e mc2 a biography of the world's most famous equation

They'll learn a handful-more important, they'll enjoy it, and pick up a load of biographical and cultural curios along the way. ISBN 13: 9780802714633 Emc2: A Biography of the Worlds Most Famous Equation Bodanis, David 4. Bodanis's writing is accessible to the point of chattiness: he seeks, and deserves, many readers who know no physics. Capsule biographies here include one of the engaging English astronomer Cecilia Payne, who wouldn't let institutional sexism stop her from finding the hydrogen in the sun.

A concluding section considers how E=mc2 powers the sun, and how our sun and all others will eventually run out of gas. The middle third of the book covers the exploration of the atom and the making of the atom bomb the cast of characters here includes Marie Curie, Lise Meitner and Enrico Fermi. Bodanis then turns to Einstein's life and work. ''`m' Is for Mass'' brings in French chemist Lavoisier, who established the law of conservation of matter. ''`E' Is for Energy'' opens with Michael Faraday, whose unusual religious beliefs helped him discover that electricity and magnetism were the same force. Originally from Chicago, he received an undergraduate education in mathematics, physics and economics at the University of Chicago (AB 1977). Part Two tackles separately the components of the equation (E, =, m, c and ''squared''), which means that it covers 18th- and 19th-century physics. David Bodanis is an American speaker, business advisor and writer of bestselling nonfiction books, notably Emc2: A Biography of the World's Most Famous Equation, which was translated into 26 languages. Oxford lecturer Bodanis (The Secret Family) shows what happened to Einstein on the way to the discovery, what other scientists did to bring it about and how the equation created the atom bomb. This very approachable yet somewhat limited work of popular science explains, and adorns with anecdote and biography, the equation and its place in history. Most people know this celebrated equation has something to do with Einstein's theory of relativity, but most nonscientists don't know what it means.

E mc2 a biography of the world's most famous equation