preface .

1 how light behaves

1.1 first observations

1.2 the speed of light in vacuum

1.3 white light and colors

1.4 sidedness

1.5 variations in intensity

1.6 the rainbow

2 newton's particle theory

2.1 theory building

2.2 the particle theory of refraction

2.3 ramifications

2.4 a decisive test

2.5 summary

2.6 newton himself

3 a wave theory of light

3.1 waves

3.2 some general properties of waves

3.3 light as a wave?

3.4 refraction quantitatively

.3.5 waves in perspective

4 interference

4.1 interference defined

4.2 two-source interference

4.3 interference in light?

4.4 measuring the wavelength of light

4.5 color and wavelength

4.6 thomas young

4.7 the single slit

4.8 more interference phenomena

5 electromagnetic waves

5.1 the electric field

5.2 franklin's clapper

5.3 the magnetic field

5.4 the entities

5.5 faraday's law

5.6 electromagnetic waves

5.7 the electromagnetic spectrum

5.8 "sidedness" explained and explored

5.9 odds and ends

6 the photon

6.1 preview

6.2 the photoelectric effect

6.3 the compton effect

6.4 einstein's nobel prize

6.5 the bare essentials

7 the wave-particle duality

7.1 hertz revisited

7.2 a connection via probability ..

7.3 a trajectory for a photon?

7.4 the wave-particle duality

7.5 understanding light: some further help

8 does the speed of light depend on the motion of the source of light?

8.1 transition

8.2 the question answered

8.3 a few comments

8.4 the contrast

9 the principles of the special theory of relativity

9.1 the big picture

9.2 the two principles

9.3 the logic of our development

9.4 the constancy of the speed of light

9.5 synchronizing clocks within a single reference frame

9.6 the relativity of simultaneity

9.7 albert einstein

10 time dilation and length contraction

10.1 time dilation

10.2 checking a tacit assumption: perpendicular lengths

10.3 an interlude on radioactivity

10.4 a test of time dilation

10.5 length contraction

10.6 the muons revisited

10.7 compendium

11 e=mc2

11.1 energy, mass, and momentum reviewed

11.2 a thought experiment for △e=(△m)c2

11.3 conversions and parallel changes

11.4 mass and speed

11.5 from △e=(△m)c2 to e=mc2

11.6 nuclear fission

11.7 processes in nuclear physics

11.8 scales of energy release

11.9 leo szilard

11.10 retrospection

12 the twins

12.1 theory

12.2 experimental test

12.3 reflection

13 the lorentz transformations

13.1 deriving the lorentz transformations

13.2 combining velocities

13.3 trying to beat the speed of light

13.4 the chapter in a nutshell

14 space and time

glossary

appendix a. energy

appendix b. the dependence of mass on speed

appendix c. more about e=mc2

index ...