Attilio Rigamonti & Andrey Varlamov 
KALEIDOSCOPE OF PHYSICS, THE [EPUB ebook] 
From Soap Bubbles to Quantum Technologies

Why do rivers meander? How do you make a glass sing? What laws govern the shape of drops and bubbles? What happens when we cook a roast? All of these questions, and many more, are answered in this book.

A true invitation to wonder about aspects of our daily lives, this book investigates the physics that underlies these observations. The authors relate this to the most recent advances in the discipline, and even provide an introduction to the mysteries of quantum mechanics and superconductivity, while detailing the countless resulting applications, from MRI to quantum cryptography.

In each chapter, the reader will discover the innumerable facets of a kaleidoscope of phenomena where ground-breaking results, rewarded by Nobel Prizes, are presented side by side with seemingly insignificant experiments.

Contents:

• Open-Air Physics:
  
  
  
  • Rivers, Meanders and Lakes
  
  
  • Artificial and Natural Waveguides
  
  
  • The Colours of the Sea and the Sky
  
  
  • Foucault’s Pendulum and the Coriolis Force
  
  
  • The Ebb and Flow of the Tides
  
  
  • Bubbles and Droplets
  
  
  • The Climate: Why Summers Become Hotter?
  
  
  • Footprints in the Sand
  
  
  • From Crystal Snowflakes to Vitreous Glass
  
  


• Everyday Physics:
  
  
  
  • A Conversation on a Train Ride
  
  
  • The Stradivari Legacy
  
  
  • Singing and Silent Glasses
  
  
  • Energy: Obedient Maid or Oppressive Mistress?
  
  
  • Nunc est Bibendum
  
  


• The Sapiens Cooker:
  
  
  
  • Waiting for a Cup of Tea
  
  
  • When Physics Invades the Kitchen
  
  
  • Ab Ovo
  
  
  • The Secrets of Baking Pizza
  
  
  • Noodles, Spaghetti and Physics
  
  
  • The Physics of Good (and Bad) Coffee
  
  
  • Science, Cooking and Liquid Nitrogen Ice Cream
  
  


• The Strange Quantum World:
  
  
  
  • Uncertainty, the Real Base of Quantum Physics
  
  
  • Physics, Geometry and Beauty
  
  
  • Perpetual Motion in Superconductors
  
  
  • Applications of Superconductors
  
  
  • Snowballs and Bubbles in Liquid Helium
  
  
  • MRI Looks Inside Us
  
  
  • Semiconductors and Nanophysics
  
  

Readership: Students in high school, college and university. General readership interested in physics. Courses of general physics, thermodynamics, electromagnetism, history of physics, condensed matter physics, nanophysics, low temperature physics, molecular culinary.

’Physics manifests itself in our lives, like the metamorphoses of a kaleidoscope. The book of famous physicists — Attilio Rigamonti, Andrey Varlamov and Jacques Villain — carries us away from the very first chapter. The curious reader will find out why the sky and the sea are blue (but not only), why the rivers are meandering, how natural waveguides work, why the climate changes, with what forces tides associated … Furthermore, the path of knowledge leads from the beauties and uncovered mysteries of nature to the physics of everyday life — from the train in the gallery to the secrets of a glass harmonica and a good violin. Over the aperitif, the authors ask questions about the secrets of bubbles of champagne and wine tears on the walls of the glass, knowing the answers to which will help you to be known as an experienced sommelier. Then you enter the kitchen: the physical phenomena around ovens and stoves are endless, from microwaves to cooking, with corresponding phase transformations. Making pizza requires deep thought, not to mention pasta, where Italian and German philosophies collide. The physics behind making good (or bad) coffee is very interesting, and you can’t go wrong. After an excursion to the kitchen, the authors invite us to a strange quantum world. The quality of the text and the splendour of the illustrations convey the aesthetics of the physics of the atomic and subatomic world. The chapter entitled Physics, Geometry and Beauty deals with fullerenes, Leonardo, Piero della Francesca and Luca Pacioli. Even though our senses are already heightened by wine, cooking and good coffee, perhaps it is in the field of quantum physics that two cultures, once united, and then separated by Aristotelian constructions, again merge into world harmony.’ – Giorgio Benedek Member of the Lombard Institute Academy of Science and Letters, and of the Italian Academy of Science ’Dei Lincei’

’This book talks about physics and its role in the world around us. It was written by professional scientists who have devoted their entire lives to finding answers to the riddles posed by Nature. Riddles that authors find in a seemingly mundane world, and riddles of the quantum world, which they manage to penetrate, continuing the path of many generations of scientists. The book has an unusual history. It originated back in the 1980s on the pages of the ’Kvant’ magazine of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR for schoolchildren, widely known in those years. Then, together with its first author, the famous theoretical physicist and popularizer of science Andrey Varlamov, the book moved to Italy where it was gradually enriched with its culinary part and other chapters. This happened thanks to his many years of collaboration with another author of the book — the remarkable experimental physicist Attilio Rigamonti. Scientific meetings and joint work of the authors at the Lombard Academy of Literature and Science in Milan with its foreign member, the French theoretical physicist Jacques Villain, ended with the enrichment of the Italian ’Il Magico Caleidoscopio della Fisica’ with new chapters and ideas and, most importantly, an appeal to a much wider audience. In 2014, it was published as Le Kaleidoscope de la Physique by the publishing house Belin. The following year it received the Roberval prize, an international award for the best popular science book of the year in French. Its Russian language version, published in 2020 was recognised among the best scientific popular books in the same year and awarded the Diploma of Russian Academy of Sciences. Today, thanks to the efforts of the World Scientific Publishing Company, the book, having been considerably expanded, becomes available to the English-speaking reader.’ – Lev Pitaevskii Member of Russian Academy of Sciences

’I wish to tell you how much I had appreciated Le Kaléidoscope de la Physique which I discovered when I was a member of the jury of the Prix Roberval (sponsored by the Académie des Sciences). This yearly prize is awarded to books in French devoted to technology and science, and one of them is addressed to a wide audience. The large variety of subjects of your book, which stimulate the curiosity of the readers, the spirit in which they are presented, and the pleasure that anyone can take in discovering each topic, the nice illustrations, had led the jury, a few years ago, to rapidly focus on your book in the discussions and to readily select it. This is remarkable as I was the only physicist in the jury, which contained scientists and engineers from all specialities and from all French-speaking countries.’ – Roger Balian Member of the French Academy of Sciences

Key Features:

• This book talks about physics and its role in the world around us


• In 2014, the publishing house Belin published ’Le Kaleidoscope de la Physique’, which was awarded the main prize for the best popular science book of the year in French — the international Roberval prize, a year after its publication. Its Russian language version, published in 2020, was recognized among the best scientific popular books and awarded the Diploma of Russian Academy of Sciences