in general relativity, and is aimed at first-year postgraduate students and final-year undergraduates who have already taken an introductory course in general relativity. Essential for those who want to know more about general relativistic celestial mechanics.
Do The Math! On Growth, Greed, and Strategic Thinking (Sage Publications) by Dr. John K. White is a fresh look at the numbers of daily living, using many creative examples to provide a guide to better understand the world around us. Numerous creative examples, thought-provoking ideas, and illustrative figures help to explain the realities of modern economic and contemporary social issues and link mathematical concepts to real-world examples, from pyramid scams to government bailouts, from sports leagues to stock markets, from the everyday to the seemingly complex.
Do The Math! is aimed at the general reader with no previous mathematical experience, who is interested in uncomplicated discussion and wants to apply do-it-yourself analysis to understand our increasingly more numerate world. Along the way, one learns about debt and demographics, why sports are so uncompetitive, where the centre of Europe is, and who really broke the bank in 2009. A must-read for today’s generalist thinker.
The Quantum Adventure: Does God Play Dice, Alex Montwill and Ann Breslin (Imperial College Press), http://www.worldscientific.com/worldscibooks/10.1142/p751
Equations of Motion in General Relativity, H. Asada, T. Futamase, and P. A. Hogan (Oxford University Press), http://ukcatalogue.oup.com/product/9780199584109.do#.UH6OOq7FKSp
Do the Math! On Growth, Greed, and Strategic Thinking, John K. White (Sage Publications), http://www.sagepub.com/books/Book236964
All books are available online and in the UCD Campus Bookshop.