Very Disapponted
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Such a good idea, but so disappointing.
In spite of reading the comments from the earlier reviewer who considered it 'flawed', I bought 2 copies as presents. When I read some of the essays I had to agree, and think the two examples quoted in that review were relatively minor in comparison to other distortions. I found the introductory summary for each topic very acceptable but would not rely on any of the detail.
To me, it reads as if the author's original script has been over-enthusiastically edited by someone with less than a complete grasp of the topics, resulting in a disappointing level of mis-information and contradictions.
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Good, but flawed
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I really wanted to like this book, and for the most part I do. There is a need for a book that can cover the basic physics and theories about the world around us in an interesting and engaging way. This book is pretty good at that. However, I think it is flawed because there are some glaring errors, and this will not help those who didn't understand these things at school, whether because they were not interested or because the teacher wasn't up to it (they can have bad days too).
Two examples are these:
1. In the Introduction on page 3 it reads "Our mobile 'phones connect us via invisible electromagnetic threads to satellites orbiting overhead". Normal mobile 'phones do not do this. Only satellite 'phones do this, and they are relatively expensive and bulky.
2. In Newton's Laws of Motion on page 9 it reads "Acceleration is a change of speed over some time". Whilst this is true, acceleration is really a change of velocity over time, and velocity is a vector and has a component of both speed and direction. So acceleration can be a change in speed or direction (or both) over some time.
These examples may seem pedantic, but it is an important distinction. Perhaps this book tries to avoid anything tricky by dumbing down. Anyway, I still like the book. But it could be better.
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Higher ground
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Learning is a bit like climbing a mountain. Every step is a little bit harder than the last but the view gets better all the time.
In this excellent book, the author takes us through fifty of the most important laws of physics, by way of a series of short and entertaining essays. Beginning with the fundamental laws of heat, motion and energy - those we learn at school and brush up against in the trials of everyday life - we gently ascend through to more recent advances in understanding -bits of the picture that fall well outside the realms of everyday experience: the sub-atomic world of waves and particles: the forces, such as dark energy, that are at work within (and outside?) our expanding universe. Amongst the highlights are an extremely lucid explanation of Einstein's theories of General Relativity and Special Relativity.
Not only does the book demonstrate and celebrate how humankind has slowly begun to unravel the mysteries of life but, for the average reader, it helps us shuffle a few steps up that mountain of learning.
For me, one of the real triumphs of the book is the way that the author shows how even the fundamental laws fit in to the broader picture. For instance, I don't remember my college lecturer explaining how the Second Law of Thermodynamics could determine the ultimate fate of the universe. He should of done - how often do physics students ask the question, "Why do we need to know this?" Well, this book might have the answer and step by step, inch by inch (or should that be nanometre by nanometre) you will be ascending a bit of that mountain I talked about before. I even found myself going back to re-read some of the essays, so clear is the progression between them.
If, like me, you have an interest in science and physics but are by no means a great intellect, this book is a great place to gain a better insight into the way everything sticks together and stays together. Or doesn't, as the case may be !
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