Textbook
This is our 2019 textbook:
Physics and Technology for Future Presidents
An Introduction to the Essential Physics Every World Leader Needs to Know
Princeton University Press
ISBN 978-0-691-13504-5
2010 Edition
Richard Muller
Do not confuse this with the popular book, Physics for Future Presidents; The Science Behind the Headlines by the same author. Although the popular book is cheaper and covers some of the same issues as our textbook, it is a very different book and it will not work for our course.
Table of Contents
Preface
Physics Is the Liberal Arts of High-Tech; An Ideal Student; Physics for the Future LeaderCHAPTER 1: Energy and Power and the Physics of Explosions 1
Explosions and Energy; Power; Chapter Review 31CHAPTER 2: Atoms and Heat 38
Quandaries; Atoms and Molecules and the Meaning of Heat; Temperature; Chapter ReviewCHAPTER 3: Gravity, Force, and Space 72
Gravity Surprises, The Force of Gravity; Push Accelerates--Newton's Third Law; Orbiting the Earth, and Weightlessness; Escape to Infinity; Air Resistance and Fuel Efficiency; Momentum; Rockets; Airplanes, Helicopters, and Fans; Convection--Thunderstorms and Heaters; Angular Momentum and Torque; Chapter ReviewCHAPTER 4: Nuclei and Radioactivity 108
Radioactivity; Fission; Fusion; Back to the Beginning; Chapter ReviewCHAPTER 5: Chain Reactions, Nuclear Reactors, and Atomic Bombs 152
A Multitude of Chain Reactions; Nuclear Weapons Basics; Nuclear Reactors; Nuclear Waste; Chapter ReviewCHAPTER 6: Electricity and Magnetism 201
Electricity Is... ; Magnetism Is... ; Electricity; Electric Power; Magnets; Electric and Magnetic Fields ; Electromagnets; Electric Motors; Electric Generators; Transformers; Magnetic Levitation; Rail Guns ; AC versus DC; Chapter ReviewCHAPTER 7: Waves Including UFOs, Earthquakes, and Music 239
Two Strange but True Stories; Waves; Chapter ReviewCHAPTER 8: Light 282
High-Tech Light; What Is Light?; Color; Images; Mirrors; Slow Light; Lenses; Eyes; Telescopes and Microscopes; Spreading Light-- Diffraction; Holograms; Polarization; Chapter ReviewCHAPTER 9: Invisible Light 324
An Opening Anecdote: Watching Illegal Immigrants Cross the Border in Darkness; Infrared Radiation; UV--"Black Light"; The Ozone Layer; Electromagnetic Radiation--an Overview; Medical Imaging; Ultrasound--Sonar (Bats and Submarines); Chapter ReviewCHAPTER 10: Climate Change 363
Global Warming; Solutions; Chapter ReviewCHAPTER 11: Quantum Physics 404
Electron Waves; Laser--a Quantum Chain Reaction 409; The Photoelectric Effect; Quantum Physics of Gamma Rays and X-Rays; Semiconductor Transistors; Diode Transistors; Transistors; Superconductors; Electron Microscope; Deeper Aspects of Quantum Physics; Tunneling; Quantum Computers; Chapter ReviewCHAPTER 12: Relativity 443
A Dialogue; Events--and the "Fourth Dimension"; Time Dilation; Lorentz Contraction; Relative Velocities; Energy and Mass; General Relativity-- a Theory of Gravity; Questions about Time; Chapter ReviewCHAPTER 13: The Universe 467
Puzzles; The Solar System; Galaxies; Looking Back in Time; Expansion of the Universe; Dark Energy; The Beginning; Theory of Everything; Chapter Review
