Einstein's Heroes: Imagining the World through the Language of Mathematics.EINSTEIN'S HEROES: Imagining the World through the Language of Mathematics ROBYN ARIANRHOD Albert Einstein is rightly admired as one of history's great mathematical and scientific minds. But did he have his own heroes? During his lifetime, Einstein acknowledged at least three: Isaac Newton, Michael Faraday faraday /far·a·day/ (F ) (far´ah-da) the electric charge carried by one mole of electrons or one equivalent weight of ions, equal to 9.649 × 104coulombs. far·a·day n. , and in particular James Clerk Maxwell, who produced the first mathematical description of electromagnetism electromagnetism Branch of physics that deals with the relationship between electricity and magnetism. Their merger into one concept is tied to three historical events. Hans C. and thus presaged the discovery of radio waves Radio waves Electromagnetic energy of the frequency range corresponding to that used in radio communications, usually 10,000 cycles per second to 300 billion cycles per second. . Australian mathematician and writer Arianrhod proposes a commonality com·mon·al·i·ty n. pl. com·mon·al·i·ties 1. a. The possession, along with another or others, of a certain attribute or set of attributes: a political movement's commonality of purpose. among the visionary contributions of these scientists and the breakthrough work of Einstein. All four scientists were fluent fluent /flu·ent/ (floo´int) flowing effortlessly; said of speech. in the language of mathematics, which the author calls the language of nature. When applied creatively and with insight, this language is a physicist's most valuable tool, writes Arianrhod. It even has the power to describe phenomena not yet observed, she points out. Einstein's Heroes offers readers an engaging intellectual exercise combining physics, language, mathematics, and biography. Oxford Univ. Press, 2005, 323 p., b&w illus., hardcover, $28.00. |
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