Physics in the Arts: Revised Edition

by P.U.P.A. Gilbert

Overview

Physics in the Arts is a concise, 328-page four-color entry in the Complementary Science Series, designed for science enthusiasts and liberal arts students requiring or desiring a well-developed discussion of physical phenomena, particularly with regard to sound and light. This book offers an alternative route to science literacy for those interested in the arts, music and photography. The material covered is at a level appropriate for self-study or as a complementary textbook.

A typical course on sound and light for non-science majors covers the nature of sound and sound perception as well as important concepts and topics including light and light waves, reflection and refraction; lenses; the eye and the ear; photography; color and color vision; and additive color mixing; subtractive color mixing. There are also discussions on color generating mechanisms; periodic oscillations; simple harmonic motion; damped oscillations and resonance; vibration of strings; Fourier analysis; musical scales; and musical instruments. Problems with solutions are presented. For teaching purposes, all figures in the book as well as hints on how to build labs are provided at http://www.elsevierdirect.com/companion.jsp?ISBN=9780123918789.

This book will be helpful to non-science students in courses related to the study of physics with light and sound.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	2900123918788
Publisher:	Elsevier Science
Publication date:	07/27/2011
Series:	Complementary Science Series
Edition description:	Older Edition
Pages:	328
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Pupa Gilbert is a Vilas Distinguished Achievement Professor of Physics at the University of Wisconsin – Madison and an amateur surrealist painter. She is a physicist with passionate loves for biology, geoscience, and modern art. She studied at the Sapienza University of Rome, worked as a staff scientist at the Italian National Research Council and at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne until she joined the University of Wisconsin in 1999. Her research focuses on biominerals, including coral skeletons, tooth enamel, nacre, and sea urchin spines. She studies them with spectromicroscopy methods at the Advanced Light Source in Berkeley, where she discovers the complex structures of the biominerals, and their formation mechanisms. She won several awards for her research and teaching, including the UW-Madison Distinguished Teaching Award in 2011, Radcliffe Fellowship 2014-15, and the David A. Shirley Award in 2018. She lives in Madison and Berkeley with her husband Ben.

Table of Contents

Introduction
Light
1: Light and Light Waves
2: Reflection and Refraction
3: Lenses
4: The Eye
5: Photography
6: Color and Color Vision
7: Additive Color Mixing
8: Subtractive Color Mixing
9: Color Generating Mechanisms
Sound
10: Periodic Oscillations
11: Simple Harmonic Motion
12: Damped Oscillations and Resonance
13: Adding Sound Sources: Beats and Harmony
14: Waves
15: Sound Perception
16: The Ear
17: Vibration of Strings
18: Pipes
19: Fourier Analysis
20: Musical Scales
21: Musical Instruments
Solutions to Problems

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

Check out the companion website: http://www.elsevierdirect.com/companion.jsp?ISBN=9780123918789

Editorial Reviews

"...the work of a pair of great physicists and top teachers...clear and imaginative. I cannot remember an occasion where a student complained about this text." —Francis Halzen, University of Wisconsin, Madison

"I found the book very-well written...the book is also very popular with students. It covers the material at a depth appropriate for non-science students who are interested in the subject...it will be a very useful addition to the textbook literature for liberal arts colleges." —Baha Balantekin, Eugene P. Wigner Professor of Physics, University of Wisconsin, Madison

From the Publisher