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This book provides a chronological introduction to modern atomic theory, which represented an attempt to reconcile the ancient doctrine of atomism with careful experiments-performed during the 19th century-on the flow of heat through substances and across empty space. Included herein are selections from classic texts such as Carnot´s Reflection on the Motive Power of Fire, Clausius´ Mechanical Theory of Heat, Rutherford´s Nuclear Constitution of Atoms, Planck´s Atomic Theory of Matter and Heisenberg´s Copenhagen Interpretation of Quantum Theory. Each chapter begins with a short introduction followed by a reading selection. Carefully crafted study questions draw out key points in the text and focus the reader´s attention on the author´s methods, analysis and conclusions. Numerical and laboratory exercises at the end of each chapter test the reader´s ability to understand and apply key concepts from the text. Heat, Radiation and Quanta is the last of four volumes in A Student´s Guide through the Great Physics Texts. The book comes from a four-semester undergraduate physics curriculum designed to encourage a critical and circumspect approach to natural science while at the same time preparing students for advanced coursework in physics. This book is particularly suitable as a college-level textbook for students of the natural sciences, history or philosophy. It might also serve as a textbook for advanced high-school or home-schooled students, or as a thematically-organized source-book for scholars and motivated lay-readers. In studying the classic scientific texts included herein, the reader will be drawn toward a lifetime of contemplation.

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A New Science of Heat.- Heat, Symmetry and Mathematics.- Steam Engines and Heat Flow.- Carnot´s Cycle.- Engines are Thermometers.- Temperature, Pressure and Reversibility.- The Language of Science.- Energy and Entropy.- Conduction of Heat.- On Radiation.- Atomism and Kinetic Theory.- Atomism and Kinetic Theory 2.- Dynamical and Statistical Laws.- The Discovery of the Electron.- The Mass and Velocity of a-particles.- Identifying the a Particle.- Targeting the Nucleus.- Nuclear Structure.- The Discovery of the Neutron.- The Nature of the Neutron.- Corpuscles of Light.- X-Ray Optics 1.- X-Ray Optics 2.- Electron diffraction 1.- Electron diffraction 2.- The Bohr model of the atom.- Atomic spectra.- The periodic table.- The Birth of the Quantum.- Matter Waves.- Quantum Orthodoxy.- Causality and Chance in Quantum Theory.- Indeterminacy.- Bohm´s critique of Copenhagen.

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Dr. Kerry K. Kuehn is Professor in the Department of Physics at Wisconsin Lutheran College. He is a member of the American Physical Society and is also an Advisory Council member for NASA Wisconsin Space Grant Consortium and Fidelitas (WLC Honors Program).

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