All About Books: Physics

Richard Feynman, winner of the Nobel Prize in physics, thrived on outrageous adventures. Here he recounts in his inimitable voice his experience trading ideas on atomic physics with Einstein and Bohr and ideas on gambling with Nick the Greek; cracking the uncrackable safes guarding the most deeply held nuclear secrets; accompanying a ballet on his bongo drums; painting a naked female toreador. In short, here is Feynman's life in all its eccentric glory;a combustible mixture of high intelligence, unlimited curiosity, and raging chutzpah.

The Italian Galileo Galilei's experiments in force, motion, and acceleration provided the first quantifiable evidence of how the natural world works. He was also the first person to observe the planets and stars. and used his discoveries to promote the Sun-centered model of the universe. For this theory, he was arrested and convicted of heresy, and he was sentenced to house arrest for the rest of his life.

The first book-length exploration of the most exciting development in modern physics, the theory of 10-dimensional space. The theory of hyperspace, which Michio Kaku pioneered, may be the leading candidate for the Theory of Everything that Einstein spent the remaining years of his life searching for.

Physics: An Illustrated Guide to Science containing five sections, a comprehensive glossary, a Web site guide, and an index. Full-color diagrams, graphs, charts, and maps on every page illustrate the essential elements of the subject, while parallel text provides key definitions and step-by-step explanations. The five sections include: "Forces” provides an overview of Newton s laws of motion and gravity. It also describes the physics of simple machines and explains the distinction between the concepts of heat and work. "Energy"examines the concept of energy in more detail. This section covers thermal conduction, radiation, and convection, as well as describes changes in energy type. The industrial production of energy as well as possible sources of renewable energy are also described here. "Waves, Sound, and Light" is concerned with the wave motion of light and sound energy. The principles of superposition, interference, diffraction, polarization, and reflection are covered in this section. There is also a survey of lenses and optical instruments. "Electricity" details the basic concepts of electrical energy and magnetism. Subjects covered in this section include induction, electrostatics, electric current, electromotive force, electrolysis, transformers, and electric motors. "Electronics" is an overview of the practical issues involved in the design of devices that control the flow of electrons or other charged particles. It includes a comprehensive guide to circuit symbols, a look at microprocessors, and a thorough grounding in circuit logic.

An illustrated chronology of physics, containing 250 short, entertaining, and thought-provoking entries. In addition to exploring such topics as dark energy, parallel universes, the Doppler effect, the God particle, and Maxwell's demon, the book's timeline extends back billions of years to the hypothetical Big Bang and forward trillions of years to a time of quantum resurrection. The Physics Book helps readers gain an understanding of major concepts without getting bogged down in complex details.