Electrons (+ and -), Protons, Photons, Neutrons, and Cosmic Rays

Originally published in 1935, this book was written to provide an accessible guide to developments in physics.

Robert Andrews Millikan (Author)

9781107689213, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 6 February 2014

512 pages
20.3 x 12.7 x 2.9 cm, 0.55 kg

Originally published in 1935, this book was written to provide a broad range of readers with an accessible guide to developments in physics. Mathematical proofs are included in the appendices in order to make the main body of the text more comprehensible for those without technical training. Illustrative figures are incorporated throughout. This is a highly readable book that will be of value to anyone with an interest in physics and the history of science.

Introduction
1. Early views of electricity
2. The extension of the electrolytic laws to conduction in gases
3. Early attempts at the direct determination of e
4. General proof of the atomic nature of electricity
5. The exact evaluation of e
6. The mechanism of ionization of gases by x-rays and radium rays
7. Brownian movements in gases
8. Is the electron itself divisible?
9. The structure of the atom
10. The nature of radiant energy
11. Waves and particles
12. The spinning electron
13. The discovery and origin of the cosmic rays
14. The direct measurement of the energy of cosmic rays and the discovery of the free positive electron
15. The neutron and the transmutation of the elements
16. The nature of the cosmic rays
Appendix A. ne from mobilities and diffusion co-efficients
Appendix B. Townsend's first attempt at a determination of e
Appendix C. The Brownian-movement equation
Appendix D. The inertia or mass of an electrical charge on a sphere of radius a
Appendix E. Molecular cross-section and mean free path
Appendix F. Number of free positive electrons in the nucleus of an atom by Rutherford's method
Appendix G. Bohr's theoretical derivation of the value of the Rydberg constant
Appendix H. A. H. Compton's theoretical derivation of the change in the wave-length of ether-waves because of a scattering by free electrons
Appendix I. The elements, their atomic numbers, atomic weights, and chemical positions
Appendix J. Physical constants
Indexes.

Subject Areas: Physics [PH]