For the Love of Physics (53 page)

Two-degree Field (2dF) Galaxy Redshift Survey,
108

UFOs,
209

Uhuru satellite,
242
–43,
244

ultraviolet radiation,
190
,
191
,
192
,
222
–23

uncertainty,
ix
–x,
31

uncertainty principle,
269

unified field theory,
166
–67,
270

universal law of gravitation,
49
–51,
133

gravitational constant and,
50

impact of,
50
–51

universe,
28
,
187
,
188

age of,
18
–19,
35
–36

big bang and,
see
big bang, theory of

expansion of,
34
–35

size of,
5

string theory and,
116
–17

uranium,
170
,
186

enriched,
184

isotope
235
of,
184

V-2 rockets,
16
–17

vacuum,
67
,
107

Van Allen belts,
9

Van de Graaff generator,
140
–41

van Drebbel, Cornelis,
70

Van Gogh, Vincent,
263
,
267
,
268

Vela-5 spy satellites,
248

Venus,
9
,
32
,
281

violin,
112
,
113
,
114
,
115
,
119

vocal cords,
116

volt,
137
–38

definition of,
137

Volta, Alessandro,
138

von Braun, Wernher,
17

Wales, Carl,
96

Wapstra, Aaldert,
7
–8

Warhol, Andy,
268

Washington, Mount,
66

water,
151

as conductor,
132

heating,
180
,
182

ionized,
131

in nuclear power plants,
184

waterfalls,
174
–75

watt (unit),
177

wavelength:

of big bang,
108
–9

of sound waves,
104
–5

of X-rays,
104
,
191

W bosons,
18

weak nuclear force,
18
,
38
,
167

Webster, Louise,
241
–42

weight:

gravity and,
41

mass and,
41
–43,
45

of pendulum,
52

weightlessness,
47
–48,
56
,
58
,
65

Weinberg, Steven,
167

Weisskopf, Victor,
19
,
158

white dwarf stars,
230
,
241
,
244
,
245

Whittle, Mark,
109

Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
(Albee),
123

wind,
64

wind instruments:

fundamental frequency of,
120

kinds of,
119

and length of air column,
119
–21,
122
,
123

windmills,
183

wind power,
182
–83

Witten, Edward,
23

Woman with a Hat
(Matisse),
267
–68

“Wonders of Electricity and Magnetism, The,”
134

Woosley, Stan,
223

World War II,
11
–16

V-2 rockets in,
16
–17

X-ray astronomy,
187
,
190
–91,
193
–99

birth of,
193
–96

Crab Nebula and,
196
–97

growth of,
201
–2

satellite observation and,
242
–44

X-ray ballooning,
200
–216

altitudes in,
200

balloon in,
203
,
209

corona discharge problem in,
206
–7

discoveries in,
212
–16

duration of flights in,
200

failures in,
205
–6

funding of,
202
–3,
204

infrastructure for,
203

launches in,
203
–6

recovery in,
209
–11

rocket-based detection and,
200
–201

telescope in,
204
,
206
–8,
209
–11

today,
206

tracking in,
208
–10

weather and,
204
–5

winds and,
204
–5,
209

X-ray binaries:

accreting neutron star in,
239
–40,
241

accretion disk of,
245
–46

blackbody radiation and,
246

black holes in,
241
–42,
244

center of mass of,
235
–36

discovery of,
241
–42

Doppler effect and,
237
–39,
241
,
243

flow of matter in,
244
–45

Langrangian point and,
244

orbital period of,
236
,
239

radio jets from,
246

Shklovsky model of,
239
–40,
243

spectra and,
237
–38

spectroscopy and,
237
–39

visual confirmation of,
236

X-ray emissions from,
242
–44,
246
–47

X-ray bursts,
xiv
,
247
,
248
–57

black bodies and,
250
–51

black holes and,
257

”burst watch” for,
254
–55

causes of,
250

discovery of,
248
–49

gravitational potential energy of,
256
–57,
258

as Rapid Bursters,
see
Rapid Bursters

regularity of,
249
–50

sources of,
251

Soviet detection of,
253
–54

thermonuclear model of,
251
–53,
256

Type I,
256
–57

Type II,
256
–57

X-ray energy in,
249

X-ray heating,
246

X-rays,
xiv
,
10
,
16
,
17
,
21
–22,
225

absorption of,
193

atoms and,
192

blackbody radiation and,
192

from black holes,
242

bremsstrahlung emissions and,
192
,
194

cancer and,
193

creation of,
192

definition of,
191

detected from space,
17
–18,
187
–88,
199
,
200
–201

energy of,
191
–92

flux (varied intensity) of,
212
–15

frequency of,
191

light and,
191
–92

luminosity of,
246

from Moon,
193
–94

from Sun,
192
–93

from supernova,
223

synchrotron radiation from,
192