This novel of Ben Franklin, Isaac Newton, and a demonic Louis XIV is “eminently worthwhile reading for both fantasy and alternate-history lovers” (Booklist). In 1681, in an England somewhat like our England . . . the great alchemist Sir Isaac Newton makes the remarkable discovery of a substance he calls philosopher’s mercury, with which one can manipulate the four essential elements of the universe: earth, water, air, and fire. In the opulent court of Britain’s greatest enemy, the ancient King Louis XIV, his life alchemically and indefinitely prolonged, employs treacherous means to obtain the prize that will grant him dominion over the entire continent. Meanwhile, his brilliant and beautiful mistress, Adrienne de Mornay de Montchevreuil, secretly pursues a mathematical method to prevent his takeover. And in another corner of the world, the young printer’s apprentice and aspiring alchemist Ben Franklin is plagued by a demon and flees to England seeking the aid of his hero: Newton. But Franklin will discover that Newton has demons of his own . . . A wondrously dark and richly imagined alternate history, Greg Keyes’s Newton’s Cannon is the first book in his extraordinary Age of Unreason series—a magnificent journey to a past that never was in a world where magic is a science and the greatest minds must conspire to prevent an end to all things.

In this amalgam of fantasy and alternative history, Sir Isaac Newton turns his mind to alchemy and successfully unleashes Philosopher's Mercury, the key to manipulating the four elements. Powerful kings will battle to control it, until London itself is threatened with destruction by a hellish device.

Gravity and Gravitation is a physics book that is written in a form that is easy to understand for high school and beginning college students, as well as science buffs. It is based on the lessons from the School for Champions educational website.The book explains the principles of gravity and gravitation, shows derivations of important gravity equations, and provides applications of those equations. It also compares the different theories of gravitation, from those of Newton to Einstein to present-day concepts.

Since humans first looked up at the stars, astronomy has had a particular ability to stir the imagination and challenge the thinking of scientists and non-scientists alike. Astronomy: The Human Quest for Understanding is an introductory astronomy textbook specifically designed to relate to non-science majors across a wide variety of disciplines, nurture their curiosity, and develop vital science-based critical-thinking skills. This textbook provides an introduction to how science operates in practice and what makes it so successful in uncovering nature's secrets. Given that the study of astronomy dates back thousands of years, it is the ideal subject for tracing the development of the physical sciences and how our evolving understanding of nature has influenced, and been influenced by, mathematics, philosophy, religion, geography, politics, and more. This historical approach also illustrates how wrong turns have been taken, and how the inherent self-correcting nature of science through constant verification and the falsifiability of truly scientific theories ultimately leads us back to a more productive path in our quest for understanding. This approach also points out why, as a broadly educated citizenry, students of all disciplines must understand how scientists arrive at conclusions, and how science and technology have become central features of modern society. In discussing this fascinating and beautiful universe of which we are a part, it is necessary to illustrate the fundamental role that mathematics plays in decoding nature's mysteries. Unlike other similar textbooks, some basic mathematics is integrated naturally into the text, together with interpretive language, and supplemented with numerous examples; additional tutorials are provided on the book's companion website. Astronomy: The Human Quest for Understanding leads the reader down the path to our present-day understanding of our Solar System, stars, galaxies, and the beginning and evolution of our universe, along with profound questions still to be answered in this ancient, yet rapidly changing field.

Newtonian mechanics is a cornerstone topic in physics. Regardless of the path an aspiring physicist takes, an intimate and intuitive understanding of how objects behave within Newton's law of motion is essential.Yet the transition from high school physics to university level physics can be — and should be — difficult. The aim of this book is to teach Newtonian mechanics suitable for the first two years of university study. Using carefully chosen and detailed examples to expose areas of frequent misunderstanding, the first two thirds of the book introduces material familiar to high school students from the ground up, with a more mature point of view. The final third of the book contains new material, introducing detailed sections on the rotation of rigid objects and providing an insight into subtleties that can be troubling to the first-time learner. Tabletop physics demonstrations are suggested to assist in understanding the worked examples.As a teacher and lecturer of physics with experience at both high school and university level, Professor Vijay Tymms offers a lucid and sensitive presentation of Newtonian mechanics to help make the step from high school to university as smooth as possible.