Please Explain

by Isaac Asimov

Isaac Asimov, Please Explain, Dell paperback

Genres: Science, Nonfiction

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1973

About the author

Works of prolific Russian-American writer Isaac Asimov include popular explanations of scientific principles, The Foundation Trilogy (1951-1953), and other volumes of fiction.

Isaac Asimov, a professor of biochemistry, wrote as a highly successful author, best known for his books.

Asimov, professor, generally considered of all time, edited more than five hundred books and ninety thousand letters and postcards. He published in nine of the ten major categories of the Dewey decimal classification but lacked only an entry in the category of philosophy (100).

People widely considered Asimov, a master of the genre alongside Robert Anson Heinlein and Arthur Charles Clarke as the "big three" during his lifetime. He later tied Galactic Empire and the Robot into the same universe as his most famous series to create a unified "future history" for his stories much like those that Heinlein pioneered and Cordwainer Smith and Poul Anderson previously produced. He penned "Nightfall," voted in 1964 as the best short story of all time; many persons still honor this title. He also produced well mysteries, fantasy, and a great quantity of nonfiction. Asimov used Paul French, the pen name, for the Lucky Starr, series of juvenile novels.

Most books of Asimov in a historical way go as far back to a time with possible question or concept at its simplest stage. He often provides and mentions well nationalities, birth, and death dates for persons and etymologies and pronunciation guides for technical terms. Guide to Science, the tripartite set Understanding Physics, and Chronology of Science and Discovery exemplify these books.

Asimov, a long-time member, reluctantly served as vice president of Mensa international and described some members of that organization as "brain-proud and aggressive about their IQs." He took more pleasure as president of the humanist association. The asteroid 5020 Asimov, the magazine Asimov's Science Fiction, an elementary school in Brooklyn in New York, and two different awards honor his name.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_As...

Reviews

[Chelsea · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't regret reading this book, but it was a little hard to get through for two reasons. One, it's extremely old for something of its nature and so I don't know how reliable all the information is anymore and thus enjoy it slightly less. Two, while some of the treated topics were questions I have had at some point, some were very technical and thus much less interesting to me personally.

But it was nice to get explanations for things that are timeless and topics that I've encountered in science fiction. Some concepts I was already vaguely familiar with, like neutrinos- nintendos pass through anything! (Stargate, anyone?) So, while it was often difficult to push through with subjects less interesting to me, it was a fairly worthwhile read.

[Adomanzius · Rating 3 out of 5]

Asimov schooled me good

[Octavia Cade · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's fairly basic, occasionally repetitive, and because the book was published 50 odd years ago some of the content in here is out of date, but it's still an interesting - and I think successful - example of the science communication of the day. Particularly physics communication. (This was sold as a science book, but biology gets a grudging 10% of entries.) Nonetheless it's got a simple and well-organised structure. There are 100 basic questions, covering concepts like imaginary numbers, solar wind, the uncertainty principle and so forth, and each has a short, clear answer. It's obviously written for laypeople (these were originally a series of columns in a magazine), and so the language is simple and the analogies usefully non-technical. The example of people moving in a grid to illustrate the link between entropy and order, for instance, was particularly effective.

[Liedzeit Liedzeit · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short answers but often surprisingly illuminating.
Can computers think? Depends on what thinking is.
Most humans cannot write a symphony or make a deep moral judgement. And, of course, computers will think, in any sense of the word, sooner or later. Then we should step aside.

[Robert Hepple · Rating 4 out of 5]

First published in 1973, 'Please Explain' is a collection of 100 short articles published by Asimov in the monthly periodical 'Science Digest' over the years 1965-1973. The format for the 'Please Explain' feature was that readers submitted science questions, and Asimov picked one to answer in each issue, in not more than 500 words. Science has moved on a lot since then, but the answers mostly hold up quite well - after all, they have been written very much in layman's terms, bypassing the incredible detail that modern science has provided. Still an inspiring read after all these years.

[Abraham Teutle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I fell in love with Asimov reading this book. I fell in love with reading and science because of this book. I owe this book and Asimov a lot.

[Alonso Hidalgo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reseña aquí:

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[yanneke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great explaining although some things were a bit out of date. But I learnt quite a lot

[Dale Alan Bryant · Rating 5 out of 5]

As in all of Asimov's writing, you'll learn a lot. You'll also glean some of his personality and, if you read enough, his convictions.

[Charles · Rating 5 out of 5]

Science writer extraordinaire Isaac Asimov is once again at the top of his game in this book. It is a collection of 100 short essays, each about a specific scientific question. The range is across the entire spectrum of science, from astronomy and space exploration, to geoscience, chemistry, physics and biology.
The essays are all very easy to understand, it is a superb book that will generate interest in science among people from all backgrounds. Science teachers will also find a great deal of material that they can use in their classes for both discussion and exams. Parents with children curious about the world will find it very helpful as they formulate their answers.
The book was published in 1973, so the onward march of science has rendered some of it (such as the sections on the greenhouse effect and how Pluto is different than other planets) is more significant and other sections have been rendered a bit obsolete. In all cases it is science for the masses that can also be used by the pros.

[Grace · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is small but very dense, and at times a bit dry, but the saving grace (in terms of readability) is the way it's broken up into bite sized pieces, all preceded with a question.

This is a must-read for all writers and readers of science fiction, as well as anyone who wants to wrap their head around the fundamental physics of the universe and life as we know it. Really interesting if you give it the time.

Please Explain is great for when you're watching docs like What the *&@#% Do We Know?, Carl Sagan's Cosmos, Stephen Hawking's Grand Design, or any Discovery show involving Neil deGrasse Tyson. This book is the foundation will keep you from losing your head.

[Fernando Nellmeldin · Rating 3 out of 5]

While this book may seem a little bit outdated, it's still a great source of general knowledge regarding science. It's a light read for people with or without a science background. If you don't have time to read an encyclopedia, take this book instead and read a couple of questions-answers each day.

[Andrei · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book was first published in the 70s so it would be expected that some of the answers are somewhat outdated. Minor issue. One hundred questions that everyone has asked at one point or another are explained in relatively easy to understand language. Great introduction into deeper reading.

[Andy]

COOLECTION OF ESSAYS BY ASIMOV - 1ST APPEARED IN SCIENCE DIGEST - OTHERS SIMILAR IN NATURE: TRAGEDY ON THE MOON; ASIMOV ON ASTRONOMY; TODAY AND TOMORROW

[Jonathan · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's alright as far as it goes but by its very nature it is a bit dated

[Aldrin Velázquez · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love all the cuestions and the way of Asimov explain everyone...