Manchester City Library

Did you know that 2009 is the Year of Science?  It is, thanks to the Coalition on the Public Understanding of Science.  In high school, one of my jaded adolescent mantras was “I hate science,” but I now find it fascinating.  Not convinced?  Check out the Why Is Science Important? blog for scientists’ reflections on how scientific progress has changed, and continues to change, our world.  The blog’s creator, Alom Shaha, is making a film about the project, so many of the posts contain videos.  I also recommend the Understanding Science website, which is an interactive representation of the process of science.

The Year of Science theme for March is physics and technology.  A good place to start for web resources is PhysicsCentral, a project of the American Physical Society created to “communicate the excitement and importance of physics to everyone.”  And, similar to Lichen’s recent post about a few of our biology books, here are a few physics titles from our collections.  Click on the links for more information from our catalog.

Books for Youth—

How Ben Franklin Stole the Lightning by Rosalyn Schanzer – Biography of the 18th century intellectual famous for (among many other things) his don’t-try-this-at-home key & kite experiment.

Isaac Newton by Kathleen Krull – From the book jacket:

What qualities best characterize Isaac Newton?  How about secretive, vindictive, withdrawn, obsessive, and, oh, yes, brilliant.  Here was a man with an imagination so large that, just “by thinking on it,” he invented a new branch of math—calculus—and figured out the scientific explanation of gravity.  Yet Newton was so small-minded that he tried to destroy other scientists who dared question his findings.

Odd Boy Out: Young Albert Einstein by Don Brown – The last line of this book says it best:  “For the world, Einstein comes to mean not fat baby, or angry child, or odd boy, but great thinker.”

Q Is for Quark by David M. Schwartz and Kim Doner – Not strictly a physics book, but has content about physics.  Discusses 26 scientific concepts, one for each letter of the alphabet.

Books for Adults—

The Mystery of the Missing Antimatter by Helen R. Quinn and Yossi Nir – From the book jacket:

In the first fraction of a second after the Big Bang lingers a question at the heart of our very existence:  why does the universe contain matter but almost no antimatter?  The laws of physics tell us that equal amounts of matter and antimatter were produced in the early universe—but then, something odd happened. . . .

The Physics of Superheroes by James Kakalios – From the book jacket:

If superheroes stepped off the comic-book page or silver screen and into reality, could they actually work their wonders in a world constrained by the laws of physics?

Uncertainty: Einstein, Heisenberg, Bohr, and the Struggle for the Soul of Science by David Lindley   Don’t let the mile-long title fool you—the writing is definitely accessible.  From the book jacket:

The remarkable story of a startling scientific idea that ignited a battle among the greatest minds of the twentieth century and profoundly influenced intellectual inquiry in fields ranging from physics to literary criticism, anthropology, and journalism.

Why Beauty is Truth: A History of Symmetry by Ian Stewart – Stewart is my favorite living genius mathematician.  His research and theories are directly related to the world of physics.  From the book jacket:

Symmetry has been a key idea for artists, architects, and musicians for centuries, but within mathematics it remained, until very recently, an arcane pursuit.  In the twentieth century, however, symmetry emerged as central to the most fundamental ideas in physics and cosmology.  Why Beauty is Truth tells its history, from ancient Babylon to twenty-first century physics.

-Amy G.