The Great Physicists from Galileo to Einstein (Biography of Physics) [Paperback]

George Gamow (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 1988 | ISBN-10: 0486257673 | ISBN-13: 978-0486257679

Outstanding text by one of the 20th century's foremost physicists dramatically explains how the central laws of physical science evolved, from Pythagoras' discovery of frequency ratios in the 6th century BC to today's research on elementary particles. Includes fascinating biographical data about Galileo, Newton, Huygens, Einstein and others. 136 illustrations.

Product Details

• Paperback: 338 pages
• Publisher: Dover Publications (October 1, 1988)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0486257673
• ISBN-13: 978-0486257679
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #249,750 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

44 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent overview of discoveries in physics., February 9, 1998

By 

Ronin "ronin32" (New Castle, DE USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Great Physicists from Galileo to Einstein (Biography of Physics) (Paperback)

I have read a fair amount of books on physics and found this one to be very enjoyable. Gamow keeps things pretty simple (until the end when he starts talking about his specialty) and very accessible. He is careful that the math is sequential; he always builds on previous examples to take you to the next step.

The book was published in the 60's, so there are many recent discoveries missing, but you need to know your history of physics to see how we got where we are. In fact, I found that this book showed just how new all of our current theories are and that there is promise for many new things on the horizon.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very Informative!, June 5, 2010

By 

Courtney Slocum - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Great Physicists from Galileo to Einstein (Biography of Physics) (Paperback)

This book contained everything you could wish to know concerning just about every physicist that has had a major scientific contribution. This is a great book for intermediate scientific readers. I also liked that it had diagrams especially drawn by the author himself.

5.0 out of 5 stars Another great text by Gamow, July 31, 2011

By 

Adam L. Bruce - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Great Physicists from Galileo to Einstein (Biography of Physics) (Paperback)

Gamow has long be revered as one of the original science "popularizers"--mostly because of his lucid and well trimmed writing style. This book is no different and it has the added bonus that Gamow actually knew most of the modern physicists--starting with Einstein--personally. It is worth buying for the great "kayak problem" in the relativity chapter alone, but has a wide range of different interesting tidbits, biographical information, and of course physics in Gamow's distinctive way. Well worth a read, especially for only $10.