5 comments about Hacking Matter: Levitating Chairs, Quantum Mirages, and the Infinite Weirdness of Programmable Atoms.

1. I think the content of the book was so far out into the future that suddenly Star Trek movies make sence. The material is discussing theory so much with real practical applications many decades away, that one cannot help but think of Star Trek. It is with programmable matter that the future trekies can enable themselves to own cool toys like tricorders, replicators, cloaking devices, shape shifters etc. I think an alternative title of the book could have been, "Star Trek Explained" :-)

   Being a science fiction fan, I enjoyed it thoroughly, except for the technical details of wellstone which was a drag in the end...




2. I think the previous reviewers have not been keeping up with the leaps and bounds that technology has been making with quantum dots. They exist folks and they are being used as we speak. While the applications for this technology as discribed in this book are not possible at this point in time, they should no longer be considered impossible. Just type 'quantum dots' in your search engine or check out some of the popular science websites. This is real and it is utterly facinating. Definately a good book but you'll need to read up on some basic quantum mechanics first to really enjoy it (the reason I gave it 4 stars and not 5).



3. You can also download this book free at
   http://www.wilmccarthy.com/HackingMatterMultimediaEdition.pdf



4. Despite my intrinsic interest in such futuristic topics as programmable matter, the subject of Wil McCarthy's interesting journalistic account of research underway at laboratories around the world, I never know how much I should believe concerning these possibilities. More likely than not it will turn out to be just as real as speculations about flying cars in the 1930s or jet packs for everyone in the 1950s or...I could go on and on. In "Hacking Matter" McCarthy lays out a story as fantastic as any concocted by a master of science fiction. It has the attraction of ancient alchemy--of Midas turning anything to gold with his touch or Rumplestiltskin's spinning of straw into gold--and may be just about as real.
   
   But there is a serious side to this, and McCarthy does a service by discussing the research underway to manipulate matter at the level of the molecule. Scientists already understand the process, and the very real science of nanotechnology is built on this knowledge. The U.S. Department of Defense, other government agencies, and some corporations are investing in this future technology. Their reasons for doing so are obvious, if we can transform one type of matter into another with the click of a mouse button the potential is incredible. Materials precious and difficult to obtain may be acquired quickly, easily, and safely. The potential to completely change the physical existence of all humanity should be apparent. This is a fascinating story, one that is probably realizable perhaps centuries in the future, that is if it realizable at all. But it is a fascinating line of scientific inquiry nonetheless.



5. Quantum information encode on each photon; the race is too replace the transistor; quantum dot nanoparticles create entanglement, so that their relative positions determine their effect on another; when arranged in groups of eight, Quantum Celluar Automata (QCA) can carry out binary logic necessary fro today's computer operations.
   
   QCA requires low temperators and the replacement is nanomagnets, 100 nm that mirror the function of transistor-based logic gates and matrix handles the logic operations.
   MQCA envisons a all magnetic computer, operates at room temperature, fabricates easier, and advances magnetic storage industry. Wolfgang Porod created the process of magnetic patterning to produce a chip using arrays of separate magnetic domains.
   
   "For a quantum computer, whose bits can be in two quantum states at once, both on or off at the same time, many solutions can be explored simulataneously.
   Quantum dot system exhibits long-lasting coherence. QDOT arrays must be scaleable into large systems. Quantum machine requires large number of quantum switches working together as a group. When two elections occupy the same space, they must pair with oposite spin, one electron with up spin and the other with down. Eight converging wires or gates deposit the electrons in the dot one by one and electronically fine-tune the dot's properties so they would become entangled. The down-up, up-down configuration occurred simulataneously.
   
   1. When a N layer istraped between two P layers, it attracts electrons into the middle layer and doesn't let them out. If the N layer is really thin, 10 nanometers, the trap approaches a quantum-mechanical limit, the de Broglie wavelength, and wave-like behavior moves along the vertical axises. Quantum wires can be practically used in optical computers, fiber-optic networks, and lasers.
   2. Electrons will arrange themselves into orbitals around the positively charged nucleus; these orbitals and electrons determine the physical and chemical properties of an atom. When the electrons are trapped in quantum dots they will arrange themselves as though they were part of the atom, even though there's no atomic nucleus for them to surround. Which atom they resemble depends on the number of excess electrons trapped inside the dot. Electrons can be confinedelectrostatically, by electrodes, pumping electrons in out by varying the voltage of the fence. Kastner, in 1993 labeled the nanostructure an "artificial atom": single-electron transistor (SET), Coulomb Island, or zero dimensional electron gas, or colloidal nanoparticle or semiconductor nanocrystal. "One electron gets you hydrogen, two gets you helium, and so on. Each dot has its own unique periodic table, though; size and shape and composition of the device have a huge effect on how its electrons interact. We can easily call up an artificial, six carbon atom on the chip, buts its structure may or may not resemble that of a natural carbon atom." "Another prediction made by MIT theorist is that there should be quantum dot materials that behave as insulators when they contain an odd number of electrons, and as conductiors whey they contain an even number." "Large collections of quantum dots, along with metals and semiconductor substrate will be referred to as programmable materials."
   3. "Quantum scientist have also shown that an array of Single electron Transistor - SETs create a form of neural network." SETs construct computers that use individual electrons to carry information. SET biggest problem is operating at room temperature. Quantum tunneling means the can "interact capacitively rather than by current flow throught the wires." "When their interactions result from the quantum tunneling of electrons, quantum dots can collectively behave as a form of quantum cellular automaton, QCA. QCA computers may show associative memory. If Decoherence can be avoid a qbit can form with a 0 or 1 or superposition state of both at the same time. 5 qbits could handle 32 states (2^n), simulateously; a conventional computer would handle 32 sets of 5 bits, or 160 bits in all. 64 bit encryption could be processed with one 64 qubit operation, whereas, a conventional computer requiring 2^64, 1.84 x10^19 operations or 292.5 years, 18 billion billion times more powerful than a 64 bit binary computer.

5 comments about A First Course in String Theory.

1. I still think advanced physics needs advanced mathematics to explain and explore. With limited depth of mathematics in this book, even though lots of ideas can be expressed, the process is tedious. This introductory book can satisfy my curiosity but not enough to envision the potential study advancement.



2. In spite of being published only two years ago, this book does not make any mention of Professor Susskind's Landscape theory, the single most important advancement in string theory since anomaly cancellation was discovered. The book does a disservice to the students it is intended for, letting them think they understand string theory while depriving them of key mathematical and physical concepts, such as the Lanscape or Calabi Yau manifolds.



3. Until chapter 10, the book is a pleasure to read. It is very systematic, everything is explained in great detail, and the different concepts are very clear and well exposed. The author succeeds in turning a rather obscure scientific topic into an exciting adventure. If I should judge the book only for this first part, I would give it 5 stars. In fact the book is misleading since when you start reading, you get the illusion string theory can be made accessible even for beginners with an average background.
   
   However, this illusion is in vain since the panorama changes dramatically in chapter 10, where the author enters directly into quantum field theory, without any further preparation. An this is the real problem, because the author who developed from the ground up the classical approach to strings mechanics, takes for granted the reader is highly knowledged in quantum mechanics. In spite of his efforts to introduce the subject in successive approximations, all is in vain because the subject is too intricate. The book is not any more systematic for readers lacking adequate quantum theory background.
   
   Certainly this is not a book for beginners. The book requires previous deep understanding of quantum mechanics. Beginners can still learn some interesting concepts from the first part of the book, but a complete reading would require deep study of less advanced quantum mechanics bibliography. That said, I must also point out if the level of the book is maintained in its second part, it may become a top ten for more advanced readers.



4. For any advanced undergraduate student in physics who is interested in string theory, this book is ideal. It starts off very easily, reviewing concepts of free point particle actions in special relativity and then gradually introduces classical strings, which are then quantised in the light-cone gauge. It doesn' get too technical, but it provides one with a good foundation in string theory's concepts. The topics are discussed very clearly, both in words and in formulae. At the end of the book, black holes are discussed very briefly (in connection with the Hagedoorn temperature) in an easy way, covariant quantisation (as an "improvement" on the light-cone gauge, which does not preserve Lorentz invariance all the way through), and D-branes.
   This book is intended for advanced undergraduates, but for those who find beginning graduate courses in string theory too complicated at the outset, buy this one, read it and you'll probably understand more of the classics by Polchinski or Green/Schwarz/Witten. Those who have a solid knowledge of QFT might go passed this book, but it might be a good back-up for what more standard textbooks might call "trivial calculations".



5. I really cannot recommend this book more highly. The way it approaches a subject that is considered so formidable, the attention to detail, the painstakingly explicit calculations... An the fact that it doesn't just try to sell you a bunch of difficult math as a physical theory, but it actually explains the motivation of every abstract construction it introduces... Perfection! This is the way every physics book should be written. I don't know if there is a chance of this happening, but if Zwiebach ever attempts to write something similar for Field Theory, it will be a blessing.
   
   The first half of the book is also a must read for every physicist, even if you don't know (or wish to know) about string theory. It includes among other things, a truly incredible way to explain the number of degrees of freedom of quantum fields depending on their spin, using light-cone coordinates to write the equations of motion. I haven't seen this anywhere else. This is the way this topic should be taught in field theory courses and I wonder why it isn't more widely used. The book is generally full of such "this really makes sense" kind of epiphanies that will help you understand more fully other things that you used to find confusing or poorly explained elsewhere.
   
   One of the best physics books ever. Really makes one wonder what is wrong with most of the other physics authors.

2 comments about Nature's Clocks: How Scientists Measure the Age of Almost Everything.

1. The main focus of this book is on how objects can be dated using measurements of radioactive isotopes and their products, that is the elements and isotopes that form after radioactive decay.
   The author begins with a brief discussion of ideas about the earth's duration before the advent of dating techniques using radioactive isotopes. Here he discusses the duration of the earth as inferred from the Bible, the influence of James Hutton in moving scientific opinion towards a longer time scale, William Smith's use of fossils to come to a relative (that is, the order in which rocks were formed, but not when they were formed) dating of sedimentary rocks, and the conflict in the later half of the 19th century between geologists' belief in a long earth history and the physicist Lord Kelvin's model of a relatively short (20 million years in some versions of the model) duration for the earth.
   With the discovery of radioactivity, in the early 20th century it became apparent that radioactive decay could be used a sort of clock. The physicist Ernest Rutherford was one of the first to attempt to estimate geological time scales using radioactive decay. The British geologist Arthur Holmes in his early work was one of the first geologist's to use the decay of uranium to lead to estimate geological time scales. These early efforts were hampered by the lack of understanding that different isotopes of the same element exist, and that there can be more than one radioactive isotope of an element.
   As understanding of the complexity of the problem increased, more accurate methods resulted. Claire Patterson, at the University of Chicago and later at Caltech, came up with the roughly 4.55 billion year estimate of the duration of the earth's existence in the 1950s using the uranium to lead decay series, after much difficulty in eliminating laboratory contamination of lead from leaded gasoline. Starting in the 1940s at the University of Chicago, Libby and his graduate students developed carbon 14 dating, which is suitable for dating objects that contain carbon from roughly the last 50,000 years and is therefore useful for archaeologists, and for geologists who study ice ages. One thing I was interested to learn is that the carbon 14 method is the only one that involves the actual counting of radioactive decay; the other methods, such as uranium to lead or potasssium argon, actually require the measurement of the "parent" element and isotope (such as uranium) and the "daughter" element and isotope (such as lead) with a mass spectrometer, because radioactive decay is too slow for practical counting from small samples of these isotopes.
   Each radioactive method is suitable for different time spans, The uranium lead method is suitable for very long (billions, hundreds of millios of years) time spans, the potsssium argon method for intermediate (in a geological sense!) time spans, and carbon 14 for the last 50,000 years or so. Because carbon 14 is produced at varying rates over time in the upper atmosphere (from the interaction of cosmic radiation with molecules in the air), to improve its accuracy it is calibrated with (mainly) tree ring data. The calibration at the moment goes back about 26,000 years.
   Recent developments have allowed for collecting information from smaller samples, such as individual crystals of zircon,
   I found the book easy to read. The author includes two appendices with some discussion of the mathematics of radioactive decay, a chart of the geological time scale, and the periodic table of the chemical elements.



2. This excellent book provides an overview of how things or events from the past can be dated - from when the earth formed to events in human history. As the author points out, although much of the distant past can be dated in a relative way, i.e., by classifying events in the order in which they occurred, the determination of actual ages has received an incredible boost through the use of radioactive isotopes of certain elements. The author weaves this fascinating tale very well - from the discovery of radioactivity, through the discovery of its use in dating ancient artifacts to refining the age of the earth and the timing of milestones in human evolution. The individuals who did the early pioneering work, as well as those who currently strive for greater precision and refinement in this field, play prominent roles in this gripping story which clearly illustrates how science works. The writing style is clear, friendly, authoritative, very engaging and quite accessible. This book appears to have been aimed at broad readership; specialized terminology is well explained when first used in the main text and a glossary of technical terms can be found at the back of the book. But also, an appendix is included that concentrates on some of the mathematical formulas involved, for those who are more mathematically/technically inclined. Consequently, this book can be enjoyed by anyone, although science buffs may consider it a particularly special treat.

4 comments about Introductory Nuclear Physics.

1. I graduated from Hacettepe University, Nuclear Engineering Department in Turkiye. In the 2nd class, we studied Nuclear Physics and read Krane's text book. However, though it was a text book, i used it as a referance guide many times and have still been using. Want to thank for presenting such a worthy book into the life of education.



2. I used this book for my Int. to Nuc. Phys. course in my undergraduate studies. I had a bad professor, you couldn't understand anything from him, and then I found this book.
   This book is an EXCELLENT introduction to nuclear physics. It covers all major topics, and the explenations are clear and readable, and INTERESTING to read. You should have a grasp of undergraduate Quantum Mechanics for this book, however.
   The book starts with a quick overview of all relevant QM results so you can consult the first few chapters if you forgot something.
   A great book.
   BTW there is a little typo in the shell model scheme of energy levels, but I don't remember exactly as it was over a year ago. However, be advised that one of the levels is wrong. But you can easily find it out - I did.



3. I liked this book. The material was fairly well-organized, and very clearly presented. Many topics were covered including Quantum Mechanics, Nuclear Astrophysics, Nuclear Medicine, and more. Anyone who has had an introduction to modern physics can handle this book. It is very readable and presents much of the history as it covers the theoretical ideas. Also I thought it had a very good looking cover, and the apendices are very useful for reference.



4. This is not the first good book that Krane did make, he had many before!
   This book is excellent for any beginner wishing to study or know something about nuclear physics, but the level of the text somehow is advanced that I might say it is for MSc. students more than Bachelor, but everyone can do well at least just for reading to satisfy the interest. It has some questions after each chapter, but no answers at the back, but the author tries (as I felt in some questions) to make you make your own impression and thought about some topics even though you are wrong and makes you sense the real environment of the labs and how data are analyzed. After all, it is a good book indeed.

5 comments about Structure Determination of Organic Compounds: Tables of Spectral Data.

1. If you are taking a class in organic spectroscopy or use NMR all the time in your lab, then this book is a must. Gives you table after table of chemical shifts for C-13 NMR, H1-NMR, IR, Mass Spec, and UV/Vis. It also comes with a very useful NMR Predictor CD.



2. This is the best organic spectroscopy book I have ever found. If you have to take any kind of organic spec class, this is definitely a must.



3. I'm taking an organic spectroscopy course for my graduate program in Organic chemistry and my exams consist of MS, IR, proton NMR, and C13 NMR spectra.
   
   This book is absolutely incredible. It gives you chemical shifts for nearly every conceivable structure for proton and C13 NMR and it also gives you absorptions for the IR frequencies of known functional groups. It has helped me many times in trying to determine the structure of an unknown compound.
   
   Like the other reviewer said, this book is the bible of organic spectroscopy. I see it being used all the time in the organic research lab when graduate students are trying to figure out what they synthesized.



4. The book was in perfect condition and was sent at time.
   I will agree that my first experience with Amazon was an excellent one.
   
   Thank you



5. this book contains a lot of information, but organized in such a way that is easy to find what you need.

5 comments about Radiation Detection and Measurement.

1. This is an excellent text and considered the prime source for an detailed overview of it's field.



2. I believe that there is an accompanying solutions manual for those individuals who will be self-studying. Nothing shows up on the search. How do I obtain the solutions manual?



3. I have used this book for my studies and for working, and it's really beautiful: it starts with basic principles and after few pages you are deep inside the detector, and you start feeling it. The next step is to take an article of Nucl. Instr. Methods and read it.



4. This book is a must for anyone working in the field of
   radiation detection, and contains a clear, readable description
   of the working principles of quite a lot of detector types.
   The weaker point is the description of the associated front
   end (analogue) electronics that goes with those detectors: it
   is a bit concise.



5. It's a wonderful reference for a practiing medical/healt physicist. It's concise but deep in terms of cotent.

No comments about Nature's Blueprint: Supersymmetry and the Search for a Unified Theory of Matter and Force.

5 comments about Elementary Particles and the Laws of Physics: The 1986 Dirac Memorial Lectures.

1. Feynman yet again gives great insight into the laws of physics, this time exploring the reasons for existence of anti-particles, starting from the dirac equation etc.. Plus some really outstanding photographs, that fella Weinberg will be chuffed to have his name mentioned on the book cover!



2. As usual, the best physics books are short and to the point, as is this one. The two Dirac lectures may serve as a perfectly good mini physics course all by themselves. I always enjoy a Feynman lecture, and this is no exception. He cuts to the chase without sacrificing the plot. But, I must say, in this case the Wienberg lecture is the better of the two. Weinberg's style has a particular grace & beauty about it that gently exposes the aesthetic meaning of the search for a picture of nature.



3. This short book, Elementary Particles and the Laws of Physics, offers two lectures: Richard Feynman's The Reason for Antiparticles and Steven Weinberg's Toward the Final Laws of Physics. These two talks comprise the 1986 Dirac Memorial lectures at Cambridge University. Both presentations are cogently structured and make fascinating reading.
   
   The talks were directed at an advanced audience, one that was familiar with quantum mechanics. Unlike many popular presentations by Feynman and Weinberg, these lectures are not suitable for the general layman.
   
   However, these lectures are accessible to a persistent (perhaps, stubborn) layman with a calculus background and a deep interest in particle physics. I am not a physicist, but I did take my share of physics, chemistry, and math courses several decades ago. I encountered Schrodinger's equation in more than one class, but not relativistic quantum mechanics. However, having recently read Bruce Schumm's wonderful review of particle physics (titled Deep Down Things), I was sufficiently motivated to work my way through both Dirac memorial lectures.
   
   Richard Feynman's lecture, The Reason for Antiparticles, is decidedly the more difficult. Feynman first demonstrates that quantum mechanics and relativity together require the existence of antiparticles, and then shows that they also establish the spin-statistics connection. Within a few pages advanced mathematical expressions appear and then persistently stay in the foreground for nearly the entire talk.
   
   Although understanding Feynman's mathematics is critical for a full and deep appreciation of his exposition, with careful, repeated readings the stubborn layman will have sudden moments of enlightenment and can come away with a deeper understanding of antiparticles and spin statistics. For readers engaged in some self-tutorial readings, it may prove helpful to return occasionally to this classic Feynman lecture to qualitatively measure progress. I have no doubt that, on a deeper level, Feynman's lecture will similarly challenge and enlighten physics majors as well.
   
   Steven Weinberg discusses his speculations on the shape of a final underlying theory of particle physics. Initially, his talk is deceptively easy as few mathematical expressions are used. However, about midway a Lagrangian density equation appears, ratcheting the difficulty several notches, as Weinberg considers a theoretical framework based on quantum mechanics and a few symmetry principles, that is also mathematically consistent with the Lagrangian dynamical principle. After discussion of some limitations of the Standard Model, Weinberg concludes his talk with a somewhat mathematical introduction to string theory.



4. From Richard Feynman, with love. Need more to be said? Read it, and read it again. This one can be read all over again once in a while and does not get boring.



5. When I readThe Feynman Lectures on Physics including Feynman's Tips on Physics: The Definitive and Extended Edition, I was hoping to understand the reasoning behind the exclusion principle, and was disappointed to find that RPF felt that this was too complex for undergraduates, so he asked them to take it on faith for the moment.
   
   Here he is talking to a more advanced audience, and explains it - he was right, it's tough. I'm still struggling to understand it, but I have confidence that this is a good book to help.
   
   [Added nearly a year later] Having reread the book several times, I finally understand Feynman's lecture! As is often the case, once I understand the principle, I see relationships to various other things I had not fully understood before.
   
   I should also comment on Weinberg's lecture: he's talking about more speculative areas than Feynman, which is perhaps one reason I found him less enlightening than Feynman, but in a rather vague way I follow what he's saying. Certainly these are fascinating ideas, but they don't sing to me like Feynman's lecture.

5 comments about Radiologic Science for Technologists Physics, Biology and Protection.

1. This book has been a good resource in my program. It was originally supposed to be the testbook for our radiographic physics and equipment class but I haven't used it very much in that regard. Only about 1/4-1/3 of the book covers this topic. Overall, it is a good resource because it covers many areas within radiography.



2. Was a little nervous about purchasing a book online but it came back in perfect shape and was exactly what i was looking for. Looks the same as buying it in the campus bookstore but at a savings of about 45$!



3. The workbook is a must! It has helped clarify information and given a nice overview of the concepts with practical applications. I have recommended it to other students in my class.



4. On time for the shipment date in fact it was a day ahead of schedule.



5. Great Job! My book was sent out to me on time as promised. Your conscientious work ethic was appreciated very much!

5 comments about The God Particle: If the Universe Is the Answer, What Is the Question?.

1. The cover of the book had a caption that read: The funniest book about physics ever written. Immediately springing to mind was the question, how many funny books on physics are there? Well, the cover of the book was correct. Professor Lederman, a Nobel Prize winner, managed to combine a detailed yet clear presentation of physics with a keen sense of humor. His disdain for theoretical physicists was actually quite funny. Lederman covered the history of physics, from the ancient Greeks up to modern times. While the book is a little outdated now (it was written in 1993) Lederman did update the preface in 2006. The only time that I got bogged down was when Lederman was discussing his own experiments. I feel that the book could have used more illustrations, particularly about particle accelerators. However, the web site http://particleadventure.org/ was very useful in clearing up much of my confusion. This book was well worth the investment of time and I was sad when I finished the book. I felt as if I were leaving an old friend and mentor in Professor Lederman.



2. The book was not effective for me, for a handful of reasons.
   
   1. To begin with, I found the book slow-paced (it takes more than a third of the book to get to the discovery of the electron).
   
   2. The authors' attempt at humor doesn't work for me. Example: "Nature uses these combinations, called molecules, to build planets, suns, viruses, mountations, paychecks, Valium, literary agents..." It's just not funny for me.
   
   3. The authors labor under the impression that the reader will both hate any math and not be able to understand it. Their attempt to explain a formula such as F=ma is to spell it out in words: "Eff equals em ay."
   
   4. The amount of material actually devoted to the God Particle (Higgs boson) is extremely small.
   
   5. There are many topics that would be improved with artwork at the level of a Scientific American article, but the only pieces of artwork in the whole book are a diagram of an American football play and a childish map that leads us from Democritus to Burger King.



3. So where is it written that a science book can't be illuminating, factual, current as well as historical, accurate and with some comedic relief?? My favorite line paraphrased: "Why did we title this book, The God Particle? Because, the publishers wouldn't let us call it The Goddamn Particle!" I sincerely hope someday he finds his Higgs Boson. A very interesting work, enjoy it!



4. As with most physics books we get a history lesson of the long road of discoveries that has led up to our current point in research, in this case the higgs boson. The history section is probably one of the best written in physics books but unfortunately that's not why I had read the book. The section that actually concerns the title of the book is actually pretty small. The second part of the book is more concerned with the authors history with Fermi lab, winning the nobel prize, interesting anecdotes and some friendships with other physicists. The God particle subject is very elusive in this book, as it is in the real world.



5. The book is a wonderful read of contemporary physics, but is out of date. I still give it 5 stars because the author clearly explains why books by Zukav, Capra and others, which are often used to argue that quantum physics explains how the mind affects the universe, or how the universe affects the mind, are fundamentally flawed - misunderstandings that abound in New Age metaphysics. Actually, it's easier to ground New Age theory in neuroscience (see Newberg's Born to Believe: God, Science, and the Origin of Ordinary and Extraordinary Beliefs. Although there is some intriguing evidence that our thoughts (although it's probably our body temperature since we find no evidence of thoughts transcending the brain) may have minute effects on the environment. But the emphasis is on the word "minute."