For thousands of years, people pictured the sky as a giant dome surrounding the Earth. The stars were thought to be fixed to this dome, which slowly turned above us, much like the motion of the Sun, the Moon and the planets. This book tells the story of the scientific revolution that changed that picture forever—the moment humanity realized that the motions we see in the sky are only apparent motions, created by the Earth spinning on its axis and traveling around the Sun. The “celestial dome,” it turned out, was an illusion. It is the Earth—and the heavens—that move. This revolution began with Nicolaus Copernicus’s book On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres , published in 1543, just as the author was nearing the end of his life. The bold ideas in that book sent shockwaves through the scientific world and helped lay the foundations of modern physics. They also transformed the way people thought about nature—and about humanity’s place in the universe. This book follows the dramatic story of the Copernican Revolution and the long struggle to convince the world of its truth, from Galileo’s telescopic discoveries—made with a telescope he built himself—to the fierce scientific and religious debates that followed. The Copernican Revolution opened the door to an even bigger idea: The universe is vast, stretching far beyond our solar system. The “fixed stars,” we learned, are actually distant suns, so far away that they appear as tiny points of light. From there, it was only natural to wonder whether some of those stars might have planets of their own. At the end of the twentieth century—more than 400 years after Copernicus—astronomers finally discovered that planets are everywhere, orbiting stars across the galaxy. And who knows—perhaps some of those distant worlds may even host life.

Over the past two decades, advanced technologies and space missions have completely transformed our understanding of potential life beyond Earth. The resulting field, astrobiology, has become a multidisciplinary scientific discipline, encompassing many of the natural sciences and having implications for many areas of research. This book presents an introduction and overview of astrobiology. It deals with a wide range of fields, from the search for signs of life on planets in our solar system, to the discovery of exoplanets in distant solar systems and assessing the potential for life there. The book is based on the course of the same name that the author taught for more than two decades at the Hebrew University, and the course recorded on YouTube in the Cornerstones program , which has accumulated tens of thousands of views. The book is accessible not only to students of natural sciences, but to any reader who wants to learn about and understand the fascinating possibilities of life on other worlds.

If a large rock had collapsed in a desert or a tree had fallen in the heart of a distant forest several hundred miles away from living beings, would it have made a sound upon its fall? Different people will give different answers to this ancient question. Objectively, some will say that a sound would have been heard because sound does not exist only in the mind of the listener. Subjectively, some would say that a sound requires someone to listen to it. What is correct? Is this complex answer related to the essence of sound? It's All in the Sound investigates the phenomenon of sound and tries to understand it and answer, among other things, the above questions. It was written to meet the needs of students and teachers, with a desire to update the teaching of physics and fill the shortage of textbooks in this field, which is associated with teaching the subject of sound waves. The gradual development of the concept of sound is discussed in the book by building structured experimental illustrations, as well as mathematical expressions describing this miraculous phenomenon. The illustrations were chosen so that a curious reader could repeat most of the experiments in a home environment without the need for special laboratory equipment. Even for readers unfamiliar with the basics of physical mathematics that describe sound, this book may provide a unique experience and open up a new window to understanding physics.

In 1905, Albert Einstein astounded the scientific world when he proposed a theory that would become known as the special theory of relativity. Einstein's theory revolutionized the fundamental concepts of time and space, demonstrated the equivalence between mass and energy, and completely changed the face of modern physics. Despite its enormous importance, the theory of special relativity has remained largely unknown to the public interested in the scientific revolutions of the twentieth century. This book presents the theory of special relativity in a way that any student of the natural sciences can understand the theory itself, the crisis that led to its emergence, and its dramatic impact on the world of science. The book takes the reader on a fascinating, yet entertaining, journey of discovery and understanding of the theory of special relativity.

Einstein’s revolution traces back to his key papers of 1905 in which he questioned the classical understanding of our concepts of space, time, matter, gravitation, and radiation, shaking the foundations of classical physics. These papers challenged the idea of light as a wave, gave striking proof for the existence of atoms, led to a new understanding of space and time, which came to be known as the “special theory of relativity,” and identified mass as a form of energy. Ten years later, Einstein completed his relativity revolution with his masterpiece, the general theory of relativity, which became the source of modern cosmology. Albert Einstein : Creator of a Worldview deals with these developments, with the ideas which led to them and with their consequences. It also describes briefly Einstein’s activity outside the world of physics and his reaction to major issues on the agenda of mankind in his time.

In the 1940s, Erwin Schrödinger attempted to tackle the eternal question "What is Life?" from the perspective of the "naïve physicist." The result is this short book, which has influenced generations of scientists, sparked much controversy and become a classic. What Is Life? appears in Hebrew for the first time, accompanied by an epilogue by Prof. Avshalom Elitzur, who demonstrates to what extent Schrödinger's insights are relevant eighty years after the first publication of the essay.

This book is part of the series of textbooks for electrical engineers by Dima Budansky. The series is intended for students studying electrical engineering according to the curriculum of the Israeli Ministry of Economy. The author of the book has rich experience of thirty years in teaching and working as an electrical engineer with an electrician engineer license in the fields of planning, execution, and maintenance of electrical installations. The first part of the book describes and details the execution stages of a final project in electrical engineering studies. The second part is a sample project, carried out by students. In the appendices section, technical data sheets of electrical equipment are presented. More in this series by Dima Budansky: Electrical Structures and Power Systems - Theory and Exam Solutions Electric Machines and Drives - Theory and Exam Solutions High Voltage Installations - Principles, Equipment, Operation and Safety

This book is published as part of a series of textbooks for electrical engineers by Dima Budansky. The series is intended for students studying electrical engineering by the curriculum of the Israeli Ministry of Economy. The author of the book has rich experience of about thirty years in teaching and working as a licensed electrical engineer in the fields of planning, execution and maintenance of electrical installations. The first part of the book combines topics included in the curriculum and solving questions from the MHT (Technological Training Institute) tests. The second part is a collection of test solutions from recent years.

This book is published in the series of textbooks for electrical engineers by Dima Budansky. The series includes additional textbooks in the various professions and is intended for students studying electrical engineering according to the curriculum of the Ministry of Economy. The author of the book has a rich experience of about thirty years in teaching and working as a licensed electrical engineer in planning, execution and maintenance of electrical installations. The first part of the book combines subjects included in the curriculum with the Technological Training Institute test questions from recent years. The second part is a collection of solutions to these tests. The appendices chapter presents technical data sheets for electrical equipment, which are required to perform calculations.

If a large rock had collapsed in a desert or a tree had fallen in the heart of a distant forest several hundred miles away from living beings, would it have made a sound upon its fall? Different people will give different answers to this ancient question. Objectively, some will say that a sound would have been heard because sound does not exist only in the mind of the listener. Subjectively, some would say that a sound requires someone to listen to it. What is correct? Is this complex answer related to the essence of sound? It's All in the Sound investigates the phenomenon of sound and tries to understand it and answer, among other things, the above questions. It was written to meet the needs of students and teachers, with a desire to update the teaching of physics and fill the shortage of textbooks in this field, which is associated with teaching the subject of sound waves. The gradual development of the concept of sound is discussed in the book by building structured experimental illustrations, as well as mathematical expressions describing this miraculous phenomenon. The illustrations were chosen so that a curious reader could repeat most of the experiments in a home environment without the need for special laboratory equipment. Even for readers unfamiliar with the basics of physical mathematics that describe sound, this book may provide a unique experience and open up a new window to understanding physics.

The book describes the Copernican Revolution, initiated by the publication of On the Revolution of the Heavenly Spheres by Copernicus until it was accepted by the Scientific Community. The book follows the dramatic turns of the plot of the struggle for scientific truth, along with the conflict between the church and Galileo. Finally, the book brings the modern proofs for the Copernican model, including the very recent discoveries of extra-solar planets.

The book takes the reader on a journey of discovery ranging from the planets of our solar system to stars and distant solar systems in the Milky Way, our home galaxy, and beyond to the ends of the universe. It proposes a reader-friendly introduction to astrophysics and the physics of stars and planets, accompanied by over one hundred illustrations. The book explains concepts, distances and phenomena from other worlds, very different from our everyday experience. Throughout its journey through the universe the book introduces the science of astrobiology: the search for biological life in space. It also accompanies the course "Astrobiology and Life in the Universe" presented by the author and recorded for the benefit of the public in the "Cornerstones" program of the Hebrew University. The book deals with topics that have received widespread media coverage in recent years, such as NASA's research missions to Mars and their Kepler and James Web space telescopes. While the Kepler mission led in 2010-2015 to a breakthrough in discovering numerous worlds suitable for life outside the Solar System, James Web, whose launch is expected in 2021, will provide to humanity for the first time the ability to detect signs of life in these worlds.