“We are made up of the same atoms and the same light signals as are exchanged between pine trees in the mountains and stars in the galaxies.”
Physics was the only class I’ve ever taken that I couldn’t wrap my mind around. The equations seemed to deal with the abstract, like the coefficient of friction, when in my mind math equations should be black and white with a concrete answer. However, that’s part of the beauty of physics – it takes science to the level where we admit we don’t know for sure where an electron is, but just the probability of it being in a certain location. We learn what we don’t know about the universe and continue to explore to find the answers. Seven Brief Lessons on Physics is a great book to learn an overview of the current world of physics.
I saw Seven Brief Lessons on Physics advertised in Bookpages and put it on my to-read list. I am always interested in learning new things and thought maybe this book could redeem my dropping out of physics class in high school. I put it on hold through my library and didn’t have to wait long for the e-book to become available through Libby. The book is short, but you will need some time to think in between each chapter.
The book starts with a chapter on general relativity and then builds on that to explore quantum mechanics, gravity, elementary particles, black holes and the structure of the universe. He also spends some time discussing the role humans play in physics and the universe. Each chapter is written in a way that anyone with basic science understanding can read and comprehend. The book will make readers think as physics can seem to be related to philosophy in that many of its ideas are theories and they can be hard to wrap your mind around.
Seven Brief Lessons on Physics is a great book for anyone high school age or older who enjoys science. I think anyone taking physics should start with this book to get a basic understanding (it would have helped me a lot). I know I’ll be looking for this book again when my children take the class in school.
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