Customer Reviews

Physics, the Human Adventure: From Copernicus to Einstein and Beyond

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Having studied Holton's Harvard Project Physics textbook as a senior in high school thirty years ago, I was delighted to find this updated textbook by Holton and Brush. I have used Physics, The Human Adventure several times as one of the textbooks for an entry level Introduction to Physics college course that I teach occasionally here at the University of North Florida. (The second textbook for the class, which I believe complements Holton and Brush nicely, is College Physics in the Schaum's Outline Series).

Physics, The Human Adventure is excellent! The book brings a mature, historical and philosophical orientation to the presentation of physics concepts. The history and philosophy weaves the development of the physics concepts without ever eclipsing the physics. I have found serious students love the book. The book does not try to present basic physics without utilizing mathematics, but the level of the mathematics is basic algebra and elementary trignonometry.

Since most of my students are taking the course as background for continuing in their physics studies in algebra- or calculus-based physics courses, they appreciate the combination of Holton & Brush with the Schaum's outline textbook mentioned above. The students who are in the class for general education purposes are also well served by Holton and Brush; and it doesn't hurt them to work a half-dozen or so homework problems a week out of Schaum's, either.

My highest compliment is, often I find myself picking up Holton and Brush just for the fun of it. I can't think of many other physics textbook that illicits this response from me!

My only criticism is, in the early chapter introducing kinematics, the authors use speed and velocity in a way that deviates from current usuage. Also, it is standard now to use "g"
to represent the (always) positive number 9.8 m/s/s.The authors use g=-9.8 m/s/s/, which is rare indeed. Admittedly, these are minor (if not trivial) matters.

I highly recommend this textbook for conceptual/introductory physics courses or for anyone who is interested in physics principles via the history and philosophy of science. This textbook is head and shoulders above most of its competitors and I recommend it for use in courses primarily emphasizing the historical background of physics.

(I hope Rutgers Press keeps this book in print!)

Generally, the book is a good history of physics. The author spends an inordinate amount of time explaining that the ancients didn't know what we do now (once would have been plenty - being reminded every 5 pages interferes with readability).

I found the treatment of Kepler lacking in mathematical "how" - and I had to find the original Kepler in translation for that. I have not read beyond early astronomy, so the book may get better.

I got the feeling that this book is an attempt to do for physics what "Mathematics: A Human Endeavor" did for mathematics. The book is not as clearly written, and lacks contemporary references to the historical topics (which are not that hard to find). The book would be difficult to use as a text for a class "physics for the liberal arts major", while the human endeavor book can be used "as is" (I supplement it with other writings - both historical and modern fiction).