THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF PHYSICS
Third Edition Edited by Robert M. Besançon
Updated and expanded, this third edition of a widely-acclaimed encyclopedia provides condensed, authoritative information on the essential topics of physics.
Following the same pattern as the successful previous editions, this volume's 350-plus articles have been carefully selected to give adequate representation to all branches of the subject, with emphasis on new and sophisticated concepts. An unusual feature is the arrangement of material in such a manner that articles on the main divisions of physics are written for readers with little background in physics, the articles on subdivisions are aimed at those readers with more knowledge, and articles on finer divisions are geared toward readers with fairly sound backgrounds in physics and mathematics.
Many of the authorities who contributed articles to the first edition have completely rewritten their material in order to ensure that the most advanced information extant on all phases of physics would be included.
Among the topics given new or expanded coverage are gauge theories, quantum chromodynamics, electroweak theory, and grand unified theories. You will also find new information on particle theory, biomedical instrumentation, molecular biology, quarks and pulsars, and laser fusion. In response to the recent upsurge in volcanic activity, a section on volcanology probes the physics involved in such phenomena.
Keeping up the tradition of its predecessors, the Third Edition offers detailed coverage of relativity, quantum mechanics, gravitation, Kepler's Laws of Planetary Motion, semiconductors, transuranium elements, fission and fusion, and other key areas.
This book does much to correct misleading information that has been disseminated on many of these subjects. Articles are thoroughly cross-referenced and the bibliography is extensive. A comprehensive index provides immediate location of collateral information; and carefully executed diagrams and charts enhance the usefulness of the volume.
The authors, representing many distinguished colleges and universities in the United States and throughout the world, include many Fellows of the American Physical Society, the Royal Society, and other scientific organizations.
About the Editor
Robert M. Besançon has a richly diversified background in the field of physics—as university professor, physicist, writer, researcher, and administrator. An alumnus of the University of Montana, he did his graduate work in physics at the Universities of Montana, Illinois, and Chicago. For seventeen years he was on the faculty of the Medical Center of the University of Illinois and was on the staff of the U.S. Air Force Materials Laboratory at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, where he served as a physicist and as a physical sciences administrator. He is the author of several books and a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
