Alpine Physics (ePub)

This unique volume applies physics and basic science to the mountain environment and is written in a non-technical language for curious laypeople who wonder why or how natural phenomena happen, and what their scientific explanation may be. The book discusses physics in a non-specialized way. Alpine Physics is mostly organized in categories relevant for non-scientists with an interest in alpine environments.

Intuitive decision-making is often just grounded in plain common sense, to which mountain and nature lovers relate easily, especially when involving high-stakes decisions based on the estimation of such a treacherous environment. The book highlights how this intuitive decision-making can be complemented and augmented by basic scientific knowledge, and with better understanding it leads one to become a rational decision-maker.

The book stimulates its readers to reason and discover why things are the way they are, at high altitudes, where many risk factors are aggravated, often dramatically, by steep gradients. The writing style marries that of the conventional science textbook and that of the informal North-American climbing guidebooks.

• Mountains High or Low, Hard or Soft:
  • Introduction
  • How High Can a Mountain Be?
  • Out of This World
  • Fallen from the Sky
  • All the Peaks, Passes, and Valleys of this Planet
  • The Rock Cycle
  • Destroying Mountains
  • Of Sweat, Rock, and Hard Places
  • Volcanoes
• Gravity Rules:
  • Introduction
  • How Hard Will a Falling Rock Hit?
  • Talus Cones, Avalanches, and Antlions: The Angle of Repose
  • Water Erosion
  • Sequoias and Capillarity
• Water, Snow, and Ice:
  • Introduction
  • Water is Unusual
  • Skis, Snowshoes, and Pressure
  • Under Stress
  • Phase Changes
  • Phase Changes at Work: Falling Rocks
  • Of Steam and Water Bottles
  • Snowflakes and Snowpack: The Whole is More than the Sum of Its Parts
  • Avalanche!
  • Suncups and Penitentes
• Glacier Puzzles:
  • Introduction
  • How Thick Can an Alpine Glacier Be?
  • How Thick Can a Polar Glacier Be?
  • How Deep Can a Crevasse Be?
  • How Long Does It Take for Snow to Turn into Ice?
  • How Did Glacial Valleys Get Their U-Shape?
  • The Universe in a Glacial Valley
• Heat, Cold, and Air:
  • Introduction
  • Why is It Cold Up There?
  • The Dress Code
  • Conserving Heat
  • Föhn, Chinook, and Bicycle Pumps
  • Valley Breeze and Mountain Breeze
  • Clear Nights are Cold Nights
  • Archimedes in the Tent
  • Air Moisture
  • Weather Forecasts
• Rock Climbing:
  • Introduction
  • Biomechanics
  • Fall Factor
  • Never Rappel from a Tight Sling
  • Beware of the American Triangle
  • The Yin and Yang of Friction
• Miscellaneous:
  • Introduction
  • Why is the Sky Blue?
  • Put Your Sunscreen On
  • Lichen It or Not
  • Places with a Lot of Potential
  • Science Labs in the Mountains
• Epilogue
• Appendix A:
  • Physical Constants
  • Differential Operators
• Appendix B
• Appendix C
• Appendix D
• Bibliography
• Index

• Currently, the book has no competitors on the market
• The book allows readers with a passion for the mountains, for alpine environments, or for the outdoors in general to understand basic natural processes whose occurrence is enhanced, or even dramatic, in the mountains
• The treatment of the material is unique, in that the book is written from a very practical and non-academic point of view. Real life outdoors stories, followed by scientific reasoning, make the presentation of the scientific content more vivid and appealing