Customer Reviews

Knowing: The Nature of Physical Law

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is an excellent book whether you have some basic science or whether (like me) you studied science some years back without fully understanding some of it (i.e. knowing the how, not the why; the effect, not the cause).

It is written in a very unusual, but very useful style for a science book, but some of the analogies are great in helping you connect the various dots in everything from classical to quantum physics and current developments.

As always you come away with more quesions that answered, but at least now you can understand why those questions exist.

I enjoyed the clarity of this book so much that I bought his Principles of Chemistry and, indeed, Principles also proves his expertise in both the subject of science and his writing ability. If you're interested in the topic of Knowing and you tend to read books in this area, I'd recommend that you read this one, too, even if you get it from the library (as I did). Anyone who might be put to sleep reading this either is way out in front of the rest of us on the topic or he really doesn't have any interest in the topic. Other than those two categories, I really believe it's worth the read.

This is an excellent book. As stated in the book, the information is savagely abridged, but it allows Munowitz to touch on an abundant amount of info. It is also very easy to understand. I admit some of the illustrations could have been a bit different, but overall this is a marvelous book. Especially considering what a quick read it is, and how much info you pull from it.

Better set an alarm clock if you're going read this book. Chapter 1 is like dropping Valium, Chapter 2 is like dropping Valium with a shot of whiskey, by Chapter 5 you'll probably slip into a coma. The author tries to wax and wane poetic, but comes off redundant. In one paragraph he actually uses the same sentence 4 times. In place of mathematical formula, he uses pictures. It just doesn't work.