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7:30 pm, Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Fairmont Lounge, St. John's College
Atoms, Entropy, & Quanta
Einstein's Statistical Physics of 1905
John D. Norton
University of Pittsburgh
In his "year of miracles" of 1905, Einstein showed how the macroscopic
properties of matter contained a signature that revealed its atomic
constitution. He could now estimate the minuscule size of atoms and
demonstrate to reluctant colleagues that matter had to be atomic. He then
noticed this same signature of granularity in the properties of heat
radiation. The result - the prediction of 'light quanta' - was the only
one of his discoveries that he called "very revolutionary" (unlike
relativity!). This lecture, intended for a popular audience, recounts the
story and the lessons we can draw from it, both about Einstein and about
science.
To learn more please visit his
webpage.
Additional resources for this talk: slides, video.
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