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Following the hugely successful The Science Book and The Math Book comes a richly illustrated chronology of physics, containing 250 short, entertaining, and thought-provoking entries. In addition to exploring such engaging topics as dark energy, parallel universes, the Doppler effect, the God particle, and Maxwell's demon, the book's timeline extends back billions of years to the hypothetical Big Bang and forward trillions of years to a time of quantum resurrection.” Like the previous titles in this series, The Physics Book helps readers gain an understanding of major concepts without getting bogged down in complex details.
530 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2011
275 people are currently reading
1908 people want to read
About the author
Clifford A. Pickover
87 books233 followersClifford Alan Pickover is an American author, editor, and columnist in the fields of science, mathematics, science fiction, innovation, and creativity. For many years, he was employed at the IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center in Yorktown, New York, where he was editor-in-chief of the IBM Journal of Research and Development. He has been granted more than 700 U.S. patents, is an elected Fellow for the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry, and is author of more than 50 books, translated into more than a dozen languages.
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January 7, 2020
March 15, 2019
This sumptuously produced and rather hefty tome covers 250 “milestones” regarding Physics and related ideas and/or applications. These are presented in a kind of “double-page” layout, with a one-page description on the left, accompanied by mostly rather wonderful associated illustrations on the right-hand page. Its intention is to entertain, in the first instance, and secondly hopefully to stimulate further interest by curious readers, with lots of cross references made available. From this perspective, congratulations are due to the compiler Clifford Pickover and the publishers.
That being said, there are (in my opinion) a number of “problems” associated with this book. For starters, the relatively small amount of space allocated to some quite complex ideas cannot be accommodated adequately on half a single page. The result tends to mystify more than elucidate for certain entries. Pickover himself provides a number of caveats in his Introduction which should be read and kept in mind by the reader. So we have been warned. For example, Pickover explains that the choices for inclusion in this work are his and his alone; that they do not cover every single aspect of Physics; that his summaries of some “milestones” are necessarily brief, and possibly inadequate by themselves to satisfy more adept Physicists; and that some entries seem to relate more to fantasy and speculation (what some might call Science Fiction — with the emphasis on “fiction”) than to Physics proper.
An extraordinary example of the latter occurs at page 17, just before the actual main text begins. Here we are regaled with a rather gorgeous picture/illustration? of something one might imagine to be an exploding/evolving universe. Below this there is a quotation from popular Vampire novelist Anne Rice’s Tale of the Body Thief which reads: “I’ll tell you what the Big Bang was. It was when the cells of God began to divide.” What on earth is this doing in a Book on Physics?
The main text covers a rather wide period of time: from 13.7 billion BC (sic) all the way until >100 trillion (AD). I wonder what a modern-day fundamentalist Christian would make of that first date… Part of the “problem” lies in the use of BC (Before Christ) and AD (Anno Domini = ‘Year of the Lord’). In Science, at least, but also because of a contemporary need to accommodate a common global dating system, the terms BCE (Before the Common Era) and CE (Common Era) tend to be used instead. Not in this book.
Another question regarding terminology and spelling lies in the acceptance of the terms developed by the International System of Units or SI (to which, incidentally, the United States is a signatory) in which its metric unit is spelled metre (not ‘meter’). Pickover acknowledges this SI spelling (see p. 264) but this is the only instance the SI spelling is used — every other reference in the book (and there are many) uses the US spelling “meter”. For some reason, the combination of the use of the Imperial System of units (foot/mile/etc.) together with the US spelling of “meter” instead of the SI spelling for the metric equivalent, became increasingly irksome for me.
Other than my pernickety grumblings above, the book is definitely a handsome production which I feel sure many will find attractive and desirable, and the sections dealing with the real and/or possible applications of some of the more astonishing areas of study may stimulate the imaginations of creative types everywhere. Just remember, however, that personal creative interpretations and speculations do not necessarily translate to Physics!
That being said, there are (in my opinion) a number of “problems” associated with this book. For starters, the relatively small amount of space allocated to some quite complex ideas cannot be accommodated adequately on half a single page. The result tends to mystify more than elucidate for certain entries. Pickover himself provides a number of caveats in his Introduction which should be read and kept in mind by the reader. So we have been warned. For example, Pickover explains that the choices for inclusion in this work are his and his alone; that they do not cover every single aspect of Physics; that his summaries of some “milestones” are necessarily brief, and possibly inadequate by themselves to satisfy more adept Physicists; and that some entries seem to relate more to fantasy and speculation (what some might call Science Fiction — with the emphasis on “fiction”) than to Physics proper.
An extraordinary example of the latter occurs at page 17, just before the actual main text begins. Here we are regaled with a rather gorgeous picture/illustration? of something one might imagine to be an exploding/evolving universe. Below this there is a quotation from popular Vampire novelist Anne Rice’s Tale of the Body Thief which reads: “I’ll tell you what the Big Bang was. It was when the cells of God began to divide.” What on earth is this doing in a Book on Physics?
The main text covers a rather wide period of time: from 13.7 billion BC (sic) all the way until >100 trillion (AD). I wonder what a modern-day fundamentalist Christian would make of that first date… Part of the “problem” lies in the use of BC (Before Christ) and AD (Anno Domini = ‘Year of the Lord’). In Science, at least, but also because of a contemporary need to accommodate a common global dating system, the terms BCE (Before the Common Era) and CE (Common Era) tend to be used instead. Not in this book.
Another question regarding terminology and spelling lies in the acceptance of the terms developed by the International System of Units or SI (to which, incidentally, the United States is a signatory) in which its metric unit is spelled metre (not ‘meter’). Pickover acknowledges this SI spelling (see p. 264) but this is the only instance the SI spelling is used — every other reference in the book (and there are many) uses the US spelling “meter”. For some reason, the combination of the use of the Imperial System of units (foot/mile/etc.) together with the US spelling of “meter” instead of the SI spelling for the metric equivalent, became increasingly irksome for me.
Other than my pernickety grumblings above, the book is definitely a handsome production which I feel sure many will find attractive and desirable, and the sections dealing with the real and/or possible applications of some of the more astonishing areas of study may stimulate the imaginations of creative types everywhere. Just remember, however, that personal creative interpretations and speculations do not necessarily translate to Physics!
February 22, 2012
This book was a bit of a disappointment, and I don't really get it. It's 250+ physics milestones listed chronologically. It's stuff like Hooke's Law of Elasticity in 1660, the discovery of the electron in 1897, and so on. Well, that's fun.
The problem is that each item is only given 1 small page of text and a picture. That's it. It's a glossy Time/Life magazine treatment of physics. Or, it's a physics coffee table book. Or, it's about 10% of the information that you'd get from Wikipedia on any of these topics.
Anyway, here are a couple of the coolest items that I tabbed from Pickover's list.
Solar Furnace
I learned what a solar furnace is: "a curved mirror (or an array of mirrors) that acts as a parabolic reflector, concentrating light (Insolation) onto a focal point" (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_furnace). And the biggest solar furnace is this wild building in France where the whole side is a directed mirror.
Poiseuille's Law of Liquid Flow
I learned about Poiseuille's Law of Liquid Flow: library.thinkquest.org/C003758/Functi.... The equation determines the volume of flow of a liquid through a pipe. The interesting part is that this volume depends on the radius of the pipe to the 4th degree.
Q ~= r^4
where Q = liquid flow, r = radius of the pipe
So, clogging your arteries by 50% will cut your blood flow through them by 16x. Yow!
Birth of the Kilogram
How heavy is a kilogram? That's an interesting history: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kilogram. There's an actual object stored a basement somewhere near France that is supposed to be the official kilogram. Obviously, that's screwy, so you can see on that Wikipedia page that scientists are looking for a better, natural/numeric definition of a kilogram.
Bose-Einstein Condensate
At near absolute zero, matter "exhibits an exotic property in which atoms lose their identity and merge into a mysterious collective". So, at extremely cold temperatures atoms seem to lose their individual identities and merge into cloud or "one giant superatom".
Here's the Wikipedia page:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bose%E2%80%93Ei....
thanks... yow, bill
The problem is that each item is only given 1 small page of text and a picture. That's it. It's a glossy Time/Life magazine treatment of physics. Or, it's a physics coffee table book. Or, it's about 10% of the information that you'd get from Wikipedia on any of these topics.
Anyway, here are a couple of the coolest items that I tabbed from Pickover's list.
Solar Furnace
I learned what a solar furnace is: "a curved mirror (or an array of mirrors) that acts as a parabolic reflector, concentrating light (Insolation) onto a focal point" (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_furnace). And the biggest solar furnace is this wild building in France where the whole side is a directed mirror.
Poiseuille's Law of Liquid Flow
I learned about Poiseuille's Law of Liquid Flow: library.thinkquest.org/C003758/Functi.... The equation determines the volume of flow of a liquid through a pipe. The interesting part is that this volume depends on the radius of the pipe to the 4th degree.
Q ~= r^4
where Q = liquid flow, r = radius of the pipe
So, clogging your arteries by 50% will cut your blood flow through them by 16x. Yow!
Birth of the Kilogram
How heavy is a kilogram? That's an interesting history: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kilogram. There's an actual object stored a basement somewhere near France that is supposed to be the official kilogram. Obviously, that's screwy, so you can see on that Wikipedia page that scientists are looking for a better, natural/numeric definition of a kilogram.
Bose-Einstein Condensate
At near absolute zero, matter "exhibits an exotic property in which atoms lose their identity and merge into a mysterious collective". So, at extremely cold temperatures atoms seem to lose their individual identities and merge into cloud or "one giant superatom".
Here's the Wikipedia page:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bose%E2%80%93Ei....
thanks... yow, bill
February 17, 2013
This is a great coffee-table book with lots of illustrations. The author has "picked over" 250 milestones in the history of physics. For each one, he provides a one-page essay and a beautiful, full-page photo.
I've never seen a book that makes physics look more appealing, or that demonstrates the breadth of its reach and application.
One amazing thing I noticed today is the article "Prehistoric Nuclear Reactor." Apparently, 2 billion years before humans walked the Earth, a natural nuclear reactor formed by chance under what is now Gabon, Africa. This reactor chugged along for "hundreds of thousands of years" (estimated).
According to the book, sf writer Roger Zelazny, in his novel "Bridges of Ashes," supposes that an alien race created the Gabon reactor to accelerate evolution through mutation. And thus Homo sapiens entered the picture.
It would be tough to read this book cover to cover. But it's fun to pick it up now and then, and marvel at the many tremendous discoveries and historical milestones that are covered within.
I've never seen a book that makes physics look more appealing, or that demonstrates the breadth of its reach and application.
One amazing thing I noticed today is the article "Prehistoric Nuclear Reactor." Apparently, 2 billion years before humans walked the Earth, a natural nuclear reactor formed by chance under what is now Gabon, Africa. This reactor chugged along for "hundreds of thousands of years" (estimated).
According to the book, sf writer Roger Zelazny, in his novel "Bridges of Ashes," supposes that an alien race created the Gabon reactor to accelerate evolution through mutation. And thus Homo sapiens entered the picture.
It would be tough to read this book cover to cover. But it's fun to pick it up now and then, and marvel at the many tremendous discoveries and historical milestones that are covered within.
November 15, 2020
I've read this book several times with my two-year-old twins, haha. I wouldn't dare put most of the picture books they like on goodreads, but this one is an actual book that my wife got for me a few years ago. It's more than just a bookshelf decoration with nice pictures. It has great explanations that allow anyone to understand the most important discoveries in Physics history.
Okay, maybe not "anyone," since my two-year-olds are still figuring it all out, but they love the pictures! And when a physics teacher hears his son pointing to bookshelf asking to read the "sysics" book, my heart melts every time.
Okay, maybe not "anyone," since my two-year-olds are still figuring it all out, but they love the pictures! And when a physics teacher hears his son pointing to bookshelf asking to read the "sysics" book, my heart melts every time.
April 17, 2015
Clifford A. Pickover's simply, yet aptly, titled tome, The Physics Book, should be on everyone's coffee table, regardless of educational level. Written by an undeniably accomplished writer and scientist--with more than forty books, a PhD from Yale's Department of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, and over seventy U.S. patents--this hefty book not only teaches concepts that have influenced the way in which humans interact with the universe, but it also inspires inquiry into science and advocates a concern for science's implications for all aspects of humanity.
It is certainly the book for physics because it contains over 200 milestones and curiosities of the physical sciences. These ideas span a tremendous breadth, from the simplistic truss to the abstractions of chaos theory, from 13.7 billion years ago to over 100 trillion years into the future. Pickover condenses each concept or event into a single page, accompanied by a visual demonstrating the idea as it works in our world (and sometimes our vast universe!). Although some sections may be too brief to be useful--obviously one cannot glean all knowledge about string theory in a page written for the average reader--the descriptions still manage to give the reader a better understanding of the applications science has for our existence in the universe. Pickover overcomes vagueness and accomplishes inspiration by connecting and contextualizing ideas via "See Also" suggestions. Furthermore, he discusses some philosophical components of physics. For example, the Pre-historic Nuclear Reactor and the Baghdad Battery both challenge the reader to question humanity's capabilities and metaphysical place in the universe. And if a reader's curiosity is sufficiently ignited--which I anticipate it will be for many--he offers reading that can elaborate on the intricacies of these important milestones.
If you seek a book that will instill in you a working knowledge of physics, a book that will allow you to comprehend how the universe works in all its complexity, this is not the right text. Due to its brevity, you should approach this book as a medium between ignorance and understanding. It will not fully educate you, but it will provide rough foundations and appropriate tools with which you can develop your knowledge.
The only reason I abandoned this book is because I had to return it to the owner before finishing. I got about 150 pages through the 450+ pages.
It is certainly the book for physics because it contains over 200 milestones and curiosities of the physical sciences. These ideas span a tremendous breadth, from the simplistic truss to the abstractions of chaos theory, from 13.7 billion years ago to over 100 trillion years into the future. Pickover condenses each concept or event into a single page, accompanied by a visual demonstrating the idea as it works in our world (and sometimes our vast universe!). Although some sections may be too brief to be useful--obviously one cannot glean all knowledge about string theory in a page written for the average reader--the descriptions still manage to give the reader a better understanding of the applications science has for our existence in the universe. Pickover overcomes vagueness and accomplishes inspiration by connecting and contextualizing ideas via "See Also" suggestions. Furthermore, he discusses some philosophical components of physics. For example, the Pre-historic Nuclear Reactor and the Baghdad Battery both challenge the reader to question humanity's capabilities and metaphysical place in the universe. And if a reader's curiosity is sufficiently ignited--which I anticipate it will be for many--he offers reading that can elaborate on the intricacies of these important milestones.
If you seek a book that will instill in you a working knowledge of physics, a book that will allow you to comprehend how the universe works in all its complexity, this is not the right text. Due to its brevity, you should approach this book as a medium between ignorance and understanding. It will not fully educate you, but it will provide rough foundations and appropriate tools with which you can develop your knowledge.
The only reason I abandoned this book is because I had to return it to the owner before finishing. I got about 150 pages through the 450+ pages.
June 8, 2018
Es un libro divulgativo que ilumina superficialmente la física en muchísimos de sus aspectos. No te hará entenderla, pero sí maravillarte de sus extrañezas, del progreso humano y de las peculiaridades del universo.
March 4, 2018
The Physics Book is a phenomenal book. Before I read this, I hated physics. I did not understand physics and did not want to learn about physics. For my 8th grade physical science class, I always needed help with the physics part of the class until I read The Physics Book about two months after we started the first unit on physics. The teacher was not good at explaining and I sometimes asked my older brother for help. My brother is a great resource for teaching but I still did not understand physics. Now, I can say I am starting to understand physics and am starting to like it. I would like to get more books on physics. This series of books, The _________ Book: ____, 250 Milestones in the History of __________ is wonderful. I first learned about this series of books after my brother purchased The Biology Book from the bookstore. The Physics Book is the first book I have read from this series. I would like to read all of the books from this series. The Physics Book, and the other books of the series, all have many entries of a discovery/invention/idea/theory/law with the person(s) related to it, the year, one to three images, a caption for each image, and a reference for other entries related to that specific entry. I would recommend this book to people who hate physics, do not understand physics, would like brief information about physics, and/or would like to review basic concepts of physics. I would also like to thank the people who have helped to create and write this book and the rest of the books of the series.
April 8, 2022
This book follows Pickover's highly successful The Math Book (2009) and The Science Book (2018), the first one of which I have reviewed on GoodReads.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I have also reviewed Pickover's A Passion for Mathematics: Numbers, Puzzles, Madness, Religion, and the Quest for Reality:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
In The Physics Book, Pickover chooses 250 topics, extending from the Big Bang in the beginning of time to Quantum Resurrection in the distant future, and describes them in chronological order. The Big Bang description is followed by two entries from billions of years ago, before getting to Atlati and Boomerang from tens of thousands of years ago. The bulk of entries are between ~3000 BCE and 1999 CE, followed by four entries for billions and trillion of years into the future. The pace picks up around the year 1600 and becomes even faster from the 1800s, reaching a crescendo in the 1900s. As in The Math Book, each topic is described in an illustrated, engaging, encyclopedia-style article.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I have also reviewed Pickover's A Passion for Mathematics: Numbers, Puzzles, Madness, Religion, and the Quest for Reality:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
In The Physics Book, Pickover chooses 250 topics, extending from the Big Bang in the beginning of time to Quantum Resurrection in the distant future, and describes them in chronological order. The Big Bang description is followed by two entries from billions of years ago, before getting to Atlati and Boomerang from tens of thousands of years ago. The bulk of entries are between ~3000 BCE and 1999 CE, followed by four entries for billions and trillion of years into the future. The pace picks up around the year 1600 and becomes even faster from the 1800s, reaching a crescendo in the 1900s. As in The Math Book, each topic is described in an illustrated, engaging, encyclopedia-style article.
October 26, 2023
Il titolo è un poco fuorviante perché suona come un manuale di fisica mentre in realtà è ben diverso. Potremmo etichettarlo come un libro antologico che ripercorre (su una facciata) e in ordine cronologico, per quanto a volte molto lasso, eventi/invenzioni/etc che attengono sì a concetti fisici ma in un mare magnum che comprende di tutto e di più. Ecco allora comparire voci come i diamanti neri, boomerang, dinamica newtoniana ma anche lampadine, elettrodinamica quantistica etc.
Nessuna formula ma spiegazione veloce dell'essenza, basi e ricadute scientifiche di alcune scoperte.
In altre parole una lettura intellettualmente stimolante, oserei dire orgasmica a tratti, che data la struttura del libro può essere fatta a piccoli pezzi o in modalità binge-reading.
Ovviamente non una lettura apprezzabile da tutti, sia perché magari già nota che perché troppo poco conosciuta
Nessuna formula ma spiegazione veloce dell'essenza, basi e ricadute scientifiche di alcune scoperte.
In altre parole una lettura intellettualmente stimolante, oserei dire orgasmica a tratti, che data la struttura del libro può essere fatta a piccoli pezzi o in modalità binge-reading.
Ovviamente non una lettura apprezzabile da tutti, sia perché magari già nota che perché troppo poco conosciuta
April 18, 2012
This is not a book designed for a person to just sit down and read. There are 250 articles covering different events/theories/findings in the history of Physics. Some of the explanations are short (ok, too short). In some cases near the end of the book we are given theories of the end of the universe and its impact on earth, the problem being that other events will wipe out the earth before that (heat death of core, sun expanding, etc.).
May 26, 2014
The physics Book, is an illustration of a wide variety of topics from ancient native cultures making the boomerang to the modern twentieth century physicist theorizing the possibility of giant floating brains. The book is very well organized as its pages reflect discoveries at a certain time period, each page summarizes the overall topic so one will not have to ponder over detail. Overall I thought the book was really interesting.
April 18, 2018
Very enjoyable coffee-table sort of book.
August 29, 2023
Random anthology
Was hoping for a series of relatively complete, albeit summarized, descriptions of physics topics with a few common threads. Instead author cherry-picked disconnected topics. Also, while complex topics are difficult to summarize, this was accomplished in many chapters. In others however clarity was sacrificed for brevity. I spent a lot of time using chatgpt to expand on topics. Perhaps whetting the readers appetite was the authors goal but it left the book unsatisfying overall.
Was hoping for a series of relatively complete, albeit summarized, descriptions of physics topics with a few common threads. Instead author cherry-picked disconnected topics. Also, while complex topics are difficult to summarize, this was accomplished in many chapters. In others however clarity was sacrificed for brevity. I spent a lot of time using chatgpt to expand on topics. Perhaps whetting the readers appetite was the authors goal but it left the book unsatisfying overall.
November 28, 2025
It's not an exaggeration to say that I grew up on this book. Gifted by my mother probably over a decade ago now, I still occasionally open it to recall a physics subject I now know more about. At the height of my wish to be a theoretical physicist, this book supplied the motivation to live my dreams. I will always remember that it was in this book I first learned what Cherenkov radiation is and all manner of interesting subjects. May others be motivated by it as much as I was.
May 24, 2020
Doy mi opinión desde un punto de vista de alguien que no sabe de física y matemáticas más allá de lo que dio en el colegio.
Al principio es conciso y ameno y las comparaciones ayuda perfectamente a entender los conceptos que se nombran pero a medida que esos conceptos avanzan en complejidad es bastante dificil de seguir.
Al principio es conciso y ameno y las comparaciones ayuda perfectamente a entender los conceptos que se nombran pero a medida que esos conceptos avanzan en complejidad es bastante dificil de seguir.
June 26, 2021
Lots of interesting facts in here, although probably a good coffee-table book, as it is a bit dense to sit down and read more than a few pages in a sitting. As it happens I would have preferred it to be strictly factual, because the occasional references to novels, Star Trek or similar were a little annoying, despite proving a connection between interesting physics and popular culture.
September 28, 2018
Es un gran libro de divulgación, sirve para recordar datos específicos y para conocer temas nuevos. No presenta profundad en contenidos lo que lo hace excelente para personas que no tienen formación científica.
December 8, 2017
Awesome book!, full of fun facts, fun to read, recommended for every person interested in Science.
June 1, 2018
IMHO The Math Book is more interesting
February 25, 2019
A fun little book on physics.
September 15, 2020
The math book is better
May 26, 2023
Muy bueno, útil y fácil se digerir si la física es algo de lo que no sabes mucho.
December 8, 2023
Another in the line of "The _____ Book" finished. This one was the best so far for me.
June 7, 2024
Illustrations and photos are feast to the eyes of the reader; information is neatly presented in a language accessible for vast audience.
Each topic is a one-pager, packed with just enough details.
Each topic is a one-pager, packed with just enough details.
August 11, 2025
Velmi zajímavá kniha popisující snad ty nejdůležitější milníky ve fyzice, avšak chtělo by to pár milníků přidat jako například 3D tisk a AI.
July 23, 2024
If you've ever wanted to know about physics, this is the book for you.
Presented in a more or less chronological order of events, it thoroughly covers ever aspect of physics from mechanical to quantum.
If I had any complaints, it's a minor one: it's a really LONG book, but well worth reading if you have any interest in physics.
Presented in a more or less chronological order of events, it thoroughly covers ever aspect of physics from mechanical to quantum.
If I had any complaints, it's a minor one: it's a really LONG book, but well worth reading if you have any interest in physics.
May 27, 2022
A voluminous tome giving an overview of basic physics with many eye-pleasing pictures.
October 18, 2013
In this book, the prolific writer Clifford Pickover leads us through an astonishing variety of inventions and discoveries that reveal the sheer range of the science and application of physics, from the Big Bang to the transistor. Starting from the Big Bang itself 13.7 billion years ago, Pickover judiciously picks key years in the history of physics and describes inventions and discoveries made during each year along with the names of the relevant scientists.
For the most part Pickover's choices are both varied and important. What I really liked about this book was the sheer variety of topics Pickover treads on; from the mundane-sounding but important (gas laws) to the technologically revolutionary (transistor) to the practically amusing (baseball curveballs, the "drinking bird") to the philosophically earth-shattering (Heisenberg's uncertainty principle) to the exotic and wondrous (Dyson spheres, Randall-Sundrum branes, quantum immortality). The examples illustrate the tremendous power of physics to both explain and practically enrich the world around us, at every different scale and dimension that we can conceive.
The problem I have with the book is that it limits the discussion of every single topic to a single page. I understand that Pickover's goal was to give us a sampling of the wonders of physics rather than any comprehensive overview, but his one-page descriptions of topics as important as relativity, quantum mechanics and cosmology left me hungry and restless for more. It seems unfair and incomplete to devote a page each to both the lava lamp and the uncertainty principle when the latter is far more important for physics. In my view Pickover could have easily reduced the number of entries by about ten percent, devoted an extra page or two to the really revolutionary discoveries and still retained the diversity of topics. Ultimately the book does serve as a glimmering showcase of the reach of physics, but it leaves you wishing that the author had delved a little more into the things that really matter.
For the most part Pickover's choices are both varied and important. What I really liked about this book was the sheer variety of topics Pickover treads on; from the mundane-sounding but important (gas laws) to the technologically revolutionary (transistor) to the practically amusing (baseball curveballs, the "drinking bird") to the philosophically earth-shattering (Heisenberg's uncertainty principle) to the exotic and wondrous (Dyson spheres, Randall-Sundrum branes, quantum immortality). The examples illustrate the tremendous power of physics to both explain and practically enrich the world around us, at every different scale and dimension that we can conceive.
The problem I have with the book is that it limits the discussion of every single topic to a single page. I understand that Pickover's goal was to give us a sampling of the wonders of physics rather than any comprehensive overview, but his one-page descriptions of topics as important as relativity, quantum mechanics and cosmology left me hungry and restless for more. It seems unfair and incomplete to devote a page each to both the lava lamp and the uncertainty principle when the latter is far more important for physics. In my view Pickover could have easily reduced the number of entries by about ten percent, devoted an extra page or two to the really revolutionary discoveries and still retained the diversity of topics. Ultimately the book does serve as a glimmering showcase of the reach of physics, but it leaves you wishing that the author had delved a little more into the things that really matter.
May 5, 2015
The book can be applauded for the fact that it attempts to show a variety of interesting scientific ideas chronologically, and I really did enjoy reading this book, though only SOMETIMES. Quite often, the content was too simplified to pick up any useful knowledge or to enjoy the story of how an invention or theory came to be.
As other reviewers mentioned, the book only provides one page picture and one page description of the milestone. This is definitely not enough space to give a good idea of what the milestone is really about. At the same time, I noticed there are quite a few physics concepts and inventions that are not-quite milestones.
For example, the Baghdad battery is introduced on page 38. while it is pretty interesting invention and deserves people's attention, it can't really be a 'milestone' because we don't know what it was used for. Even the existence of the jar was unknown until 1938 when it was first discovered. It's already a century after the invention of same battery in Europe. So the Baghdad battery article shouldn't even be there because it's not even a milestone that has contributed to the humanity in any particular aspect. The purpose of the page on Baghdad battery becomes even more questionable because there is another article on battery on page 144.
For the matter of relevance of humanity, I'd say topics like 'prehistoric nuclear reactor', 'black diamond', 'hero's jet engine', 'aurora borealis', etc. are irrelevant to the purpose of the book, because while they are all 'interesting' and are worth studying, they serve no purpose in significantly improving the understanding of the world like discovery of electromagnetism, or greatly change the course of history, like the invention of canons or internet did.
I would have much enjoyed the book if it focused on less topics in greater depth.
As other reviewers mentioned, the book only provides one page picture and one page description of the milestone. This is definitely not enough space to give a good idea of what the milestone is really about. At the same time, I noticed there are quite a few physics concepts and inventions that are not-quite milestones.
For example, the Baghdad battery is introduced on page 38. while it is pretty interesting invention and deserves people's attention, it can't really be a 'milestone' because we don't know what it was used for. Even the existence of the jar was unknown until 1938 when it was first discovered. It's already a century after the invention of same battery in Europe. So the Baghdad battery article shouldn't even be there because it's not even a milestone that has contributed to the humanity in any particular aspect. The purpose of the page on Baghdad battery becomes even more questionable because there is another article on battery on page 144.
For the matter of relevance of humanity, I'd say topics like 'prehistoric nuclear reactor', 'black diamond', 'hero's jet engine', 'aurora borealis', etc. are irrelevant to the purpose of the book, because while they are all 'interesting' and are worth studying, they serve no purpose in significantly improving the understanding of the world like discovery of electromagnetism, or greatly change the course of history, like the invention of canons or internet did.
I would have much enjoyed the book if it focused on less topics in greater depth.
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