Ernest Rutherford (New Zealand-British physicist, 1871-1937), the 1908 Nobel Laureate who discovered the existence of atomic nuclei, is famously quoted as having said: "Physics is the only real science. All the rest is butter?y collecting." Or something to that e?ect. I like to include this quote in my introductory remarks at the ?rst class meetings of the physics courses I teach. I have seen that there are those whointerpret this as a put-down of amateurs (butter?y collectors) in science. However, my own interp- tation of ...
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Ernest Rutherford (New Zealand-British physicist, 1871-1937), the 1908 Nobel Laureate who discovered the existence of atomic nuclei, is famously quoted as having said: "Physics is the only real science. All the rest is butter?y collecting." Or something to that e?ect. I like to include this quote in my introductory remarks at the ?rst class meetings of the physics courses I teach. I have seen that there are those whointerpret this as a put-down of amateurs (butter?y collectors) in science. However, my own interp- tation of Rutherford's statement is that he is claiming that, except for physics, all of the rest of science is involved merely in collecting facts and classifying them (butter?y collecting). It is physics, uniqueamong the sciences, that is attempting to ?nd explanations for the classi?ed data. The periodic table of the chemical elements, originally proposed by DmitriIvanovichMendeleev(Russianchemist,1834-1907), presentsan example of this. Chemists toiled to discover the chemical elements and their properties and then classi?ed the elements in the scheme that is expressed by the periodic table. Here was the chemists' butter?y collecting. It took physicists to explaintheperiodictablebymeansof quantum theory.
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Publisher:
Springer-Verlag Berlin and Heidelberg GmbH & Co. K
Published:
2010
Language:
English
Alibris ID:
17987818238
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New. Contains: Illustrations, black & white. Frontiers Collection . XIV, 305 p. 86 illus. Intended for professional and scholarly audience. In Stock. 100% Money Back Guarantee. Brand New, Perfect Condition, allow 4-14 business days for standard shipping. To Alaska, Hawaii, U.S. protectorate, P.O. box, and APO/FPO addresses allow 4-28 business days for Standard shipping. No expedited shipping. All orders placed with expedited shipping will be cancelled. Over 3, 000, 000 happy customers.
Publisher:
Springer-Verlag Berlin and Heidelberg GmbH & Co. K
Published:
2010
Language:
English
Alibris ID:
10830378728
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New. Print on demand Contains: Illustrations, black & white. Frontiers Collection . XIV, 305 p. 86 illus. Intended for professional and scholarly audience.
Publisher:
Springer-Verlag Berlin and Heidelberg GmbH & Co. K
Published:
2010
Language:
English
Alibris ID:
17917248468
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Standard Shipping: $4.62
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Seller's Description:
New. Contains: Illustrations, black & white, Tables, black & white. Frontiers Collection . XIV, 305 p. 86 illus. Intended for professional and scholarly audience.
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New. Print on demand Sewn binding. Cloth over boards. 305 p. Contains: Unspecified, Illustrations, black & white, Tables, black & white, Figures. Frontiers Collection.
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Seller's Description:
New. Sewn binding. Cloth over boards. 305 p. Contains: Unspecified, Illustrations, black & white, Tables, black & white, Figures. Frontiers Collection. In Stock. 100% Money Back Guarantee. Brand New, Perfect Condition, allow 4-14 business days for standard shipping. To Alaska, Hawaii, U.S. protectorate, P.O. box, and APO/FPO addresses allow 4-28 business days for Standard shipping. No expedited shipping. All orders placed with expedited shipping will be cancelled. Over 3, 000, 000 happy customers.
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
New. Sewn binding. Cloth over boards. 305 p. Contains: Unspecified, Illustrations, black & white, Tables, black & white, Figures. Frontiers Collection. In Stock. 100% Money Back Guarantee. Brand New, Perfect Condition, allow 4-14 business days for standard shipping. To Alaska, Hawaii, U.S. protectorate, P.O. box, and APO/FPO addresses allow 4-28 business days for Standard shipping. No expedited shipping. All orders placed with expedited shipping will be cancelled. Over 3, 000, 000 happy customers.
