Items26The creator’s order
  1. 1Storm in a Teacup (2016)Storm in a Teacup (2016) 8.0/10 on Open LibraryPublished Jan 1, 2016Helen Czerski starts with things you can see in a kitchen, such as the way a drop of coffee dries, and uses them to explain patterns found on other scales. Her best examples give you a chance to predict what you will see the next time a drop meets a surface. This is the easiest place to begin with…0
  2. 2QED (1985)QED (1985) 8.6/10 on Open LibraryPublished Jan 1, 1985Richard Feynman explains why light can be reflected from glass using little arrows that can be added, with a length and direction for each possible contribution. His guided diagrams make the calculation visible. Looking at a window afterward, you have a concrete way to remember what quantum…0
  3. 3The physics of everyday things (2017)The physics of everyday things (2017) 10.0/10 on Open LibraryPublished Jan 1, 2017James Kakalios follows a day of familiar devices. Finding your way with GPS gives him a reason to explain why a small error in a clock can matter to a device trying to work out where it is. Pick this up when you want to know which bit of physics is inside the object you already use.0
  4. 4How to teach physics to your dog (2009)How to teach physics to your dog (2009) 6.0/10 on Open LibraryPublished Jan 1, 2009Chad Orzel has a conversation with his dog about quantum physics, using the questions her fictional interruptions allow him to ask. The treatment of a particle passing through a barrier it could not cross in classical physics gives the joke something solid to do. Choose it if a speculative question…0
  5. 5The Biggest Ideas in the Universe 1 (2022)The Biggest Ideas in the Universe 1 (2022)Published Jan 1, 2022Sean Carroll works through the equations behind motion, curved space, and general relativity. Choose this if the diagrams and verbal accounts you have read leave you wanting to see what the symbols actually say. The text builds up the needed ideas, with more mathematics than most introductions…0
  6. 6Why Does E=mc2?Why Does E=mc2?Brian Cox and Jeff Forshaw build up to the relationship between mass and energy by first showing what happens to familiar ideas about distance and time. The route takes patience, and the book gives you a reason to take it. By the time the equation appears, you have seen what assumptions make it…0
  7. 7Stuff Matters (2013)Stuff Matters (2013) 8.3/10 on Open LibraryPublished Jan 1, 2013Mark Miodownik gives materials such as glass and steel a close look at the scale where their properties start. The ordinary object is a good guide to what matters at that smaller scale. Read it when you want a reason two objects that look similarly solid can behave quite differently.0
  8. 8The chemical history of a candle (1894)The chemical history of a candle (1894)Published Jan 1, 1894Michael Faraday’s lectures use the flame of a candle to separate observations about the wick, melting wax, and the air around it. The demonstrations let you see which question each observation settles. Read them for the pleasure of following an explanation one step at a time, with the language and…0
  9. 9Chemistry for Breakfast (2021)Chemistry for Breakfast (2021)Published Jan 1, 2021Mai Thi Nguyen-Kim moves through an ordinary day and pauses to explain the chemistry that makes some of its rituals possible. An account of what happens when you brew coffee gives a familiar action somewhere to start. The pace is friendly to readers who want small explanations they can finish and…0
  10. 10Molecules (2016)Molecules (2016)Published Jan 1, 2016Theodore Gray uses photographs and molecular models to make an important scale change manageable. His treatment of soap is worth spending time on because a common experience with water and grease leads directly to the structure of a molecule. Give the illustrations as much attention as the text.0