ABSTRACT

On the Shoulders of Giants investigates the relationship between the disciplines of physics and mathematics and shows how many of the most significant advances of 20th-century physics rely on mathematics developed, sometimes much earlier, with no particular physics application in mind. Quoting from mathematicians such as Poincaré and Euclid and physicists such as Newton and Feynman, the links between the two disciplines are explored in the author's entertaining style, providing a fascinating account of the twists and turns in scientific progress through the ages.

chapter 1|9 pages

Introduction

chapter 2|24 pages

From Aristotle to the Structure of Glass

chapter 3|22 pages

From Euclid to General Relativity

chapter 6|23 pages

From Tiling Floors to Quasicrystals

chapter 7|27 pages

Determinism: from Newton to Quantum Chaos

chapter 8|28 pages

Symmetry: from Galois to Superstrings

chapter 9|23 pages

From Coin Tossing to Entropy

chapter 11|23 pages

From Parabolas to Fractons

chapter 12|25 pages

Motion: from Zeno to Schrödinger