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on April 10, 2016
This is a great book. Some parts were over my head, and other parts I had a sneaky suspicion that the information presented was a bit dated. But overall I enjoyed it quite a bit. If you're worried that you won't be able to understand the book, I'd recommend you go ahead and buy it. Even the parts that are a bit complicated become a lot more clear when you stop and think for a moment.
on April 23, 2010
It is great to see that this book is still available after so many years (this book was written way way before 1988 as noted here). It's also a joy to see so many positive comments on the book. This book is a beautiful piece of work on sciences. As said, if you want to have your children into the world of science, try this book, I myself am a testimony.
My personal story with this book is very long. It went back to my high school time in 1980's in China. I was a normal kid just like a typical high-school student in China in that era - love to play around but was bound by the endless homework and exams. I was lucky enough for getting good scores in all my science programs without much trouble, but didn't really have much passion on sciences.
This book came to me accidentally when I looked into one of my classmate's book collections. By just browsing couple pages, I was totally into it! The book was a translated Chinese version (of course, barely started my English class at that time), and my classmate got it from the library (thank god, we did have libraries after the deadly culture revolution). It may be hard for you to understand what I did at that time: without a copier, I copied the whole physics part of the book by hand writting! This book inspired me to be a physicist - an idea that has never been changed ever since.
Now, >20 years passed, as a physicist working in one of the best institutes in the world. I can't help writing another personal experience on this book. The beauty of this book just can never be exaggerated.
Of course, we do not want/need all our kids to become scientists. But if you want them to enjoy the fascination of sciences, even just as a hobby, this book is one of the keys to open the door!
As in some reviews, it may be a pity that there is no newer edition of this book, considering much of the contents have indeed been updated now. However, enough books have been messed up by "updates". For this book, enjoying sciences is the most important inspiration to our kids, and they will NOT be confused if they later realize that some contents in the book should have been updated. Renovations/innovations are always the cases for sciences anyway.
My personal story with this book is very long. It went back to my high school time in 1980's in China. I was a normal kid just like a typical high-school student in China in that era - love to play around but was bound by the endless homework and exams. I was lucky enough for getting good scores in all my science programs without much trouble, but didn't really have much passion on sciences.
This book came to me accidentally when I looked into one of my classmate's book collections. By just browsing couple pages, I was totally into it! The book was a translated Chinese version (of course, barely started my English class at that time), and my classmate got it from the library (thank god, we did have libraries after the deadly culture revolution). It may be hard for you to understand what I did at that time: without a copier, I copied the whole physics part of the book by hand writting! This book inspired me to be a physicist - an idea that has never been changed ever since.
Now, >20 years passed, as a physicist working in one of the best institutes in the world. I can't help writing another personal experience on this book. The beauty of this book just can never be exaggerated.
Of course, we do not want/need all our kids to become scientists. But if you want them to enjoy the fascination of sciences, even just as a hobby, this book is one of the keys to open the door!
As in some reviews, it may be a pity that there is no newer edition of this book, considering much of the contents have indeed been updated now. However, enough books have been messed up by "updates". For this book, enjoying sciences is the most important inspiration to our kids, and they will NOT be confused if they later realize that some contents in the book should have been updated. Renovations/innovations are always the cases for sciences anyway.
on July 20, 2013
I first read Gamow when an undergraduate in philosophy back in the 1950's. Before reading Gamow I got C's in my advanced physics courses. After reading Gamow I got B's. I have felt gratitude for his pedagogical skills ever since.
Recently some colleagues have suggested I might give a talk on some elements of relativity and quantum mechanics. By knowledge is very weak concerning, say, the Higgs Boson. But I can say enough to explain the curve of binding energy and neutron absorption and to account for the workings of a light-water reactor. Again, now near the end of my life, I am as dependent as ever on Gamow's pedagogical skills. In my life at any rate, Gamow's popular writings on physics stand as classics.
Recently some colleagues have suggested I might give a talk on some elements of relativity and quantum mechanics. By knowledge is very weak concerning, say, the Higgs Boson. But I can say enough to explain the curve of binding energy and neutron absorption and to account for the workings of a light-water reactor. Again, now near the end of my life, I am as dependent as ever on Gamow's pedagogical skills. In my life at any rate, Gamow's popular writings on physics stand as classics.
on July 31, 2000
Then give her this book! It seems that almost all the reviewers had the same experience: we read this book at an early age, and it was so fascinating, so inspiring, and so magical that it directed us into math and science for the rest of our lives. In my case the book was loaned to me when I was about 12, by my best friend's father. As a result, when I wrote MY first math book (which cannot begin to compare with Gamow's!) thirty-five years later, I dedicated it to my friend's father in gratitude. The book explains how mathematics and science really works, in language which a young person with an eighth grade education can understand. Everyone thinks it takes a genius to understand relativity, but there are lots of fifteen-year-olds walking around with a decent understanding of Special Relativity simply because they read this book.
But don't be misled into thinking this book is just for young people. It's for anyone who thirsts for knowledge and understanding, anyone who realizes that it doesn't require an alien life form to understand physics and math. Gamow discusses some of the great unsolved problems in mathematics (at least two of which - the four-color problem and Fermat's Last Theorem - have been solved since the book was written), the theory of relativity, the usefulness of imaginary numbers (square roots of negatives), geometry of more than three dimensions, and many other topics which most people think are accessible only to those anointed with stratospheric IQ's. But Gamow's writing is so clear and entertaining that you'll come away wondering why EVERYBODY doesn't understand those topics.
A particularly vivid memory I have of the book is Gamow's demonstration that there are different sizes of infinity. He didn't originate the idea, of course; it was first thought of by a mathematician named Georg Cantor. But once again Gamow makes the mathematics so clear and accessible that I was enthralled. You will be too.
But don't be misled into thinking this book is just for young people. It's for anyone who thirsts for knowledge and understanding, anyone who realizes that it doesn't require an alien life form to understand physics and math. Gamow discusses some of the great unsolved problems in mathematics (at least two of which - the four-color problem and Fermat's Last Theorem - have been solved since the book was written), the theory of relativity, the usefulness of imaginary numbers (square roots of negatives), geometry of more than three dimensions, and many other topics which most people think are accessible only to those anointed with stratospheric IQ's. But Gamow's writing is so clear and entertaining that you'll come away wondering why EVERYBODY doesn't understand those topics.
A particularly vivid memory I have of the book is Gamow's demonstration that there are different sizes of infinity. He didn't originate the idea, of course; it was first thought of by a mathematician named Georg Cantor. But once again Gamow makes the mathematics so clear and accessible that I was enthralled. You will be too.
on June 13, 2015
George Gamow's book "One Two Three...Infinity" is an good survey of the sciences. I bought this book after hearing Noam Chomsky speak highly of it while being interviewed. His chapters on space, the fourth dimension, and relativity dig a bit deeper than "Hawking's Brief History of Time." Some knowledge of algebra is helpful with this book as seen in chapter five, "Relativity and Time and Space." His exploration of quantum mechanics through dissection and examination of the atom is a good starting point. Gamow stops short of delving into John Wheeler's 1955 quantum foam concept and moves on to the properties of light. It's odd that he didn't cover it in this 1961 edition.
on July 27, 2010
A short note (trying not to be mawkish) - I read and re-read this book in seventh grade, in 1957. This book changed me. It opened my eyes to worlds suspected but not yet discovered; it became a guide for me. Of course I went into the sciences (physics and engineering), and while that would probably have happened anyway, I must at least partly credit this book. Years later I had the great pleasure of hearing Dr. Gamow (GAM-off) speak at UC Santa Barbara. He was old (at least to me) and his accent was heavy, but that lecture sparkled and effervesced as his books. As others noted, when Dr. Gamow led his explorations into the wonders of physics, he did not hesitate to develop the elegant mathematical concepts along the way, clearly and understandably. He assumed his audience was intelligent enough to apprehend the concepts. There may be more modern writings, more up-to-date coverage of physics for initiates; but I know of none that alternately glows and scintillates as this one does. This book is a jewel, a gift.
on December 3, 2016
An all-time classic. I own several copies of this book, all of which have been borrowed (and never returned).
I bought this one as a gift for a friend's schoolgoing child. Good for all ages, the only pre-requisites needed
for this book are curiosity and an open mind.
Highly recommended for curious children of all ages.
I bought this one as a gift for a friend's schoolgoing child. Good for all ages, the only pre-requisites needed
for this book are curiosity and an open mind.
Highly recommended for curious children of all ages.
on August 8, 2011
Like so many other reviewers, I have fond memories of this book as a child. It really is a book that piques the interest of anyone with even the faintest appreciation of numbers and science and makes a great gift. Gamow's description of "how to count infinities" created a life-long interest in transfinite numbers. For a one-two "punch" one might consider this book as a starting gift and a few years later follow up with "Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid" by Hofstadter.
There are a few issues with some of the information contained in the book (e.g. the age of the universe as ~3 billion years) but these are easily noted and are themselves useful for demonstrating how scientific knowledge is constantly being updated.
For some reason I find the hand drawn sketches in the book much more effective than the slickest, computer generated graphic.
There are a few issues with some of the information contained in the book (e.g. the age of the universe as ~3 billion years) but these are easily noted and are themselves useful for demonstrating how scientific knowledge is constantly being updated.
For some reason I find the hand drawn sketches in the book much more effective than the slickest, computer generated graphic.
on April 1, 2015
This is a very interesting read, but I've been attempting to read this while on my lunch break at work. It is NOT a "pick up a book and read for a second" type of book. This book, while in the preface explaining that it was originally meant for children, has very mind boggling concepts regarding infinity and a mindset has to be adopted to read with ease. Fantastic concepts, not finished with the book at this point as I've struggled to find the time to dig into it.
