Unifying the Universe:
The Physics of Heaven and Earth

Science is a creative activity that brings a great measure of intellectual satisfaction by fulfilling our deep longing to understand nature. The "physics of heaven and earth" is the main topic  because it was the first arena of science where humanity was successful in reaching a deep understanding, unifying what was believed for a long time to be two distinct arenas.  Ever since this first success, unifying diverse features of the universe became the goal for modern scientific inquiry.

Through the quest for synthesis, the book shows how each discovery has its special story from which the reader can participate in the invention of the concepts, to re-live the intellectual experience. Stories of breakthroughs and brilliant insights by fascinating people are coupled with tales about the scientists themselves. There are frequent links to modern physics and astronomy with the thrust that exciting ideas of contemporary science become much more meaningful when viewed in the context of the grand traditions they continue.

The book should appeal to the educated,lay-science enthusiast. One of the primary aims is to cross boundaries between physics and other disciplines. Scientific concepts are products of human imagination.Just as much as art and poetry are avenues for creative expression,our efforts to understand nature are also creative activities.Each in their own way, science and art desire to see beyond the seen by teaching us to think, and by opening our minds to new ways of looking at the world.Thus the process of scientific thought is inextricably linked with humanistic,cultural,creative, and aesthetic aspects.

Can be used as a resource for teaching conceptual physics or a physics for poets course to non-science students.  Many teaching resources for the course are available from the author.

You can read a sample chapter at the IOP Website, available in PDF format.

http://bookmarkphysics.iop.org/fulltext.htm?ID=30EDK_L0LTYKrtlmArt-t5SQ&book=1144p

"...a masterful synthesis of humanity's long search to understand the deep workings of the universe.  Richly illustrated and expertly told, you want to read this book slowly to savor our species' bold and creative attempts to understand our place in the cosmos."

Brian Greene, Columbia University, author of The Elegant Universe

"...a beautiful discussion of the progression of our understanding of the physical world and universe."

David Lee, Nobel Laureate in Physics, Cornell

"Padamsee vividly portrays physics as a human endeavor inextricably linked to other human endeavors…the reader is left with a sense of wisdom about the meaning, value, and visionary patterns of modern physics rooted in humanistic, cultural, and historical contexts."

Phat Vu, Soka University, Physics

"...a fascinating description of the role of symmetries in the development of scientific thought over the centuries… frequent connections between contemporaneous scientific and humanistic themes. The careful reader will be rewarded with a renewed appreciation for the strong coupling between scientific and cultural development from the times of ancient Greece to the present-day frontiers of science."

Gerry Dugan, Cornell University, Physics

"Science does not develop in a vacuum.  Padamsee's book is an excellent resource for anyone interested in the history and culture associated with the concepts and ideas we take for granted  in elementary physics. 

Prof. Rich Galik, Cornell University, Physics

"...an extremely readable introduction not just to the history of science but to the history of ideas generally. Taking the study of the world around and above us as its starting point, it leads the reader through the evolution of scientific thought from the Ancient Egyptians to the Enlightenment. In doing so, the book shows how, far from being a simple matter of progress from discovery to greater discovery, the creation of scientific truth is inextricably bound up with other cultural questions, such as the imagined relationship between human and divine, the role of art in society, and the desire to control the natural world. "

Kristina Milnor, Classics, Columbia University, Barnard College

Hasan Padamsee is adjunct Professor of Physics at Cornell University, where he has taught the "Physics of Heaven and Earth" to non-science students for the last five years after developing the course as a visiting professor at SUNY Binghamton.  At Cornell he is the project leader of the Superconducting Radio Frequency Group pushing the advancement of accelerator technology for particle physics at the high energy and luminosity frontiers.    Among his many publications are a text book in the field of RF Superconductivity and review articles in encyclopedias.  He was elected Fellow of the American Physical Society in 1993.