John Cramer
1) Twistor
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English
Description
Research scientist David Harrison happens upon the "twistor effect," a phenomenon that opens doors into countless alternate universes. The discovery's potential for unlimited power draws the attention of industrial spies and corporate killers, driving Dr. Harrison to seek sanctuary in a mysterious shadow world-a place of both wonder and danger, with no certain way out. Written by a professional physicist, this gripping novel of hard science fiction...
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Are you a K-5 teacher who needs to teach science but feels unprepared? It is especially common for K-5 teachers to feel uncomfortable teaching physical sciences. This is the book for you. It is material I have prepared for our Masters in Arts in Teaching students at Oglethorpe University over years of teaching them how to teach physical sciences. I emphasize teaching by activities and demonstrations so the book is a compendium of activities and demonstrations...
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Description
How alien would aliens be? Would they look like us or perhaps more like an octopus? How would they communicate? Could we even hear their voices, assuming they have them? Like us, aliens would be constrained by the physical world. Understanding how those physical constraints apply both to us and to aliens is the theme of this book. The constraints imply that they will not be all that different from us, perhaps half to twice as big as we are. They will...
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English
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What I have observed of student struggles with introductory physics, after more than forty years of teaching it, is that learning how to think like a physicist is a much greater challenge than learning the subject matter. Introductory physics courses introduce students not only to content but also to new ways of thinking. The 75 forays of this book are invitations to a wide-ranging exploration of the physical world. A foray Is defined as "a venture...
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Word play has surely been around since language began. One suspects it may even have been a prime motivation in the very first framing of language. Language as a wholesale joke? Don't underestimate the possibility. Word juggling, tossing words around, can assume an almost infinite variety of forms. Riddles and puns are apparently as old as language itself. The invention of writing and alphabets then opened up more possibilities that I classify as...
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English
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Why do we think matter is made of atoms and the Earth goes around the Sun? How big is the universe? Did it have a beginning or is it eternal? Is heat a fluid or just the random motion of molecules? Is light made of particles or is it a fluid or maybe something else? This book answers these questions and many more as it traces the development of the modern scientific understanding of the physical world. The historical approach allows us to see not...
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Teaching and learning about the Ptolemaic and Copernican systems is a challenge. The defining texts are all but unreadable even in translation. Here is a systematic exposition (pun intended) of the two great systems with 36 diagrams to aid you. Most of these diagrams, original work of the author, are unavailable outside of this source. Many of them are to-scale, greatly enhancing the perception of the tremendously impressive intellectual achievements...
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This is a book about the science of shooting guns but it also applies to archery. Beginning with the most basic science, that gravity means you can never shoot straight, it carefully and clearly explains the physical science behind all aspects of shooting. Projectile motion, the effects of air resistance and rotational motion on projectiles, the importance of projectile shapes and materials, the science behind zeroing and many other topics are explained...
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Ordinary differential equations come in an almost bewildering variety. This field guide systematizes them and gives general methods for solving each type. Since there are numerous specific examples, some even with specific names, for which simpler methods are known, the guide also enumerates these too along with the secondary and tertiary methods for solving them.
10) The Backseat
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English
Description
High school social outcasts Roy Offerman and Larry DiMarco struggle to find a drummer for their new punk rock band, Witness My Jehovah. As Roy will learn, sometimes finding the answer to one problem only brings about a host of others. Immediately after finding a drummer, Roy is plagued by a raging case of hemorrhoids. This causes his parents to be confused about his sexuality, and starts up all sorts of new rumors at school. In the most unexpected...