Subject Grouping: Praxis

By R Ragaini (eds.)
World Scientific
Hardback: £112 $170
E-book: $221

This volume in The Science and Culture Series: Nuclear Strategy and Peace Technology, edited by Antonino Zichichi, is the proceedings of a seminar focusing on planetary emergencies that was held in Erice in August 2010. Talks ranged from “The Evolving Nuclear Weapon Threat to Society” by Richard L Garwin to “Carbon Dioxide, Friend or Foe” by William Happer. Scientists in all fields, politicians and decision-makers in ministries of foreign affairs, science and interior and security, as well as international organizations, will find this an interesting resource.

By Cathryn Carson, Alexei Kojevnikov and Helmuth Trischler (eds.)
World Scientific
Hardback: £98 $150
E-book: $195

This collection reprints Paul Forman’s classic papers on the history of the scientific profession in Germany after the First World War and the invention of quantum mechanics. The Forman thesis became famous for its demonstration of the cultural conditioning of scientific knowledge, in particular by showing the historical connection between the culture of Weimar Germany – known for its irrationality and antiscientism – and the emerging concept of quantum acausality. In 2007, participants at a conference in Vancouver discussed the implications of the Forman thesis for contemporary historiography. Their contributions are also in this volume.

By Anton Z Capri
World Scientific
Paperback: £25 $38

When a ship’s surgeon noticed during a routine episode of bloodletting that the sailors’ blood was brighter in the tropics than in the north, he hypothesized that heat was a form of energy. This is just one of the stories covered in this entertaining book that deals with the history of physics from the end of the 19th century to about 1930. This second edition has been revised to include a prologue, epilogue, glossary, chronology and photographs, as well as additional quotes and anecdotes.

By Ulrich Mohrhoff
World Scientific
Hardback: £56 $81
E-book: $105

As a supplement to standard textbooks on quantum mechanics, this introduction to the general theoretical framework of contemporary physics focuses on conceptual, epistemological and ontological issues. The theory is developed by pursuing the question: what does it take to have material objects that neither collapse nor explode as soon as they are formed? The stability of matter thus emerges as the chief reason the laws of physics have the particular form that they do. The first of three parts familiarizes the reader with the basics; the second looks closer; and the final part aims to make epistemological and ontological sense of the theory.

By Yu L Dokshitzer, P Lévai and J Nyíri
World Scientific
Hardback: £117 $180

Theoretical physicist Vladimir Gribov was a key figure in the development of modern elementary particle physics. His insights into the physics of quantum anomalies and the origin of classical solutions (instantons), the notion of parton systems and their evolution in soft and hard hadron interactions, the first theory of neutrino oscillations and conceptual problems of quantization of non-Abelian fields have left a lasting impact on modern theoretical physics. Gribov-80 brought colleagues, younger researchers and leading experts together to discuss the new angles of the Gribov heritage in the LHC era.