| The Discoveries by Alan Lightman, © 2005 |
This covers 22 of the greatest scientific discoveries cronologically from 1900 to 1972.
From Plank's quantum and the computation of 'h' through the structure of haemoglobin to quarks.
The really interesting parts of the book are the 10 or 15 pages preceding each original paper in which
Alan sets the historical background and discusses the personalities and the paper in easily understandable language.
The papers themselves were difficult to read and I mostly skipped over them, it is Alan's interpretation that makes the stories
enjoyable.
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| Parallel Worlds by Michio Kaku, 2004 |
Machio is an excellent writer. He has covered a great deal in this book and has done a great job
of putting all the advances in historical perspective from Olber's paradox to string theory and beyond.
He has a way of making complex subjects much clearer
than other writers. He has a sense of humor and often describes interesting science fiction books that
have explored some of the far out topics discussed in the book. If you enjoy reading about the
bleeding edge thinking on dark matter and energy, inflation, extra dimensions, time travel, and
ways to escape from our universe then you will enjoy this book.
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| QED The Srange Theory of Light and Matter by Richard Feynman 1985 |
QED is Quantum Electro Dynamics - a theory of photons and electrons and their interactions that govern
just about every phenomenon we see in daily life. It rules all of chemistry, optics, and the reflective colors
from an oil sheen pictured on the cover. Feynman explains it all with little math, just a summing and multiplying of
little arrows. Quantum Chromo Dynamics is a theory of nuclear interactions. See Amazon.com for a long list of
positive reviews. I enjoyed this small book, 152 pages, cast as a series of four lectures.
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| Faster Than the Speed of Light: The Story of a Scientific Speculation
by Joao Magueijo © 2003 |
Whoa! This is a controversial book, an interesting read, and a balance to the
many other somewhat stuffy dumbed down physics/cosmology books currently in vogue.
It is a volatile mixture of interesting thoughts about current theories, and a
diatribe against the powers that control research funds and journal publications.
See the many strongly polarized reviews on amazon.com. I'll say this, it's not dull.
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