Described by one reviewer as a future literary rival to Sagan and Hawkins, Alan Lightman has written a text for liberal arts students that promises to have a far reaching effect on the way the course is taught. The book is intended for the freshman-/sophomore- level course at liberal arts schools. Lightman presents four ideas of physics: The Conservation of Energy, The Second Law of Thermodynamics, The Relativity of Time, and the Wave-Particle Duality of Nature (Quantum Theory). The two basic aims of this book are to provide a grasp of the nature of science and to explore the connections between science and the humanities.

Great Ideas in Physics

Science & Math

Lightman, Alan P.

Physics

Thomas Nelson Publishers

An essential resource for learning about general relativity and much more, from four leading experts
Important and useful to every student of relativity, this book is a unique collection of some 475 problems--with solutions--in the fields of special and general relativity, gravitation, relativistic astrophysics, and cosmology. The problems are expressed in broad physical terms to enhance their pertinence to readers with diverse backgrounds.
 In their solutions, the authors have attempted to convey a mode of approach to these kinds of problems, revealing procedures that can reduce the labor of calculations while avoiding the pitfall of too much or too powerful formalism. Although well suited for individual use, the volume may also be used with one of the modem textbooks in general relativity.

Problem Book in Relativity and Gravitation

Press, William H.

Teukolsky, Saul A.

Price, Richard H.

Princeton University Press

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Books by Lightman, Alan P.