Jamin Bogi (e)k George Gamow(r)en The New World of Mr Tompkins kritika egin du
Yikes, no. Had to read it for book club.
izar 1
Just...no. The book alternates between little stories that are meant to help you understand complex ideas in physics, and lectures that give the grittier equations and explanations.
The "stories" are just about a guy who hangs around a physics professor and falls asleep during his lectures, and so he has weird dreams about the topics. Anthropomorphized electrons that dance waltzes, gazelles that somehow symbolize waves, passing through slits of a wall and into the clutches of waiting lions, etc. Invariably, the examples used in the stories only muddle and mislead from the actual science.
The science parts get it all wrong as well, veering from too simple to overly particular, with a strangely-specific ending about every little thing known about quarks. A total mess.
Half a star for the rating, just because the science itself is fascinating and it's stimulating to think all of it through.