How Things Work: The Physics of Everyday Life [Paperback]

Louis A. Bloomfield (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 047146886X | ISBN-13: 978-0471468868 | Publication Date: October 7, 2005 | Edition: 3

This book is an unconventional introduction to physics and science that starts with whole objects and looks inside them to see what makes them work. It's written for students who seek a connection between science and the world in which they live. How Things Work brings science to the reader rather than the reverse. Like the course in which it developed, this book has always been for nonscientists and is written with their interests in mind. Nonetheless, it has attracted students from the sciences, engineering, architecture, and other technical fields who wish to put scientific concepts into context.

This book is written in English and organized in a case-study fashion. It conveys an understanding and appreciation for physics by finding physics concepts and principles within the familiar objects of everyday experience. Because its structure is defined by real-life examples, this book necessarily discusses concepts as they're needed and then revisits them later on when they reappear in other objects.

Lou Bloomfield is a highly dedicated teacher and one of the most popular professors at University of Virginia, and was the recipient of the 1998 State of Virginia Outstanding Faculty Award. Lou has given talks all over the country on teaching physics through everyday objects. He has extreme attention to detail and knowledge of technical physics. He is very tech savvy and has been able to provide many of the photos and illustrations for the text himself.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Instructor's Manual, Student Manual, Transparencies and Test Bank available. -- The publisher, John Wiley & Sons --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From the Publisher

Uses a unique approach to convey an understanding and appreciation for the concepts and principles of physics and science by finding them within specific objects of everyday experience. Each of the 51 sections tells the story of its object with a minimum of distractions. Every physical notion is held in place by the objects that use it rather than the abstract structure of more traditional physics books. Contains many review questions, historical/biographical vignettes, case studies, exercises and simple experiments. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 576 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 3 edition (October 7, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 047146886X
• ISBN-13: 978-0471468868
• Product Dimensions: 9.9 x 8 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #154,194 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #61 in Books > Science & Math > Experiments, Instruments & Measurement > Experiments & Projects

More About the Author

Louis A. Bloomfield is Professor of Physics at the University of Virginia and author of How Everything Works: Making Physics Out of the Ordinary (Wiley, 2007).

Bloomfield received his Ph.D. from Stanford in 1983 and was a postdoctoral fellow at AT&T Bell Laboratories before arriving at the University of Virginia in 1985. He is the recipient of numerous awards for his research in atomic, condensed matter, and optical physics, including the Apker Award of the American Physical Society, a Presidential Young Investigator Award of the National Science Foundation, a Young Investigator Award of the Office of Naval Research, and an Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship, and he is a Fellow of the American Physical Society.

Bloomfield has also been widely recognized for his teaching of physics and science to thousands of non-science students at the University of Virginia and is the recipient of a 1998 State of Virginia Outstanding Faculty Award and the 2001 Pegram Medal of the Southeastern Section of the American Physical Society. He is the author of almost 100 publications in the fields of atomic clusters, autoionizing states, high-resolution laser spectroscopy, nonlinear optics, computer science, and general science literacy, and of a recent introductory textbook entitled How Things Work: The Physics of Everyday Life, 3rd Edition (Wiley, New York, 2006).

Bloomfield also works extensively with professional societies and the media to explain physics to the general public. He frequently serves as a physics consultant and as an expert witness on legal matters that require a broad understanding of physics and scientific issues.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

40 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book on a number of different levels, October 10, 2006

By 

Barbara A. Oakley (Rochester, MI USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: How Things Work: The Physics of Everyday Life (Paperback)

I'm a professor of engineering, and decided to use this book as the primary textbook to give a basic idea, for humanities and liberal arts students, of what engineers do. What a great decision! The first part of the book sweeps neatly through basic physics, which is also, as it turns out, basic engineering. Statics, dynamics, friction, thermo--it's all there, neatly encapsulated in a way that humanities students can easily understand what's going on. The text then moves on to the types of things that really float my boat as an engineer--how refrigerators, car engines, and microwave ovens work. Even though I've been involved in engineering for years, and am a licensed professional engineer, I still learned interesting and helpful new ways of thinking about devices and how things work from this book. Moreover, I think this book helps give non-science and non-engineering students the kind of broad-ranging education they *should* be receiving in a university level. Engineering students, after all, have to study at least a modicum of subjects that relate to world history, English, psychology, and so forth. But humanities students can graduate from college without even having the faintest idea about the workings of the technology that can make their lives so healthy, pleasant and liveable. Call me biased or part of the great NASCAR unwashed, but I think it's just as important for a student to be aware of the essentials of how their refrigerator and car work as it is for them to understand the nuances of Shakespeare. Understanding of the fundamentals of technology also leads to students having a better understanding of the tradeoffs involved in good stewardship of the environment.

Dr. Bloomfield has an extensive list of thoroughly researched demonstrations available through his website. I use some of these demonstrations almost every class day, and students really like them. (I couple the demonstrations with active learning exercises and cooperative learning activities, which helps keep them awake and motivated. I also combine use of Bloomfield's book with readings from Henry Petroski's "Success through Failure, and with short film clips from the National Association of Manufacturers.)

In a study I am working on, I've found that universities that use this text as the backbone of physics courses for non-scientists and non-engineers generally seem to have huge enrollments. That speaks of the giant educational need this book seems to fill.

24 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great book., August 15, 2000

By 

Amazondotcodotuk (London) - See all my reviews

This review is from: How Things Work: The Physics of Everyday Life (Paperback)

As a highschool physics teacher, I strongly recommend this book to every physics (and science) teacher. It can serve as a source for daily life examples of physics principles in your instructions. Even if you are an inquiry minded person, you are going to find well-designed explanations for the functioning of lots of tools, machines, etc. in the book. Really exciting, rich content, excellent book.

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Extraordinary book on intricate topics., October 4, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: How Things Work: The Physics of Everyday Life (Paperback)

The impact of this book is extraordinary. As you walk through your house, you realize how many appliances are now familiar to you, in terms of how they work. This book makes me think in awe of the scientists and inventors that come up with all of these common, yet complicated tools. I have used this as a resource, valued above the encyclopedia.