Modern Physics and Antiphysics

by Adolph Baker

The fundamentals of twentieth-century physics are presented in a clear and concise manner for non-scientists

276 pages, Paperback

First published September 24, 1970

Reviews

[Harpoon · Rating 2 out of 5]

This has been on my bookshelf, unread, for decades, and I finally decided to tackle it. I've read many expositions of the "modern physics" topics (relativity, quantum mechanics, and so on). Mr. Baker's coverage of these for non-specialists is okay. The non-physics parts (sociology, philosophy, economics, etc.) make this a little time capsule of progressive 1960s-era thinking, and I found those parts dated and tedious. There are better popular science introductions to the "modern physics" topics.

[James Norman · Rating 4 out of 5]

The questions at the end of the chapters are quite the innovation. The middle section about relativity didn't really sink for me, but most of the thought experiments were clever, perhaps even inspired in some cases. Does what it claims to do, makes physics interesting for the poet

[Erik Graff · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a kid I expected to be a scientist of some sort. My pleasure reading was primarily science fiction, my serious reading mostly physics, particularly astrophysics and cosmology. I took three science courses in high school, culminating in A.P. Chemistry. I hated it. Partly that was because of a lazy teacher. Partly it was because my lab skills were terrible and I was unwilling to fudge the results to correspond with what the text suggested we should be discovering. In any case, I didn't go on with A.P. Physics, rationalizing the decision as ethical because socio-political praxis was more important given the contemporary political scene.

College requirements forced me into one more science course. Physics seemed the natural choice and the catalog did offer a survey class designed for non-math/science majors. Here, fortunately, the teacher was good, reminiscent of Carl Sagan in his enthusiasm, and the readings from real authors, not textbook committees. Most of them were articles connected to lecture topics, but we also read some of the landmarks in the history of science by such as Galileo. Modern Physics and Antiphysics was the closest thing we had to a text and, frankly, I don't remember much about it beyond its lengthy discussion of symmetry issues in the field.

[Jonathan Boyd · Rating 3 out of 5]

Though now dated, Modern Physics and Antiphyics is a compelling introduction to physics that's written in everyday English most anyone can read. Under Baker's hand, the world of physics, often dry, becomes strange and incredibly interesting.

This was one of the first phyics books I ever read, and though it's well over thirty years out of date, I still sit down and flip through it now and then. The concepts are no less fascinating, and the way they're put forth is still effective. A solid read, even for someone with only a casual interest in the world of physics.