The Physics of Chance: From Blaise Pascal to Niels Bohr [Paperback]

Charles Ruhla (Author), G. Barton (Translator)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0198539770 | ISBN-13: 978-0198539773 | Publication Date: December 10, 1992

This work offers a clear, much-needed introduction to the ideas of randomness that are central to modern physics. These are the concepts that have been instrumental in overthrowing the notion of the classical "clock-work" universe of earlier centuries. The author shows how the laws of probability and statistics were developed by such mathematicians as Fermat, Pascal, and Gauss, and how they received their first major application in physics in the kinetic theory of gases developed by Maxwell and Boltzmann. Here the use of statistics was necessary because the number of particles involved is too great for a deterministic calculation. But soon the mathematician and physicist Poincare demonstrated the unpredictability of certain systems containing only a small number of bodies, because of extreme sensitivity to initial conditions. He thus became a founder of chaos theory. Finally, with the advent of quantum theory, physics--and reality itself-- seemed to be based on an essential randomness, an idea that was debated by Bohr and Einstein until the end of their lives. Only recently, in the experiments of Alain Aspect, has a convincing demonstration been given the inescapable randomness of quantum theory is a fact of nature. The author skillfully guides the reader through these developments and provides mathematical details in appendices, offering an accessible introduction to the modern physicist's conception of the world of cause and chance. Of special interest to physics students and teachers, the book will also appeal to anyone seeking a better understanding of modern physics, quantum theory, and the concept of chaos.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'He has a clear and lively style, and the text is excellently translated from the original French.' Sir Brian Pippard, University of Cambridge, Nature

'this thought-provoking book clearly shows, at a popular level, how - and where - chance plays a significant role in physics ... This book will have achieved its aims if it can help the reader to make the conceptual leap from common sense to the wisdom of physics, and from determinism to chance.' M.J. Rycroft, Journal of Atmospheric and Terrestrial Physics

'it is an interesting book that addresses one of the most important philosophical questions around.' Tania Montero, Royal Holloway College, New Scientist, September 1993

'This is an excellent monograph covering all aspects of physics which are influenced by probability ... very readable and interesting, and also useful to practising physicists - particularly those involved in teaching physics.' John Bell, University of Technology, Sydney, Australian and New Zealand Physicist, Volume 30, Number 7, July 1993

'Charles Ruhla has written a splendid book ... which the new students of such things will find accessible and entertaining. This is a lovely book which will stimulate the imagination of any reader, whether a freshman student or a lecturer quarrying the text for ideas for courses. I strongly recommend it.' Professor P.L. Knight, Imperial College, London,. Contemporary Physics, 1993, volume 34, number 3

About the Author

Charles Ruhla is at Claude-Bernard University (Lyons I). G. Barton is at University of Sussex.

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (December 10, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0198539770
• ISBN-13: 978-0198539773
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,433,490 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Chances are, you'll like this book, April 30, 2003

By 

Raymond Jensen - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Physics of Chance: From Blaise Pascal to Niels Bohr (Paperback)

If you ever read one book on quantum theory, then this is the book you should read. Especially if you want to understand Bell's Inequality and how the experiments done by Alain Aspect in the 1980's verified that the inequality is violated.

I first heard of Bell's inequality and the EPR Paradox while reading an article by David Mermin in "Science News" and did not understand it at all. Then I read Robert Adair's account of it in "The Great Design" (a good book to have) and I began to gain a rudimentary appreciation of what was going on. But it wasn't until I read Ruhla's "Physics of Chance" that I learned how to derive the predictions of quantum theory - the predictions which show that two distant objects can exert influence on one another, "faster than the speed of light."

But Bell's Inequality is not the only subject in here. The text begins with rather simple treatments of probability, applied to coin tosses and telephone queues, on to Boltzmann Statistics, and then finally to quantum theory. So as your reading through the chapters in the book, you pick up the "tools" you need as you go along, in order to understand the more difficult material later on.

Ruhla's writing style is engaging, although silly at times. ...

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful overview of statistical physics, March 13, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: The Physics of Chance: From Blaise Pascal to Niels Bohr (Paperback)

This book is extraordinarily well written and illustrated. It introduces the major themes of statistical physics at a level that shold be readily accessible to senior undergraduates or scientists and engineers who are non-specialists. Highly recommended; a gem!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Impresive exposition of theory and experiment, March 6, 2009

By 

David J. Aldous "gentleman scholar" (Alameda, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Physics of Chance: From Blaise Pascal to Niels Bohr (Paperback)

For anyone not afraid of a little mathematics and graphs, this book provides a wonderful account of some of the ways in which probability plays a role in physics. It takes a selection of standard topics but treats them in a serious, careful and well written way, via a "horizontal integration" of math theory, its meaning within physics and its experimental verification. Topics include measurement error, the Maxwell velocity distribution for an ideal gas, Boltzmann's statistical physics, deterministic chaos illustrated by a compass needle undergoing forced oscillations, a detailed account of the quantum theory of interference and an "inseparable photons" experiment. For an introduction to these subjects, this book is surely better than your college textbook.