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Do Colors Exist?: And Other Profound Physics Questions
Why do polished stones look wet? How does the Twin Paradox work? What if Jupiter were a star? How can we be sure that pi never repeats? How does a quantum computer break encryption? Discover the answers to these, and other profound physics questions!
This fascinating book presents a collection of articles based on conversations and correspondences between the author and complete strangers about physics and math. The author, a researcher in mathematical physics, responds to dozens of questions posed by inquiring minds from all over the world, ranging from the everyday to the profound.
Rather than unnecessarily complex explanations mired in mysterious terminology and symbols, the reader is presented with the reasoning, experiments, and mathematics in a casual, conversational, and often comical style. Neither over-simplified nor over-technical, the lucid and entertaining writing will guide the reader from each innocent question to a better understanding of the weird and beautiful universe around us. Advance praise for Do Colors Exist?:
"Every high school science teacher should have a copy of this book. The individual articles offer enrichment to those students who wish to go beyond a typical 'dry curriculum'. The articles are very fun. I probably laughed out loud every 2-3 minutes. This is not easy to do. In fact, my children are interested in the book because they heard me laughing so much."
- Ken Ono, Emory University
This fascinating book presents a collection of articles based on conversations and correspondences between the author and complete strangers about physics and math. The author, a researcher in mathematical physics, responds to dozens of questions posed by inquiring minds from all over the world, ranging from the everyday to the profound.
Rather than unnecessarily complex explanations mired in mysterious terminology and symbols, the reader is presented with the reasoning, experiments, and mathematics in a casual, conversational, and often comical style. Neither over-simplified nor over-technical, the lucid and entertaining writing will guide the reader from each innocent question to a better understanding of the weird and beautiful universe around us. Advance praise for Do Colors Exist?:
"Every high school science teacher should have a copy of this book. The individual articles offer enrichment to those students who wish to go beyond a typical 'dry curriculum'. The articles are very fun. I probably laughed out loud every 2-3 minutes. This is not easy to do. In fact, my children are interested in the book because they heard me laughing so much."
- Ken Ono, Emory University
- GenresPhysicsNonfictionScience
291 pages, Paperback
Published May 18, 2018
2 people are currently reading
187 people want to read
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
December 23, 2019
It’s surprising that this book has such a small readership, especially considering the fact that –
1) It answers some very interesting questions that most of us have asked at one time or the other. (e.g.- how does a ‘gravitational sling-shot’ actually speed a spacecraft up?).
2) Each question is answered in easy to understand language (in just a couple of pages) and quite often with incredibly good analogies and examples. I found myself wondering quite often as to why I found certain concepts in high-school physics difficult to grasp to the point that I just decided to give up and calculate (I am looking at you Maxwell’s equations).
3) Most chapters also have a concluding section that adds to the explanation by showing what the actual mathematics behind the concept looks like. Most sections can be understood with high-school level maths and almost all can be followed if you are familiar with basic calculus (these sections can also be skipped but they are genuinely interesting).
4) The book is funny. At times laugh-out-loud funny.
If I was a physics teacher I would want to read this book and also recommend it to my students just so they see first-hand how much fun physics can be.
Read this book; you might find yourself scribbling equations on the back of random sheets of paper just for the sheer joy of watching fundamental universal truths pop out.
1) It answers some very interesting questions that most of us have asked at one time or the other. (e.g.- how does a ‘gravitational sling-shot’ actually speed a spacecraft up?).
2) Each question is answered in easy to understand language (in just a couple of pages) and quite often with incredibly good analogies and examples. I found myself wondering quite often as to why I found certain concepts in high-school physics difficult to grasp to the point that I just decided to give up and calculate (I am looking at you Maxwell’s equations).
3) Most chapters also have a concluding section that adds to the explanation by showing what the actual mathematics behind the concept looks like. Most sections can be understood with high-school level maths and almost all can be followed if you are familiar with basic calculus (these sections can also be skipped but they are genuinely interesting).
4) The book is funny. At times laugh-out-loud funny.
If I was a physics teacher I would want to read this book and also recommend it to my students just so they see first-hand how much fun physics can be.
Read this book; you might find yourself scribbling equations on the back of random sheets of paper just for the sheer joy of watching fundamental universal truths pop out.
Displaying 1 of 1 review