Newtonian Electrodynamics [Paperback]

Peter Graneau (Author), Neal Graneau (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1996

The book deals with the resurgence of nineteenth century electromagnetism in physics and electrical engineering. It describes a series of important experiments, and new technologies based on these experiments, which cannot be explained by and analyzed with the modern relativistic electrodynamics of the twentieth century. The Newtonian electrodynamics of Coulomb, Ampere, Neumann, and Kirchhoff, which was current from 1750 to 1900, is fully reviewed and greatly extended to deal with contemporary research on exploding wires, railguns and other electromagnetic accelerators, jet propulsion in liquid metals, arc plasma explosions, capillary fusion, and lightning phenomena. Much of the book is based on the atomic definition of the Amperian current element. Finite element techniques for solving many electrodynamic problems are described.

Editorial Reviews

From Scientific American

"This book represents a remarkably dispassionate presentation of the case for the application of neo-Newtonian methods in the analysis of electrodynamic phenomena ... Highly recommended to the open-minded, and to any who agree with Maxwell about the "prudential" role of pluralism in ensuring the health of science and, indeed, in ensuring its life." --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review

... many important and new observations that should be of equal interest to both the professional and the intelligent lay reader ... excellent book ... The application of some of these concepts developed by the authors can save many millions of dollars a year in electrical power costs in just the aluminum industry. There are and will be many other valuable commercial applications of the study of Newtonian Electrodynamics ... If you are seriously interested in cold fusion and new energy developments, or if you are an electrical engineer, a scientist, or a teacher of science, this book is a must-read for you. If you are an intelligent lay person or professional, you will find this book full of interesting insights into the history and practice of electrodynamics. -- Fusion Facts, 1996

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: World Scientific Pub Co Inc (February 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 9810226810
• ISBN-13: 978-9810226817
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.9 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,689,633 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Science, February 10, 2010

By 

Benjamin Brenneman III (Lynchburg, VA USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Newtonian Electrodynamics (Hardcover)

This is a very well written book. That first reviewer up there is full of it. Even if his quibble turns out to be correct, one does not disparage all the other work someone does. Maxwell believed in the aether, as did everyone else back then. Because of that, does he propose to discard all of their accomplishments? That would be absurd. I will probably have my own disagreements with the authors of this book, but I heartily applaud them for publishing alternate ideas, experiments, and theories. That is what real science should be about.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A good introduction to Longitudinal Ampere Forces, December 24, 2008

By 

WHC (Marshall Islands) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Newtonian Electrodynamics (Hardcover)

This book discusses longitudinal Ampère forces, originally proposed by Andre Marie Ampère himself, based on his experiments in the early nineteenth century. Later, Maxwell adopted a different formulation in his equations, and longitudinal Ampère forces were all but forgotten. The Lorentz force equation of modern physics has become dominant, although it does not predict longitudinal Ampère forces. This book describes the experiments that have been performed to prove their existence. This force is thought to be the true cause for thunder from lightning and the source of the mysterious "sprites" and "jets" seen in the upper atmosphere. This force has been overlooked and is denied by the mainstream physics establishment.

5 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars You don't want to rely on the Graneau's to teach you physics..., October 27, 2006

By 

Francois-Xavier Jette (Montreal, Quebec, Canada) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Newtonian Electrodynamics (Hardcover)

The authors of this book are in love with Newton's work and are suspicious of Einstein's theories. They are entitled to having preferences - although these may be due more to stubborness/narrow-mindedness than to critical thinking - but one would expect that at least they would teach and use Newton's theories correctly, which is not even the case! I will explain myself below.

In particular, I am quite familiar with the material of chapters 6 and 7 of this book (the parts that relate to underwater sparks and the authors' claim about having discovered "free" energy in this process). The basis for their excess energy claim is the large inferred water velocity in their experiments on underwater sparks. They estimate this water velocity via the rigid-body collision method taught in first year college physics classes which makes use of Newton's second law and the principle of conservation of momentum. The problem is that they assume that there are no external forces acting on the system constituted of the water and the "projectile" that it accelerates. This is wrong since the water is in contact with the high-pressure plasma created by the spark which is in turn confined between the water and the container in which the experiment is done. The reactive force between the water and the plasma and/or between the water and the container is not zero and is external to the system they chose to analyze, therefore this force should be included in their calculation of the water velocity. Since their mistake amounts to attributing all the momentum resulting from this large external force to the water's momentum, they grossly overestimated the water velocity.

Since these authors can't be relied on to do basic college level Newtonian mechanics properly, I don't think they could be relied on for more complex physics concepts either...

The authors mention Oxford and Northeastern University as their affiliations, but the Oxford position of Neal Graneau is that of a research assistant (not a professor, not a PhD, not even a Master's) and the Northeastern University's website says nothing about Peter Graneau, who may very well hold a very insignificant position there...