Ten Days in Physics that Shook the World: How Physicists Transformed Everyday Life

by Brian Clegg

The breakthroughs that have had the most transformative practical impacts, from thermodynamics to the Internet.

Physics informs our understanding of how the world works – but more than that, key breakthroughs in physics have transformed everyday life. We journey back to ten separate days in history to understand how particular breakthroughs were achieved, meet the individuals responsible and see how each breakthrough has influenced our lives.

It is a unique selection. Focusing on practical impact means there is no room for Stephen Hawking’s work on black holes, or the discovery of the Higgs boson. Instead we have the relatively little-known Rudolf Clausius (thermodynamics) and Heike Kamerlingh Onnes (superconductivity), while Albert Einstein is included not for his theories of relativity but for the short paper that gave us E=mc2 (nuclear fission). Later chapters feature transistors, LEDs and the Internet.

Genres: Science, Nonfiction, History, Physics, Audiobook, Science Nature, History Of Science

219 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2021

About the author

Brian's latest books, Ten Billion Tomorrows and How Many Moons does the Earth Have are now available to pre-order. He has written a range of other science titles, including the bestselling Inflight Science, The God Effect, Before the Big Bang, A Brief History of Infinity, Build Your Own Time Machine and Dice World.

Along with appearances at the Royal Institution in London he has spoken at venues from Oxford and Cambridge Universities to Cheltenham Festival of Science, has contributed to radio and TV programmes, and is a popular speaker at schools. Brian is also editor of the successful www.popularscience.co.uk book review site and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

Brian has Masters degrees from Cambridge University in Natural Sciences and from Lancaster University in Operational Research, a discipline originally developed during the Second World War to apply the power of mathematics to warfare. It has since been widely applied to problem solving and decision making in business.

Brian has also written regular columns, features and reviews for numerous publications, including Nature, The Guardian, PC Week, Computer Weekly, Personal Computer World, The Observer, Innovative Leader, Professional Manager, BBC History, Good Housekeeping and House Beautiful. His books have been translated into many languages, including German, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Japanese, Polish, Turkish, Norwegian, Thai and even Indonesian.

Reviews

[Sy lvia · Rating 2 out of 5]

I would have preferred a text book and a very short biography of each chapter. But this probably speaks of me as person more than the book.

[Charlotte Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

*Disclaimer: I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Physics and astronomy is something that I am fascinated by with regards to documentaries and television programmes but that I haven’t delved into much in written form. In this book Brian Clegg explores ten advancements in physics that changed the world in some way, giving an overview of the scientists involved and the impacts that their work had, whether intended or not.

I learned some fascinating things about each of the physicists, many of which I hadn’t heard of previously. This is definitely going to serve as a great jumping off point to dive into more indepth scientific works.

4 out of 5 stars!

[Henry Folds · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The dates discussed are the dates of famous publications in physics. For example, the day Isaac Newton's Principia was published.
In addition to talking about the importance of the work published on that day, and the relevance it has now, Clegg gives a great history about the Physicists, and offers a lot of information into their background.
I'd recommend for anyone interested in science history.

[Edward Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this short book, Clegg reviews the 10 most impactful scientific discoveries including Marie and Pierre Curie first discovered the radioactive elements polonium and radium and talks about lesser know theories such as Rudolf Clausius' study into the Laws of Thermodynamics and Heike Kamerlingh Onnes' superconductivity.

The book does not however discuss more modern examples such as Stephen Hawking’s work on black holes, or the discovery of the Higgs boson but there may be an expanded version in the future.

[Samantha · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've read two of Brian Clegg's previous books and really enjoyed them. He has a really accessible writing style and I've found out a lot of interesting information about the world and especially physics from him. I read a lot of popular science books in general so I was really excited to read his new book.

It was certainly enjoyable, and a very quick read. There wasn't a whole lot of new information in here for me but I did appreciate some of the chapters were about people I hadn't read about before. It was a great selection of scientific discoveries and applications and I liked the layout of each chapter, with a lot of background information and then focus on the individual(s) themselves. I also really appreciated information about the year the event took place in as this provided great context as we moved quickly through the years.

Some of the chapters were certainly more interesting than others (total personal preference) and some seemed to jump up in scientific detail and prior knowledge required. I'd also love for each of the chapters to go into a bit more detail as the book was (sadly) over very quickly. I would recommend it for a quick tour through the ages though and I'm in awe of, and so grateful to, the dedication shown by the people featured in this book.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

[Ren · Rating 2 out of 5]

I enjoyed the 10 events Brain chose and the context around those events, but I didn't like the gossipy bits, even if they are factual. It probably is a fine line to give some background about the people without being too personal. Brian lost me after the comment about why modems are still called modems (please revise, the bandwidth to transmit a pure square is prohibitive hence the things modems still do). This brought everything else into doubt and I couldn't shake that feeling.

[Crista · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic! Not only does the author tell you what the scientist discovered, but he also tells you about the time the scientist lived to put into context the feat the discovery was at the time. The author also tells you the ramifications of the discovery in todays era and who the scientist was as a person. Loved it.

[SAURABH GUPTA · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Ten Days in Physics That Shook the World" by Brian Clegg offers an insightful glimpse into the pivotal moments in the history of physics. Clegg's storytelling vividly captures the excitement of scientific breakthroughs, making this book an accessible and informative journey through key developments that have shaped our understanding of the universe.

[Hazel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Cute history of physics overtime. Mostly quick summaries but it's definitely interesting for someone who doesn't know a lot about the history of physics. I had no idea that LEDs were so pivotal in the realm of science !

[J.J. · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think a lot of it was repetitive for me which is why I started tuning out in parts. I think this would have been more engaging if I was a beginner, or if it was in print. The reading of dates and places at the end of each day, just didn't translate well on audio.

[Selena]

Print was too small, couldn't read it.

[Sandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Despite saying it's accessible, I found it jumpy in presentation and assuming more physics knowledge than expected.

[Kieran Nurmi · Rating 3 out of 5]

The content is outdated particularly with regards to LEDs and the name is deceptive. It's more about certain physicists rather than specific days and as such comes across as very padded.

[Tania · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. I’ve read others by this author. For this one I particularly enjoyed that for each physics moment that is discussed, a wider world view of events is also connected.

[Hissah · Rating 3 out of 5]

مفيد وواضح على الكاتب حبه وفهمه للمجال، بعض الفصول كانت دسمة نوعًا ما لكن حلوة ومتعددة الجوانب وأحلى فصل بالنسبة لي كان عن ماري كوري وزوجها؛ مبهرين جدًا، وكذلك فصل فارادي كان ممتع ومشوق

[Nathan Hoyt · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was an interesting read to see what 10 items where selected. I can think of others, but most of what he picked were certainly reasonable to put in a "top 10" list.

[Bob Small · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit mundane. I guess I was looking more for the history of Physics ideas. To be fair the book did what it said on the cover. Perhaps 3.6 stars?

[Shrirang Kale · Rating 3 out of 5]

Faraday and Maxwell are probably the most important figures building the foundation for virtually all modern technologies ;

:) like Tatya vinchu and Kawatya Mahakaal.... whatever you come up with, these remain irreplaceable irrefutably