Wednesday, March 09, 2011

Particle Physics For Dummies.

When the top review blurb on the back cover read "...not just physics for poets...", I was sold. And I wasn't disappointed, either.

You Are Here: A Portable History of the Universe is a very ambitious book, intending to give the layperson a thumbnail sketch of the current state of everything from astrophysics to the particle zoo to evolutionary biology. It works surprisingly well; I digested it in two big gulps. Too many popular science books are written by a twenty-pound brain who can't write his way out of a sack, assisted by a ghostwriter of dubious talents, whereas Potter is a writer who happens to have a degree in science; the difference this makes in readability is noticeable. Recommend.

4 comments:

North said...

Thank you for the review, Tam. I added this book to my wish list.

Josh Kruschke said...

Yes, Thank You.

:-)
Josh

Atom Smasher said...

I'll have to pick that one up, thanks.

If you haven't already, grab all the Gribbin you can. Smart and readable and fun.

Robert said...

Bill Bryson's "A History of Nearly Everything" was educational, too.