A Matter of Degrees

In this unique book, physicist Gino Segrè combines science, history, and imagination in a wide-ranging exploration of the role temperature plays in both life and matter. Why is the internal temperature of most mammals fixed near 98. 6°? How do geologists use temperature to track the history of our planet? Why is the quest for absolute zero and its quantum mechanical significance the key to understanding superconductivity? And what can we learn from neutrinos, the subatomic messages from the sun that may hold the key to understanding the birth and death of our solar system? In answering these and hundreds of other questions about temperature, Segrè presents an uncanny view of our world.