E=mc2 by David Bodanis: Who would have thought that I would find a book about a scientific equation so interesting? However, I must admit that not only was it interesting but it was very exciting. Yes, a book about the world’s most famous equation is exciting!!!
Picture a small military raid, attempting to blow up a well guarded German military factory. A factory that is the only thing keeping the Germans in the race to build a nuclear bomb! Under the cover of night they ascend a cliff away from the searchlights and clip through the barbed wire fence surrounding the installation. They find and entrance and then once inside realize they are in no way carrying enough explosives to level the joint. What do they do? Do they succeed or are they tortured and killed like the group of soldiers that were sent before them? See, I told you it was exciting.
Sure, most of the book isn’t military raids. It is instead filled with interesting and enjoyable brief histories of smart people who in some way had a hand in Einstein’s equation. The stories they tell begin with the quantification of what motion is and continue on through gravity, mass, the speed of light and they finally end at the dreaded bomb.
Bodanis does a great job expelling science in language that even I can understand and he does a good job doing it. Anyone who likes science served up with a healthy dose of history and just a bit of adventure will enjoy this book.
Currently reading: Escape by Carolyn Jessop
She escaped from the FLDS where she married a 50-year-old at the age of 18 who had a couple wives and a whole bus full of kids, literally. Scary, very scary. Why would anyone in their right mind want to have more than one wife? And 34 children? Come on!
Link of the day: http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2008/09/top-10-amazing.html
She blinded me with science!!!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment