SUPERSTRINGS AND OTHER THINGS to discussions about the current theories about the structure of matter, the nature of time, and the beginning of the univers Since the book is conceptual, I have kept simple mathematical for- mulas to a minimum. I have used short, simple algebraic deriva- tions in places where they would serve to illustrate the discovery (for example le, in describing Newton s incredible beautiful discovery of the universal law of gravitation). These short forays into elementary algebra can be skipped without loss of continu- ity. The reader who completes the book will be rewarded with basic understanding of the fundamental concepts of physics and will have a very good idea of where the frontiers of physics lie at the present time I have divided the book into seven parts. Part 1 starts with some introductory concepts and sets the stage for our study of physics. Part 2 presents the science of mechanics and the stud of energy. Part 3 follows with an introduction to the structure of matter, where we learn the story of the atom and its nucleus The book continues with thermodynamics in Part 4, the concep- tual development of electricity and magnetism in Part 5, waves and light(Part 6), and finally, in Part 7, with the rest of the story of modern physics, from the development of quantum theory and relativity to the present theories of the structure of matter Acknowledgments I wish to thank first my wife, Dr Luz Marina Calle, a fellow NASA research scientist and my invaluable support throughout the many years that writing this book took. She witnessed all the ups and downs, the difficulties, setbacks, and the slow progress in the long project. She read the entire manuscript and offered many suggestions for clarification, especially in the chapters where, as a physical chemist, she is an expert wish to thank Professor Karen Parshall, of the University of Virginia, who very carefully and thoroughly read the first draft of the first four chapters and made many suggestions. I also thank Professors George H Lenz, Scott D Hyman, Joseph Giammarco, and Robert L Chase in the physics department at Sweet Briar College, who read all or part of the manuscript and offered         ! ")   ! ")   && !  #
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