Atom: Journey Across the Subatomic Cosmos - Softcover

Isaac Asimov

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0452268346 ISBN 13: 9780452268340

Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group, 1992

Synopsis

“Amazing... If you’ve been searching for a basic text on how the atom works, this is it.” —Booklist
 
“A masterpiece.”—Omni
 
The legendary Isaac Asimov starts what is perhaps the most fascinating of all his books with a simple query: how finely can a piece of matter be divided? But like many simple questions, this one leads us on a far-flung quest for a final answer, a search that becomes a series of beautifully structured building blocks of knowledge.
 
It begins with the earliest speculations and investigations by the Greeks and Romans, and then, step by step and century by century, it traces the path of discovery that revealed more and more of the nature of the atom, of light, of gravity, of the electromagnetic force—and even the nature and structure of the universe.
 
Atom also encompasses such phenomena as light and electricity; the protons, neutrons and quarks that are the fundamental units of the universe; hard-to-observe “anti-particles”; and other strange bits of matter that challenge our assumptions about the very nature of space and time.
 
Atom is the only book of its kind, by the renowned author whose genius for bringing clarity and excitement to complex subjects has made him the most celebrated science author of our time.

About this title

About the Author

Isaac Asimov authored over 400 books in a career that lasted nearly 50 years. As a leading scientific writer, historian, and futurist, he covered a variety of subjects ranging from mathematics to humor, and won numerous awards for his work.

From Publishers Weekly

It takes our best science writers, plus readers current with the whimsical new language of particle physics, to keep up with the leapfrog pace of theory and observation today. Fortunately, Asimov does his part in this report on recent theoretical physics developments that includes just enough history to add human dimension to the latest discussions of the nature of matter. Missing here are the characteristic Asimov metaphors and asides, suggesting that, while juggling so many pure concepts at once, he chooses not to distract his readers. No matter, they will welcome this straightforward guide to the Alice-like world of down-quarks, muons, leptons and other subatomic particles--most of which are believed to exist but have not yet been seen. When information does start coming in from the supercollider, this will be a worthy book to have at hand.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
• Publication date: 1992
• ISBN 10: 0452268346
• ISBN 13: 9780452268340
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 336
• Illustrator: D.F. Bach