Customer Reviews

Physics For the Rest of Us

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From reading the earlier customer reviews (none more recent than Jan., 2001), one might assume that this book had reached its intended audience: "...The Rest of Us," i.e., those of us who are not trained physicists. Even the title of the book seems clearly to imply that audience. But the title and the comments of the earlier reviewers are misleading. I would argue that the author was hoping for (and deserves) a wider audience. In particular, his message should resonate strongly with the professional scientific community itself.

The author does provide some of the most intelligible explanations of the major concepts of modern physics that I have ever read--and I've read quite a few. Although my own background includes much technical training--chemistry, mathematics, electronics engineering, and philosophy--I must admit to having stumbled badly over general relativity and quantum mechanics. The pictures the author paints of these theories are probably as close as the human mind can come to visualizing what (we must realize) can not be visualized.

There are also excellent accounts of the Big Bang, quarks and bosons, the expanding universe, dark matter, the four fundamental forces of the physical world and the intense search for a theory that will demonstrate how they are all really different aspects of a single force: a grand unified theory that will explain everything.

If this was all the book was about, the title would be accurate and the author could return to his job as a college professor, secure in the knowledge that he had produced an excellent book on physics for the lay public.

Imagine my surprise when I discovered that interwoven in this excellent work on the concepts of modern physics was a profound and articulate criticism of the role of science in contemporary society. As I read further, it occurred to me that this critique of science was, in fact, the most important topic in the book.

In the author's view, science has become the unofficial religion of our society, a new form of "idolatry." It pervades our institutions, our government, industries and educational policies...and it has done so at the expense of other vital human activities, especially those (e.g., religion and the humanities) that have traditionally vested human life with a sense of purpose and meaning. This is strange stuff coming from a scientist!

Happily, Jones is not a religious fanatic or scientific Luddite who is arguing for a return to the days of old, with science replaced by alchemy, astrology and the Inquisition. His plea is for a balance between science and the humanities. Although science has proven its efficacy at manipulating the physical world, it can not generate those initial ideas or sparks of genius that lead to new, fertile theories; those come from the human mind. Nor can science tell us anything about what we should or shouldn't do with our discoveries--should we use our knowledge of radioactivity to make bigger bombs, or should we save lives with nuclear medicine? Those decisions are ethical ones and must also be human, perhaps originating in something we used to call the "soul."

The author argues forcefully for the usefulness of science. At the same time, he deplores the demise of the humanities, the arts and religion. Most importantly, he warns us that, without increasing the average citizen's knowledge of science and technology, we have little hope of reversing a dangerous trend. The first step is to provide a knowledge of "physics for the rest of us." Then we will be able to take the second step: to regain control of the role that science will play in our lives. There is much food for thought in this book...and Jones' lessons on the concepts of physics are just the first course.

As I read this book, it clearly explained many of the things I wanted to finally know about and understand. From the equation E=mc2, to the concept of space-time and the quantum theory, this is a very great book, that was able to actually teach me about the theory of relativity and many other things. So I highly recommend this book to those whom are curious about what E=mc2 means, or what space-time is, or what the quantum theory is all about. The book also shows how all of this physics has impacted our lives and thus, why physics is so important, and even has a chapter on science v.s. religion. So this should be the #1 book for those whom are curious about the world of physics, whether they are experts on the subject or not. You need not be an expert on physics or even know anything of physics to understand and enjoy this book.

I took this book on a beach vacation, and was so happy I did - it engrossed me more than I was expecting, and quickly became the envy of my trip-mates...the idea that I could now explain what the speed of light really was was so appealing.
This book does just what it says it will - you'll come away with understanding of the major concepts in physics you always felt uneducated for not knowing.

This was a wonderful book. Reading it I learned everything I could expect from a book introducing people to a new science. The book covered all the basics of physics and explained it so that anyone could fully understand the ideas, including a good explanation of General Relativity and the Quantom Theory. Over all good book.

The book's objective: "To combine a conceptual approach to modern physics with an exploration of its deeper meaning and philosophical significance."

What the book tells you: As a Trekkie, I have been intrigued by the way physics plays a crucial role in shaping up modern and future technology. Reading a physics textbook is not an option for me to know more about the subject. The overwhelmed amount of mathematics and statistics involved is too intimidating. This book makes my dream come true. The author is very good in making difficult subjects entertaining to read. Once I started with the first chapter, I read through the rest of the book in a very short time. It reminded me of the time when I read the Da Vinci Code and the Angels & Demons. The subject covered ranges from Newtonian physics to Einstein's relativity to quantum theory. Each topic is divided into 1-2 pages sub-topics so the readers will not get lost as they try to understand it. Bear in mind that is book is about conceptual and not applied physics. I found the philosophical chapters not as entertaining to read as the former part.

What the book does not tell you: The "applied" aspects of physics such as the topics you will find in Hawkin's Universe (singularity, black hole, galaxies) or the Star Trek's stuff (wormhole, anti-matter). String theory was mentioned but very briefly. Isn't this the theory that tries to unify both the relativity and the quantum? If so, it deserves more space as one of the ideas of "Twentieth-Century Physics That Everyone Should Know."

This book is for people who hear about the Theory of Relativity and Quantum Theory and have no idea what these things are or how to talk about them, but want to. I had to read the first chapter twice but the rest of the book falls into place. It's written in a nice lyrical, understandable tone -- I read it on the beach in place of my typical bestseller.

In a world that is so very scientifically illiterate this book is a God-send. It clearly expounds upon aspects of science rarely seen by any but professionals. Any person with an interest in science should read this book and discover exactly how far-reaching the field of physics is in this highly technological society.

Having a basic understanding of how the world around us works is essential knowledge everyone should have. While it may not be exactly practical to understand time dilation while sitting in traffic, simply knowing something so abstract to everyday thought allows one to imagine other possibilities in life far from one's everyday life of eating, working and sleeping. This book attempts to fill those gaps left by most high school educations and give its reader a deeper understanding of the universe in which we all live.

This book was most effective for me in its chapters on Einstein's special theory of relativity and general theory of relativity. These theories had never been fully explained despite general science courses and physics courses in my high school education. I soon found out why: they are by no means easy to teach, let alone to your garden variety high school students with attention spans rivaling that of a gold fish. Admittedly, most of the passages on relativity required a second or even third look, but once clear in one's mind you realize how revolutionary these theories are when compared to more conventional Newtonian physics. These chapters also contained thought exercises from the point of view of Einstein. While obviously not his exact thoughts, these passages do aid in the understanding of the theories. Instead of simply laying out the respective theories and their premises, you are guided in thought through the various processes that it took to come to the conclusions that Einstein reached.

Much to my dismay, the remainder of the book did not cover the material in the way that relativity was. Perhaps it would have been better off as a closing chapter, or at least towards the end once you have already gotten a handle on the more basic Newtonian physics. Moreover, a good half of the chapters have nothing to do with science, let alone physics. They instead choose to delve into the more abstract questions and subject generally left off to philosophers and religion. The sudden change in gears is almost jarring in that you suddenly can go from hard facts to his views on the interpretation and place of science in the world. It seems like he is trying to play off his opinions as fact rather then what they actually are: his opinions.

To me, these chapters focused on the philosophy rather than the science took away from the book itself and tempted me to skip to the next chapter to return to what I was reading the book for, physics. In a book titled as such, I expected much more of a focus on the actual physics that many people should know. I expected some diagrams for the more difficult sections, I expected the same attention on other subjects as was given to relativity, and I expected to walk away with a good review of all the basics from my previous classes for which I had forgotten. For the most part, I was let down after the relativity chapters.

The remainder of the book focuses on studies normally found in chemistry classes. Sure all sciences branch fundamentally from physics, but I expected a more practical look into the world of physics. Perhaps a more apt title would be science for the rest of us. At any rate, these chapters focusing on physical chemistry, the "mechanical" workings of atoms seemed especially dry. Admittedly it would be difficult to spice this subject up, but it may have been better to leave out entirely. Personally, I find I enjoy the larger scale subjects much more-after all you can feel the acceleration of a car, your inertia as you round a corner, you can look up at the stars, but you cannot see electrons changing orbits as you turn your headlights on.

It seems as if the author was just trying to round out a book after the relativity sections. It is clear he is passionate about the subject, even excited to teach it as it's the first thing you encounter in the book. However this haphazard arrangement could deter readers not committed to reasoning out the text. Chances are if you are picking up this book, you're a little rusty on your physics knowledge. Wouldn't it make sense to brush up on some more basic principals before delving into one of the most revolutionary ideas of recent time? After all, you're talking about a dimension for which we cannot visualize not to mention all of the other basic knowledge of physics that is required to keep up in the chapters.

While this book is worth reading if you are just brushing up on your general knowledge, it is no substitute for an actual professor and a text book. The views presented in many of the more philosophical chapters have nearly nothing to do with science so it certainly helps to be able to distinguish the two sides of the author. I also feel that the book could have used some more organization-build up on the reader's knowledge as they progress through the text and save the more complex for last once they have the other stuff down first. The book could have also benefited from the same enthusiasm as exhibited in the beginning. Why not go through the thought exercises the Bohr did, or Copernicus? While I generally was not impressed with this book, I do have to give props for the presentation of relativity. If, like me, you were never taught it or never understood it, hit the Newtonian physics chapters first and then go to the relativistic chapters. This was one spot in the book that did not fail to impress.

Physics for the rest uf us is an outstanding book. But caution: there are advanced ideas and theorum. unlike the title it is not for the rest of us.