What Light Through Yonder Window Breaks: More Experiments in Atmospheric Physics (Wiley Science Editions) [Paperback]

Craig F. Bohren (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1991 | ISBN-10: 047152915X | ISBN-13: 978-0471529156 | Edition: 1

Praise for Clouds in a Glass of Beer — "… informative and engagingly idiosyncratic … brings the subject down to earth with offbeat, everyday examples and easy-to-follow experiments … Both professionals and laymen can learn from this book …" —The New York Times Book Review "A delightful book.…" —Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society "A brilliant collection of intriguing examples of the physics of everyday phenomena, with the examples presented as puzzles." —Discover "We highly recommend Craig Bohren’s book; you will certainly enjoy yourself while learning from the best. "—The Daily Mercury, Guelph (Ontario) Here is the sequel to Craig Bohren’s popular Clouds in a Glass of Beer—the book that opened up the fascinating world of atmospheric physics to nonscientists. Like its predecessor—selected one of the "100 Best Products of the Year" by Curriculum Product News—its lively writing, fun, easy-to-perform experiments, and many photographs and illustrations offer you a great way to learn about a fascinating branch of science. And while it is an entertaining diversion for science enthusiasts, this book is something more. As David Jones—author of the renowned, "Daedalus" column, regularly appearing in Nature magazine—writes in his foreword, "Above all you will learn something of the scientist’s approach to the world, that powerful combination of practical curiosity and developed skepticism."

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Here is an outstanding text for non-scientists and all interested readers who would like to experience and understand firsthand some of the remarkable physical phenomena in the Earth's atmosphere. A sequel to the author's popular Clouds in a Glass of Beer, it contains simple experiments on such topics as the Doppler effect, polarized light, highway mirages, the greenhouse effect, nucleation, humidity, scattering and much more. Requiring no expensive equipment or specialized knowledge, the book is suitable for readers of many ages and is intended to encourage a healthy curiosity about the physical universe.

Product Details

• Paperback: 190 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (January 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 047152915X
• ISBN-13: 978-0471529156
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,945,188 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Everyday science at its best, August 1, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: What Light Through Yonder Window Breaks: More Experiments in Atmospheric Physics (Wiley Science Editions) (Paperback)

A variety of everyday phenomena are explained in this little book (185 pages). Most of it is optics and thermal physics, like frost and dew on the window, interference colors, mirages, heating and cooling (of LA smog, the greenhouse effect) origin of seasons, ...

Quite complex concepts like optical thickness are illustrated with nice experiments (pouring milk in water) and by foot steps in the snow. Don't be afraid of refractive index gradients or polarization upon reflection, Bohren will explain them marvelously.

I hope more physics textbooks would be like this: this is intriguing science whereas geometrical optics, the school book stuff, is mostly boring. Besides, these experiments and observations can be carried out by anybody with commonly available stuff: you only need a light bulb, a ruler and some volunteers to measure solar irrandiance, with 10-20% accuracy.