Absolute Zero and the Conquest of Cold“A lovely, fascinating book, which brings science to life.” —Alan Lightman Combining science, history, and adventure, Tom Shachtman “holds the reader’s attention with the skill of a novelist” as he chronicles the story of humans’ four-centuries-long quest to master the secrets of cold (Scientific American). “A disarming portrait of an exquisite, ferocious, world-ending extreme,” Absolute Zero and the Conquest of Cold demonstrates how temperature science produced astonishing scientific insights and applications that have revolutionized civilization (Kirkus Reviews). It also illustrates how scientific advancement, fueled by fortuitous discoveries and the efforts of determined individuals, has allowed people to adapt to—and change—the environments in which they live and work, shaping man’s very understanding of, and relationship, with the world. This “truly wonderful book” was adapted into an acclaimed documentary underwritten by the National Science Foundation and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, directed by British Emmy Award winner David Dugan, and aired on the BBC and PBS’s Nova in 2008 (Library Journal). “An absorbing account to chill out with.” —Booklist |
Contents
1 | |
16 | |
3 Battle of the Thermometers | 36 |
4 Adventures in the Ice Trade | 56 |
5 The Confraternity of the Overlooked | 78 |
6 Through Heat to Cold | 95 |
7 Of Explosions and Mysterious Mists | 109 |
8 Painting the Map of Frigor | 125 |
10 The Fifth Step | 167 |
11 A Sudden and Profound Disappearance | 183 |
12 Three Puzzles and a Solution | 200 |
13 Mastery of the Cold | 219 |
Back Matter | 241 |
Back Cover | 263 |
Spine | 264 |
9 Rare and Common Gases | 153 |
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Common terms and phrases
absolute zero American ammonia Amontons apparatus atoms Bacon became become believed boiling Boyle Boyle's Boyle's law Cailletet caloric Carnot century chemist chemistry Clausius commercial cooling Cornelis Drebbel degree above absolute devices discovery Drebbel electrical resistance electricity electrons energy engine evaporation experimental experiments explanation exploration Fahrenheit Faraday freezing glass Gorrie Hampson heat and cold Heike Kamerlingh Onnes invention James Dewar James Joule Joule Joule's Kamerlingh Onnes Kapitsa Kelvin laboratory Landau later Leiden Linde liquefied gases liquefied helium liquid air liquid helium liquid hydrogen liquid oxygen London low temperatures low-temperature research lower machine magnetic field mathematical matter Mayer measure mercury metal motion natural natural-ice nitrogen numbers Olszewski Onnes's perature philosopher physicist physics point of water predicted pressure produced Ramsay reached refrigeration resistance Robert Boyle Royal Institution Royal Society scientific scientists substance superconductivity superfluid theory thermodynamics thermometer Thomson tion Tudor ture vessel Waals Wroblewski wrote
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