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Articles & Books From Andrew Zimmerman Jones
Spark a passion for STEM Teaching STEM For Dummies is an easy-to-read and exciting new guide for teachers who want to inspire their students with engaging lessons and thoughtful discussions about science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. This practical roadmap to developing hands-on classroom material relevant to the real world shows you how to define STEM topics and overcome the most common challenges to teaching these complex subjects to younger students.
Unravel the secrets of the universe and untangle cutting-edge physicsYes, you actually can understand quantum physics! String Theory For Dummies is a beginner’s guide, and we make it fun to find out about the all the recent trends and theories in physics, including the basics of string theory, with friendly explanations.
Cheat Sheet / Updated 06-30-2022
String theory, often called the “theory of everything,” is a relatively young science that includes such unusual concepts as superstrings, branes, and extra dimensions. Scientists are hopeful that string theory will unlock one of the biggest mysteries of the universe, namely how gravity and quantum physics fit together.
Cheat Sheet / Updated 05-10-2024
This Cheat Sheet is intended to supplement Quantum Physics For Dummies, 3rd edition, by Andrew Zimmerman Jones. It begins by reviewing some useful operators used in quantum mechanics calculations. Then it covers a useful method for solving the Schrödinger equation for the quantum wave function, and then how you can use that wave function to calculate probabilities in quantum physics.
Article / Updated 03-26-2016
String theory is a type of high-energy theoretical physics, practiced largely by particle physicists. It’s a quantum field theory that describes the particles and forces in our universe based on the way that special extra dimensions within the theory are wrapped up into a very small size (a process called compactification).
Article / Updated 03-26-2016
Talking about time travel and string theory without mentioning science fiction would be an obvious omision. Here are some key science fiction novels and films related to the time travel concepts discussed in this chapter, although the list is by no means complete. Spoiler alert: Some plot details are revealed in the descriptions below.
Article / Updated 03-26-2016
In physics, time travel is closely linked to Einstein’s theory of relativity, which allows motion in space to actually alter the flow of time. This effect is known as time dilation and was one of the earliest predictions of relativity. This sort of time travel is completely allowed by the known laws of physics, but it allows only travel into the future, not into the past.
Article / Updated 03-26-2016
Waves (as we usually think of them) move through some sort of medium. If you flick the end of a jump-rope or string, a wave moves along the rope or string. Waves move through the water, or sound waves through the air, with those materials acting as the medium for the wave motion.
In classical physics, waves transport energy, but not matter, from one region to another.
Article / Updated 03-26-2016
When Stephen Hawking described the Hawking radiation emitted by a black hole, he had to use his physical and mathematical intuition, because quantum physics and general relativity aren’t reconciled. One of the major successes of string theory is in offering a complete description of (some) black holes.
Hawking radiation takes place when radiation is emitted from a black hole, causing it to lose mass.
Article / Updated 03-26-2016
String theory depicts strings of energy that vibrate, but the strings are so tiny that you never perceive the vibrations directly, only their consequences. To understand these vibrations, you have to understand a classical type of wave called a standing wave — a wave that doesn’t appear to be moving.
In a standing wave, certain points, called nodes, don’t appear to move at all.