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The Wizard of Quarks: A Fantasy of Particle Physics
Thousands of readers who were delighted by the adventures and science content of Alice in Quantumland are in for another treat. This time physicist Robert Gilmore takes us on a journey with Dorothy, following the yellow building block road through the land of the Wizard of Quarks. Using characters and situations based on the Wizard of Oz story, we learn along the way about the fascinating world of particle physics. Classes of particles, from quarks to leptons are shown in an atomic garden, where atoms and molecules are produced. See how Dorothy, The Tin Geek, and the Cowardly Lion experience the bizarre world of subatomic particles.
- GenresScienceNonfictionPhysics
219 pages, Hardcover
First published November 3, 2000
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
August 26, 2015
Very clever explanation of the four forces, based loosely on the wizard or Oz. Some details make more sense, I think you can read it at a number of levels. Probaly not for everyone though!
October 26, 2020
Wonderful book!
Lots of fun and great, imaginative analogies.
A few drawbacks came in the form of some minor characters that I personally couldn't connect with and found didn't age well. Also access to some support information going through, to solidify visualizations was somewhat vital in gaining a fuller grasp on some of the concepts discussed.
Really enjoyed the idea of the book and found it very helpful as an introduction to particle physics.
Lots of fun and great, imaginative analogies.
A few drawbacks came in the form of some minor characters that I personally couldn't connect with and found didn't age well. Also access to some support information going through, to solidify visualizations was somewhat vital in gaining a fuller grasp on some of the concepts discussed.
Really enjoyed the idea of the book and found it very helpful as an introduction to particle physics.
December 6, 2022
O livro se propõe a explicar conceitos de física de partículas de uma maneira lúdica e divertida, se baseando no Mágico de Oz, e consegue muito bem.
Os personagens e trocadilhos trazem uma leveza para o texto e os conceitos são bem trabalhados - tive dificuldade em algumas partes, mas creio ser mais culpa da minha compreensão e da própria teoria do que do livro. Tem uns momentos em que chega até a lembrar o Guia dos Mochileiros das Galáxias.
Os personagens e trocadilhos trazem uma leveza para o texto e os conceitos são bem trabalhados - tive dificuldade em algumas partes, mas creio ser mais culpa da minha compreensão e da própria teoria do que do livro. Tem uns momentos em que chega até a lembrar o Guia dos Mochileiros das Galáxias.
January 3, 2019
לא משהו.
July 25, 2021
A fun and fanciful book, quite enjoyable if you don't want any math, but just verbal descriptions of the concepts of particle physics.
March 6, 2017
I understand this book is not supposed to be decorative and bold when it comes to prose, but I'd have liked a clearer writing.
The physics explained is too common for a Physics graduate, especially the initial bits but I still gained a lot of new insights from it. The subtle references to some pheonmena (which are not explicitly explained) amused me a lot.
The physics explained is too common for a Physics graduate, especially the initial bits but I still gained a lot of new insights from it. The subtle references to some pheonmena (which are not explicitly explained) amused me a lot.
April 27, 2015
When I picked this book up, I was expecting to learn a little more about particle physics in a unique and entertaining way. It took me two tries to get through. I think the first time I was expecting more on the entertaining side. After a couple of months and realizing that it wasn't as much entertainment as using the story of the Wizard of Oz to teach the basics, i made it through on my second pass.
The Wizard of Oz was as good a choice as any for this topic. I will definitely remember the four witches and their distinct forces better because of it. There were a lot of chapters that I thought, 'Wow! I already know this stuff.' And a lot of other chapters that left me scratching my head thinking, 'Is that really how it is?' Or, 'I just read that paragraph three times and I still have now idea what I just read.'' I suppose that is how it is though. My quantum professor in college said, 'if you think you know what's going on, you probably have no clue. If you think you have no idea, you probably know a lot more than your giving yourself credit for.'
I would definitely recommend looking online for a table of particle physics. It not only organizes them visually, but helps give a concise overview of all the particles while reading about them.
The Wizard of Oz was as good a choice as any for this topic. I will definitely remember the four witches and their distinct forces better because of it. There were a lot of chapters that I thought, 'Wow! I already know this stuff.' And a lot of other chapters that left me scratching my head thinking, 'Is that really how it is?' Or, 'I just read that paragraph three times and I still have now idea what I just read.'' I suppose that is how it is though. My quantum professor in college said, 'if you think you know what's going on, you probably have no clue. If you think you have no idea, you probably know a lot more than your giving yourself credit for.'
I would definitely recommend looking online for a table of particle physics. It not only organizes them visually, but helps give a concise overview of all the particles while reading about them.
March 15, 2010
Having been enamored by the Movie "What the bleep do we know", I decided to look into a few of the experimental, particle and quantum physicists(among a multitude of other scientists) interviewed for and in the movie. This is one such scientists. He is a particle physicist, and makes a pretty good attempt at simplifying an extremely complex discipline for those plebeians among us who want to understating the basics.
July 19, 2010
Another made of win sciencey parody of awesome books. Particle physics make so much sense with this. :D
December 11, 2012
Brilliant - read with Alice in Quantumland
April 3, 2013
It covers a lot of information about quantum physics, but I was hoping it would be funnier and more entertaining and less educational.
July 27, 2020
Not as good as Gilmor’s other book Alice in Quantunland but still successful effort at taking the abstract of particle physics to the reader.
November 4, 2017
The Wizard of Quarks: A Fantasy of Particle Physics by Robert Gilmore
Hebrew review follows סקירה בעברית בהמשך
This review is based on the Hebrew edition, so some of my comments not apply to other editions.
I like a good popular science book from time to time, and have science background so I tend to look for books that delve slightly deeper than most. This book deals with particle and quantum physics, a subject to which I have some rudimentary knowledge, so it was right up my alley. Unfortunately, I do not think it really helps illustrate the subject, so I did not enjoy it that much.
I will start with the obvious flaw in my opinion. I understand that physics can be boring, so I see where combining entertaining elements could beneficial. The problem is that the connection to The Wizard of Oz simply does not work. The story does serve to tie in the content, but it is not entertaining, not funny and most importantly, not illustrative. The characters do not help illustrate anything and they do not stand for anything - they feel random. The four witches are helpful in illustrating the four powers, but that is about it. Everything else is artificial.
Secondly, the book lacks what would have been most helpful in illustrating things – illustrations. For example, I do not understand how the author thought to explain something like Feynman diagrams without giving one as an example. I went to Wikipedia and it is so much simpler when you see an illustrations. This applies to almost every other concept – words can only do so much.
The choice and depth of subjects also could have been better thought of. For example, the author felt he needed to discuss the connection between mass and energy. For this, he discusses Special relativity. Lacking the space for a deep understanding of the subject, he gives it five pages, which is not enough to explore the subject, which just makes things more confusing.
Finally, and this applies only to the Hebrew edition, the glossary at the end was useless, as it was sorted by the English word and did not include page numbers. The book could have really used a good editorial hand, but I guess this is all you can expect from the cheap publisher. Overall, I give the book two stars out of five.
אני אוהב לקרוא ספר מדע פופולרי טוב מפעם לפעם ויש לי רקע מדעי אז אני נוטה לחפש ספרים שמעט מעמיקים יותר. הספר הזה עוסק בפיסיקת חלקיקים ופיזיקה קוונטית, נושא שיש לי ידע מאוד בסיסי לגביו, כך שהוא התאים לדרישה הזו. למרבה הצער, אני לא חושב שהספר עוזר במיוחד להמחיש את הנושא ולא נהניתי ממנו במיוחד.
אני אתחיל בפגם העיקרי לדעתי. אני מבין שפיזיקה יכולה להיות משעממת ואני רואה למה הסופר חשב ששילוב של אלמנטים מבדרים יכול להיות מועיל. אבל החיבור לקוסם מארץ עוץ לא עובד. הסיפור משמש אומנם כדי לקשור את התוכן אבל הוא לא משעשע, לא מצחיק והכי חשוב, לא עוזר בהמחשה. הדמויות אינן מייצגות שום דבר מסוים ולא עוזרות להמחיש את החומר - הן נראות אקראיות. ארבע המכשפות עוזרות להמחיש את ארבע הכוחות וזו אולי הדוגמא היחידה של דמות שממחישה משהן. כל השאר הוא מלאכותי.
שנית, הספר חסר מה שהיה מועיל ביותר באיור דברים – איורים. לדוגמה, אני לא מבין איך המחבר מנסה להסביר משהו כמו דיאגרמות פיינמן בלי לתת אחת כדוגמה. הלכתי לוויקיפדיה וזה הרבה יותר פשוט כשאתה רואה איורים. זה חל על כמעט כל רעיון אחר - מילים זה חשוב אבל יש מגבלה למה שניתן להעביר במילים.
בחירת הנושאים והעומק שיש להעניק לכל אחד יכלה גם היא להיות יותר טובה. לדוגמה, המחבר חש שהוא צריך לדון בקשר בין מסה לאנרגיה ולשם כך, הוא דן תורת היחסות הפרטית. אבל בהעדר מקום להשקיע בהסבר מלא של הנושא, מוקדש לו רק חמישה עמודים שרק גורם לבלבול. היה עדיף להגיד שבנושא הזה לא נעסוק.
לבסוף, המהדורה העברית סובלת ממספר בעיות. החשובה בהם – רשימת המונחים בסוף חסרת תועלת מכיוון שהיא ממוינת לפי המילים באנגלית שאפילו לא מוזכרות בטקסט (שזו בעיה חמורה בפני עצמה). בכלל, יד של עורך לשוני לא הייתה מזיקה לכל הספר אבל מה כבר אפשר לצפות מהוצאה לאור זולה. לסיכום, אני נותן לספר שני כוכבים מתוך חמישה.
Hebrew review follows סקירה בעברית בהמשך
This review is based on the Hebrew edition, so some of my comments not apply to other editions.
I like a good popular science book from time to time, and have science background so I tend to look for books that delve slightly deeper than most. This book deals with particle and quantum physics, a subject to which I have some rudimentary knowledge, so it was right up my alley. Unfortunately, I do not think it really helps illustrate the subject, so I did not enjoy it that much.
I will start with the obvious flaw in my opinion. I understand that physics can be boring, so I see where combining entertaining elements could beneficial. The problem is that the connection to The Wizard of Oz simply does not work. The story does serve to tie in the content, but it is not entertaining, not funny and most importantly, not illustrative. The characters do not help illustrate anything and they do not stand for anything - they feel random. The four witches are helpful in illustrating the four powers, but that is about it. Everything else is artificial.
Secondly, the book lacks what would have been most helpful in illustrating things – illustrations. For example, I do not understand how the author thought to explain something like Feynman diagrams without giving one as an example. I went to Wikipedia and it is so much simpler when you see an illustrations. This applies to almost every other concept – words can only do so much.
The choice and depth of subjects also could have been better thought of. For example, the author felt he needed to discuss the connection between mass and energy. For this, he discusses Special relativity. Lacking the space for a deep understanding of the subject, he gives it five pages, which is not enough to explore the subject, which just makes things more confusing.
Finally, and this applies only to the Hebrew edition, the glossary at the end was useless, as it was sorted by the English word and did not include page numbers. The book could have really used a good editorial hand, but I guess this is all you can expect from the cheap publisher. Overall, I give the book two stars out of five.
אני אוהב לקרוא ספר מדע פופולרי טוב מפעם לפעם ויש לי רקע מדעי אז אני נוטה לחפש ספרים שמעט מעמיקים יותר. הספר הזה עוסק בפיסיקת חלקיקים ופיזיקה קוונטית, נושא שיש לי ידע מאוד בסיסי לגביו, כך שהוא התאים לדרישה הזו. למרבה הצער, אני לא חושב שהספר עוזר במיוחד להמחיש את הנושא ולא נהניתי ממנו במיוחד.
אני אתחיל בפגם העיקרי לדעתי. אני מבין שפיזיקה יכולה להיות משעממת ואני רואה למה הסופר חשב ששילוב של אלמנטים מבדרים יכול להיות מועיל. אבל החיבור לקוסם מארץ עוץ לא עובד. הסיפור משמש אומנם כדי לקשור את התוכן אבל הוא לא משעשע, לא מצחיק והכי חשוב, לא עוזר בהמחשה. הדמויות אינן מייצגות שום דבר מסוים ולא עוזרות להמחיש את החומר - הן נראות אקראיות. ארבע המכשפות עוזרות להמחיש את ארבע הכוחות וזו אולי הדוגמא היחידה של דמות שממחישה משהן. כל השאר הוא מלאכותי.
שנית, הספר חסר מה שהיה מועיל ביותר באיור דברים – איורים. לדוגמה, אני לא מבין איך המחבר מנסה להסביר משהו כמו דיאגרמות פיינמן בלי לתת אחת כדוגמה. הלכתי לוויקיפדיה וזה הרבה יותר פשוט כשאתה רואה איורים. זה חל על כמעט כל רעיון אחר - מילים זה חשוב אבל יש מגבלה למה שניתן להעביר במילים.
בחירת הנושאים והעומק שיש להעניק לכל אחד יכלה גם היא להיות יותר טובה. לדוגמה, המחבר חש שהוא צריך לדון בקשר בין מסה לאנרגיה ולשם כך, הוא דן תורת היחסות הפרטית. אבל בהעדר מקום להשקיע בהסבר מלא של הנושא, מוקדש לו רק חמישה עמודים שרק גורם לבלבול. היה עדיף להגיד שבנושא הזה לא נעסוק.
לבסוף, המהדורה העברית סובלת ממספר בעיות. החשובה בהם – רשימת המונחים בסוף חסרת תועלת מכיוון שהיא ממוינת לפי המילים באנגלית שאפילו לא מוזכרות בטקסט (שזו בעיה חמורה בפני עצמה). בכלל, יד של עורך לשוני לא הייתה מזיקה לכל הספר אבל מה כבר אפשר לצפות מהוצאה לאור זולה. לסיכום, אני נותן לספר שני כוכבים מתוך חמישה.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews