The New Physics and Its Evolution

by Lucien Poincaré

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Genres: Science, Reference, Physics, Classics, Nonfiction, Amazon

372 pages, Paperback

First published February 28, 2005

Reviews

[Porter · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book certainly contains a lot of information. Much of the information is laid out in a cursory fashion without much explanation so it is not a great resource if you are trying to really understand some concepts. As a broad survey of the then current state of physics as when Poincare wrote this, it seems like it was an excellent compilation. It was probably extremely useful at the time to have a catalog of all the newest developments in physics all in one place. The book does not retain comparable utility in the modern day but it does serve nicely to demonstrate a snapshot of the world of science at that time. The reader is not going to find anything novel in interpretation/ explanation or conceptually but for its purposes at the time it was written it is a very good work. To the modern reader its use is limited to being merely a historic piece that is representative of the era from whichwe can glean a view of that time period indirectly through its description of the current science rather than through a purposeful post hoc historical account.

[Rajesh · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book is written in an older style and deals with ideas of physics contemporaneous with Poincare, who is widely considered an all time great among physicists. It is interesting to read because of the way the ideas are communicated, and is intended for the many who read occasional books on science outside of textbooks and journal papers, but who want more than just the very raw basics. Perhaps the book was intended as a primer for a world that had fundamentally changed around the early 1900s.

All in all - for a book published a century ago, it lucidly communicates science even to an audience in 2015 - at least the essentials that we all need to know, and does so in lucid language.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice overview of contemporary physics, just before Einstein rocked the world. Physics was just getting hold of radio and telegraphy, in good, step-wise refinement... and Albert dropped a SmartPhone with video on their well-ordered engineering/science plans. Sometimes, evolution is not smooth. Just when everyone was comfortable with the physics game... somebody changed the rules.