Splinters of Infinity : Cosmic Rays and the Clash of Two Nobel Prize-Winning Scientists Over the Secrets of Creation

Mark Wolverton

ISBN 10: 0262048825 / ISBN 13: 9780262048828

Published by MIT Press Mär 2024, 2024

About this Item

Neuware - 'Splinters of Infinity is set in a paradigm-shattering era of physics and science, as a series of rapid-fire discoveries and new ideas completely upend humanity's conception of the universe. Among these revolutions, America's two foremost physicists, Robert Millikan and Arthur Compton, find themselves locked in an intense, often deeply personal, conflict about cosmic rays, one of the era's most fascinating and puzzling discoveries: cosmic rays seemed to promise a path into the deepest heart of science, a chance to answer questions that might just explain everything -- or reveal the mind of God'-- Provided by publisher.

Seller Inventory # 9780262048828

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Splinters of Infinity : Cosmic Rays and the Clash of Two Nobel Prize-Winning Scientists Over the Secrets of Creation
• Publisher: MIT Press Mär 2024
• Publication Date: 2024
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0262048825
• ISBN 13: 9780262048828
• Binding: Buch
• Condition: Neu
• Dimensions: 231W x 157H x 33D millimeters 231 millimeters width by 157 millimeters height by 33 millimeters depth
• Weight: 499 grams

About this title

Synopsis

The riveting story of a modern age scientific feud between two Nobel Prize-winning scientists over the nature of cosmic rays and the universe.

Set in a revolutionary era of physics and science when a series of rapid-fire discoveries was upending our understanding of the universe, Splinters of Infinity by Mark Wolverton tells a little-known story: the tale of two of America’s foremost physicists, Robert Millikan (1868–1953) and Arthur Compton (1892–1962), who found themselves locked in an intense, often deeply personal, conflict about cosmic rays. Confirmed in 1912, cosmic rays—enigmatic forms of penetrating radiation—seemed to raise all new questions about the origins of the universe, but they also offered the potential to explain everything—or reveal the existence of God.

In engaging, accessible prose, Wolverton takes the reader through the twists and turns of the Millikan-Compton debate, one of the first major public examples of how heated the controversies among scientists could become—and the lengths that scientists would go to settle their disputes. What set them apart, at least in most cases, Wolverton shows, was their ability to concentrate finally on what mattered: the science. Along the way, Wolverton probes the forever elusive question, still unanswered today, about where cosmic rays come from and what they reveal about black holes, distant galaxies, the existence of dark matter and dark energy, and the birth of the universe, concluding that these splinters of infinity may not hold the keys to the secret of creation but do bring us ever closer to it.

About the Author

Mark Wolverton is the author of Nuclear Weapons (MIT Press); Burning the Sky: Operation Argus and the Untold Story of the Cold War Nuclear Tests in Outer Space; A Life in Twilight: The Final Years of J. Robert Oppenheimer; The Depths of Space: The Story of the Pioneer Planetary Probes; and The Science of Superman.