50 Physics Ideas You Really Need To Know (50 ideas) |  | Author: Joanne Baker
Publisher: Book Sales, Inc.
List Price: $8.99
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Rating:  4 reviews
Sales Rank: 236833
Media: Hardcover
Pages: 208
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.1
Dimensions (in): 8 x 6.6 x 0.8
ISBN: 1847241484
Dewey Decimal Number: 530
EAN: 9781847241481
ASIN: 1847241484
Publication Date: September 17, 2009
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
As well as outlining and explaining such historic breakthroughs in human understanding of the physical world as Keplerâs law of planetary motion and Newtonâs law of gravitation, Joanne Baker unravels the sometimes baffling complexities of modern scientific theory â from Planckâs law to Pauliâs exclusion principle and from Schrondingerâs cat to string theory. The essays are accompanied by a range of useful editorial features, including biographies of iconic physicists, timelines of related ideas, explanatory diagrams and display quotations.
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| Customer Reviews:
 All You Need to Start Aprecciating Physics December 22, 2008
Cosmas Topographicos (Cosmic Megalopolis)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
A Series on Fifty Basic Ideas:
I was not sure exactly what readership this book is intended for, until I browsed through its penta-sections and read some of its entries. Since the fifty ideas cannot be quite included in a coffee table book nor is it a physics reference book, indeed it could be labeled a refresher review of modern physics. If you approach this book as a physics vocabulary, with elaborate definitions you could get more out of it.
This second volume of an innovative series representing the core of critical areas of modern human knowledge, on Management, Mathematics, Philosophy, and Physics, the Cantab author Joanne Baker wraps up the top complex ideas of twentieth century physical sciences theory for a scientific enquiry reader. She explores the state of science on physical concepts at the end of the last century, for third millennia lay persons helping them upgrading their outdated space related science.
Advancing Fifty Physics Ideas:
The book title which caught my attention is a good description of the book's 50 concise essays Dr. Baker describes within two to three pages each. Some of those 50 basic concepts in physics which appealed to me, as an outdated applied scientist counted more than thirty from Kepler's laws, Maxwell demon, Fractals, Chaos theory, the butterfly effect, Fermat principle (proved recently), DNA double helix, extrasolar planets, Schrodinger's cat, teleportation etc.
Dr. Baker makes a good job of describing the relevant physics theorems behind each concept, advocating a compelling plea for appreciation of modern physics that is happening daily around us. Anyway, the range of physical concepts explored is admirable even if only half appealed to you, those ideas that you would not expect to find in such a non specialized book are amazingly present, and more.
The timeline along the bottom, with each idea covered, shows the time ideas took to develop, while the occasional boxes contain interesting snippets about those discovering pioneers and their involvement in each idea. Accompanying simple black and white diagrams help clarifying them.
Shipment review June 2, 2008
Tommie J. Stanaland (Perry, FL)
1 out of 7 found this review helpful
Well satisified with order results. Arrived on time, and in good condition. Highly recommend seller
Concise overviews December 11, 2007
Solomon (Colorado)
12 out of 12 found this review helpful
This book contains 50 concise overviews of important ideas that form the basis of classical and modern physics. They are grouped into five sections, namely:
· Matter in Motion (mostly classical physics, such as Newton's laws of motions and Kepler's laws, but with some more modern ideas such as Chaos theory).
· Beneath the Waves (wave behavior of light, electromagnetic waves and Maxwell's equations).
· Quantum Conundrums (quantum mechanics, including Planck's law of black body radiation, photoelectric effect, Schrodinger's wave equation, Heisenberg's uncertainty principle and superconductivity).
· Splitting Atoms (structure of the atom, atomic fission and fusion, the standard model of particle physics and string theory)
· Space and Time (special and general relativity, the big bang theory, black holes, dark matter and dark energy).
The specific topics listed above represent only 20 of the 50 ideas covered in the book, each of which is presented in exactly four pages. Each idea is supplemented with boxes containing some extended discussion of a particular point, some quotations concerning the idea and biographical information about some scientists. Given that only four pages are allotted to each idea, the presentation is necessarily only superficial, but the author did a very good job of compressing the most salient points into a very limited space.
This is a good book for those who only want an general overview of some very important ideas, presented without any math, for a general audience. It is also a useful review book for those who know are better versed in physics. Some very complex ideas (such as Newton's bucket, the difference between Fraunhoffer and Fresnel diffraction, Feynman diagrams and the Anthropic principle) that are often not discussed in basic physics texts are covered. This is thus more than just an elementary overview of physics.
Given that the author has been limited to only 50 ideas (this book is part of a series of 50 idea books) there are those who will quibble about the choices that were made. I for one think that they were reasonably comprehensive (although I would have liked to see more thermodynamics) and I highly recommend this book.
Excellent read November 16, 2007
Sudarshan Karkada (Missouri City, TX USA)
7 out of 9 found this review helpful
I just bought this book and read first few "ideas" and found the book impressive. You can read sample pages at Amazon, so I am not going to go into details. Book, paper, and print are of very high quality. Material is easy to read and mostly in simple language without much technical talk. Each "idea" (theorm, law, etc.) takes 4 pages and contain related information on the sidebars. For example, in the idea that explains Newton's laws of motion, there is a section describing Newton's life.
In my opinion, one can use this book to refresh their memory of what they have learnt while studying AS WELL AS lean new things that weren't taught in school.
I am happy with the purchase.
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