The Emperor’s New Mind
Penrose has a lot of interesting thoughts in this book. He deals with physics, mathematics, and artificial intelligence, which are basically all of my greatest interests. That doesn’t automatically mean that it is the best book of all time. It was very thought-provoking, but popular style books like this are usually not very educational. This […]
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Spacetime and Electromagnetism
Although this is a philosophy book, it is also a physics book. I was particularly amazed with the first chapter, it gives a lot of information in just the right way. However, I would recommend skipping Chapters 3-5, and 9-10. This will cut the 300 page book in half and make it much more bearable. […]
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E=mc2: The Biography of the World’s Most Famous Equation
This book takes a look at the ramifications of Einstein’s idea and details a bit of Einstein’s life and the science behind the equation. It was somewhat disappointing in that the majority of the book was the story of the atomic bomb. It was a good historical account of this because it told it from […]
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Just Six Numbers
Despite the fact that this book is intended for the general public, it is fairly interesting. It takes the somewhat unique approach of analyzing physics through numbers that represent ratios of fundamental physical constants. The numbers he inspects are: electromagnetism to gravity strength, energy from hydrogen-> helium fusion to energy in hydrogen, the amount of […]
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In Search of Schrödinger’s Cat
This historical review of the development of quantum theory is a surprisingly casual read. It is very useful in gaining a sense for how the science got to its current state. Although the majority of the book focuses on the general picture, it smoothly flows into specific experiments and theories that are genuinely educational. It […]
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Quantum Physics: Illusion or Reality?
The first four chapters of this book are a good introduction to quantum physics that is specific unlike many other books, so you get a feeling for the actual experiments rather than just a concealing explanation. Then the main point of the book begins with the explanation of the Copenhagen Interpretation, which says that it […]
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Thermodynamics
I didn’t get much out of this book. I was hoping for an elementary explanation of the underlaying principles of thermodynamics, but found only a lot of confusing derivations of formulas. What’s worse is that they are all in the pre-quantum-reformation form, which actually makes them more confusing. I don’t think anyone needs to read […]
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Introduction to Quantum Computation and Information
I think that this book is not quite an introduction. It claims that you only need a knowledge of basic quantum mechanics, but I felt lost for large portions of it. One chapter was actually worth reading: “Quantum Computation: An Introduction”. This chapter explains how quantum computing algorithms work. Also of interest was page 20 […]
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QED
Although the content was at a lower level than I was hoping for, this book did provide a relaxing and educational overview of quantum electrodynamics. It explains how light reflects based on quantum wavefunctions and how this causes irridescence. It spends a lot of time explaining the concept that the paths of particles are actually […]
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Discoveries and Opinions of Gallileo
This book is basically a translation of “The Starry Messenger”, “Letters on Sunspots”, “Letter to the Grand Duchess Christina”, and “The Assayer” with historical explanations between them. It is really interesting to sense the opposition the Galileo faced from the Church and the legacy of Aristotle. It is also interesting to notice how science was […]