Paru le 28/09/2010 | Broché 278 pages
Public motivé
interviewed by Christine Evain
How long did it take to prove Aristotle's ideas about falling objects wrong? How did science evolve from Democritus, the first philosopher to talk about the existence of atoms, to today's theories concerning the universe? Can the world now be explained in the form of equations?
This volume - articulated in three parts: I. Classical Physics II. Modern Physics and III. Questions about the universe - answers all basic questions concerning the history of physics and physics. The approach chosen here is the one adopted by Franscico Chinesta for his Ecole Centrale de Nantes course. Although the content is targeted at top-level engineering students, this volume also addresses a non-scientific audience, giving everyone a chance to marvel at scientific research.
Chinesta's chronological approach allows readers to understand how the world has gradually revealed its secrets through scientific observation, hypotheses, counterhypotheses and experimentation. Meanwhile a whole range of scientific phenomena is explained, from why the sky is blue to what is a black hole.
Because of the simple language of the volume and thanks to hundreds of illustrations, physics becomes accessible to non-specialists and the latest research development available to all.
Francisco Chinesta, is currently Professor of Computational Mechanics at the Ecole Centrale of Nantes (France) and titular of the EADS Corporate Foundation International Chair on Advanced Modeling of Composites Manufacturing Processes. He is the author of several books and many publications in specialized journals; he is editor of the International Journal of Material Forming and member of the editorial board of a great number of international journals. He has received several prizes and distinctions but his main quality is his passion for science and engineering, and transferring his knowledge to students and to everyone with an interest in science.
Christine Evain is an Associate Professor at the Ecole Centrale of Nantes. She has written several books and articles on the book and the film industries and on Canadian authors. She is currently working on expanding her collaboration with scientiste such as Francisco Chinesta.
