9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Lively supplement to any course on atomic or nuclear physics, May 25, 2000
Dr. Ponomarev has here presented an original history and discussion of Modern Physics. The subject is the development of Quantum Mechanics from atomic through nuclear physics. The book is obviously the fruit of years of reading in many areas of science, literature, and philosophy. It is enlivened with many entertaining quotes from famous pundits of all kinds, and by attractive, unusual pen-and-ink drawings by Olga Levenok.(Okay, her drawings of famous physicists are not always good likenesses--but her other designs, some of them whimsical and surrealistic, more than make up for it.)
The author is a himself a nuclear physicist, and chapters 12-18 reflect this expertise: he succeeds in making nuclear physics interesting--yes, nuclear physics, that notorious, grundgey step-child of QM --by retelling the history of its development. And because he is a research physicist, his account has a level of detail, accuracy, and authenticity that is usually missing in popularizations of Physics. (Whenever I could check his numbers, I found they were accurate--a most refreshing contrast to many science popularizations, where the numbers are few and far between, being either regarded as trivia, an unwelcome distraction, or else side-stepped altogether to avoid alienating a non-numerate public. It was only in Ch. 18, his review of astrophysics, that I detected several factual errors.)
The book does contain a few equations--even Schrodinger's eq'n makes a brief appearance. But there is nothing that should overwhelm the person with a few physics courses under his belt.
A minor problem is that sometimes the translation and/or the author's mode of expression turns clumsy or wooden. A bigger annoyance--and the reason I cannot give 5 stars--is the complete absence of an index.
The last third of this book is highly recommended to any physics student who wants to experience the charm and excitement of Nuclear Physics when it was young and growing.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent Primer, May 30, 2001
This is an excellent primer on the history and make-up of quantum physics. I don't know why it's [so expensive] but it may be due to the unique format and high quality of the CONTENT, which is so often difficult to find in books of this area.... ;)
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
5.0 out of 5 stars
Very fresh, also very personal, July 15, 2011
This book was originally written in the early 1970s by my father. It would not be completely fair to classify it as a "popular science" book. While this is its primary job and it does this job marvelously, it is also an excellent companion textbook for introductory physics classes, since it describes the basic concepts as rigorously as possible in this format. The historical and philosophical context of the development of these physics ideas is essential for appreciating and truly understanding them, and standard textbooks will often fall short in that aspect. The book could benefit from a little more math, but its true value is to demonstrate the intellectual development of the essential quantum physics concepts. It does such a good job at that, that at the end of the book the reader is left with a strong desire to sign up for mathematics and physics classes so they could more fully experience what they were just introduced to.
I've only met my father once, so this book has been my only way to actually get in touch with his thoughts, which makes one of the lessons in the book very personal: true talent shines on through the years, long after individual idiosyncrasies and circumstances have dissipated in the dust bowl of history.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
