Watch a tesseract unfold. See how the 3D cross section of a hypercube changes as the hypercube rotates. View 4D wheels with axles with a spherinder or cubinder structure. Imagine climbing a 4D staircase. Find 10 out of 120 dodecahedra of a hecatonicosachoron highlighted... all on this visual tour of the fourth dimension. The book is much more visual and conceptual than algebraic, yet it is detailed and technical, with the intention of satisfying the needs of mathematically-minded readers familiar with the fundamentals of algebra, geometry, and graphing.
Chris McMullen is a physics instructor at Northwestern State University of Louisiana. He earned his Ph.D. in phenomenological high-energy physics (particle physics) from Oklahoma State University in 2002. Originally from California, Dr. McMullen earned his Master's degree from California State University, Northridge, where his thesis was in the field of electron spin resonance.
Dr. McMullen first published The Visual Guide to Extra Dimensions, Volumes 1 and 2, to share his passion for the geometry and physics of the fourth dimension. He has also written two full-color books to help illustrate the geometry of a fourth dimension of space. Dr. McMullen has coauthored a half-dozen articles on current and future collider searches for large extra dimensions, which is his area of specialization.
As a physics teacher, Dr. McMullen observed that many students lack fluency in fundamental math skills. In an effort to help students of all ages and levels master basic math skills, he has published a series of math workbooks on arithmetic, fractions, and algebra called the Improve Your Math Fluency Series. Dr. McMullen has also published a handful of physics books, including An Advanced Introduction to Calculus-Based Physics, A Guide to Thermal Physics, A Research-Oriented Laboratory Manual for First-Year Physics, and some books of Creative Physics Problems.
Chris McMullen teamed together with his mom, Carolyn Kivett, to write some word puzzle books. Recently, they have put together some children's books, such as math flashcards for the Kindle. His oldest daughter, Katie, helped write a book on Teen Word Scrambles for Girls. This was a family project put together by three generations - daughter, father, grandmother.
These word puzzle books include Christmas word scrambles, sports word scrambles (golf and football), word scrambles for kids and teens, and positive word scrambles, which may be just the sort of mental exercises that you need to help relax and maintain a positive outlook (such as the Negative-Positive Antonym Word Scrambles book to practice turning negative words into positive ones).
They also published a series of Chemical Word Scrambles, where all of the words are composed of chemical symbols rather than letters. For example, the chemical word PErCeNTaGe consists of the chemical symbols for phosphorus (P), erbium (Er), cerium (Ce), nitrogen (N), tantalum (Ta), and germanium (Ge). It turns out that you can make thousands of words using only the symbols from the periodic table. Contrary to most people's expectations, you don't actually need to know any chemistry whatsoever to enjoy these puzzles. Rather, anyone who likes word scrambles or anagrams can also enjoy chemical word scrambles, which make use of a vocabulary of longer words without increasing the difficulty of the puzzles.
Chris McMullen has also written some books related to his hobbies. For example, he wrote a few books to keep track of golf stats and to record interesting chess games.
Dr. McMullen is very passionate about teaching. Many students and observers have been impressed with the transformation that occurs when he walks into the classroom, and the interactive engaged discussions that he leads during class time. Dr. McMullen is well-known for drawing monkeys and using them in his physics examples and problems, using his creativity to inspire students. A stressed out student is likely to be told to throw some bananas at monkeys, smile, and think happy physics thoughts.
