John A. Adam

Indeholder "Preface", "Acknowledgments", "Introduction", "At the beginning ... (General questions to challenge our powers of observation, estimation, and physical intuition)", " Q.1 You are looking at a single bright rainbow (the primary bow). Which color is on the top side of the arch?", " Q.2 How many colors do you think there are in a typical rainbow?", " Q.3 Suppose you see a double rainbow; which color is on the top side of the upper arch (the secondary bow)?", " Q.4 Is the region between the two bows typically darker, brighter, or the same as the surrounding sky?", " Q.5 How about the region below the primary bow?", " Q.6 Have you ever seen anything else closely associated with the primary bow?", " Q.7 On a sunny day, are the edges of your shadow sharp, diffuse, or some combination of both? Explain you answer as precisely as you can", " Q.8 Over what typical timescale does a small cumulus cloud maintain its original shape (i.e. from when you first looked at it)?", " Q.9 Estimate the size (diameter) of water droplets in (i) a heavy downpour, and (ii) fog.", " Q.10 To the nearest order of magnitude, how many light waves would fit across your fingernail?", " Q.11 How long is a typical sound wave associated with human speech?", " Q.12 What is the (eastward) rotation speed of the earth at the equator? At the poles?", " Q.13 At what latitude is the rotation speed the arithmetic means of the correct answers to the two parts of the previous question?", " Q.14 How far away is the horizon if you are standing at the beach looking out to sea?", " Q.15 In the middle of the day, you are looking at two similar hills, except that one is more distant than the other. Which one appears a bit darker? (i) the nearer one; (ii) the more distant one (iii) both appear equally dark, or (iv) take off your sunglasses, silly!", "In the "playground" (just to get our feet wet...)", " Q.16: Loch Ness--how long to empty it?", " Q.17: The Grand Canyon--how long to fill it with sand?", " Q.18: Just how large an area is a million acres?", " Q.19: Twenty-five billion hamburgers--how many have you eaten?", "Q.20: How many head of cattle would be required to satisfy the (1978) daily demand for meat in the United States?", " Q.21: Why could King Kong never exist?", " Q.22: Why do small bugs dislike taking showers?", " Q.23: How fast is that raindrop falling?", " Q.24: Why can haystacks explode if they're too big?", "In the garden", " Q.25: Why can I see the "whole universe" in my garden globe?", " Q.26: How long is that bee going to collect nectar?", " Q.27: Why are those drops on the spider's web so evenly spaced?", " Q.28: What is the Fibonacci sequence?", " Q.29: So what is the "golden angle"?", " Q.30: Why are the angles between leaves "just so"?", "In the neighborhood", " Q.31: Can you infer fencepost (or bridge) "shapes" just by walking past them?", " Q.32: Can you weigh a pumpkin just by carefully looking at it?", " Q.33: Can you determine the paths of low-flying ducks?", "In the shadows", " Q.34: How high is that tree? (An estimate using elliptical light patches)", " Q.35: Does my shadow accelerate?", " Q.36: How long is the Earth's shadow?", " Q.37: And Jupiter's? And Neptune's?", " Q.38: How wide is the Moon's shadow?", "In the sky", " Q.39: How far away is the horizon (neglecting refraction)?", " Q.40: How far away is that cloud?", " Q.41: How well is starlight reflected from a calm body of water?", " Q.42: How heavy is that cloud?", " Q.43: Why can we see farther in rain than in fog?", " Q.44: How far away does that "road puddle" mirage appear to be?", " Q.45: Why is the sky blue?", " Q.46: So how much more is violet light scattered than red?", " Q.47: What causes variation in colors of butterfly wings, bird plumage, and oil slicks?", " Q.48: What causes the metallic colors in that cloud?", " Q.49: How do rainbows form? And what are those fringes underneath the primary bow?", " Q.50: What about the secondary rainbow?", " Q.51: Are there higher-order rainbows?", " Q.52: So what is that triple rainbow?", " Q.53: Is there a "zeroth"-order rainbow?", " Q.54: Can bubbles produce "rainbows"?", " Q.55: What would "diamondbows" look like?", " Q.56: What causes that ring around the Sun?", " Q.57: What is that shaft of light above the setting Sun?", " Q.58: What is that colored splotch of light beside the Sun?", " Q.59: What's that "smiley face" in the sky?", " Q.60: What are those colored rings around the shadow of my plane?", " Q.61: Why does geometrical optics imply infinite intensity at the rainbow angle?", "In the nest", " Q.62: How can you model the shape of birds' eggs?", " Q.63: What is the sphericity index?", " Q.64: Can the shape of an egg be modeled trigonometrically?", " Q.65: Can the shape of an egg be modeled algebraically?", " Q.66: Can the shape of an egg be modeled using calculus?", " Q.67: Can the shape of an egg be modeled geometrically?", "In (or on) the water", " Q.68: What causes a glitter path?", " Q.69: What is the path of wave intersections?", " Q.70: How fast do waves move on the surface of water?", " Q.71: How do moving ships produce that wave pattern?", " Q.72: How do rocks in a flowing stream produce different patterns?", " Q.73: Can waves be stopped by opposing streams?", " Q.74: How far away is the storm?", " Q.75: How fast is the calm region of that "puddle wave" expanding?", " Q.76: How much energy do ocean waves have?", " Q.77: Does a wave raise the average depth of the water?", " Q.78: How can ship wakes prove the Earth is "round"?", "In the forest", " Q.79: How high can trees grow?", " Q.80: How much shade does a layer of leaves provide for the layer below?", " Q.81: What is the "murmur of the forest"?", " Q.82: How opaque is a wood or forest?", " Q.83: Why do some trees have "tumors"?", "In the national park", " Q.84: What shapes are river meanders?", " Q.85: Why are mountain shadows triangular?", " Q.86: Why does Zion Arch appear circular?", "In the night sky", " Q.87: How are star magnitudes measured?", " Q.88: How can I stargaze with a flashlight?", " Q.89: How can you model a star?", " Q.90: How long would it take the Sun to collapse?", " Q.91: What are those small rings around the Moon?", " Q.92: How can you model an eclipse of the Sun?", "At the end ...", " Q.93: How can you model walking?", " Q.94: How "long" is that tree?", " Q.95: What are those "rays" I sometimes see at or after sunset?", " Q.96: How can twilight help determine the height of the atmosphere?", "Appendix 1: A very short glossary of mathematical terms and functions", "Appendix 2: Answers to questions 1-15", "Appendix 3: Newton's law of cooling", "Appendix 4: More mathematical patterns in nature", "References", "Index".

Meget tankevækkende bog af typen: hvorfor har jeg aldrig spekuleret på det?… (mais)