Interesting peek at how we saw the universe of the big and the small before 1990. The first half, the physics and cosmology part was the best. In the math sections it started losing my interest, Chaos Theory never really did meet its hype that the 80s promised and AI is more real than imagined. As with all essay type books there is some incoherence between the essays. Having one essay of Popper juxtaposed with one by Kuhn will only lead to confusion.

Many of the essays in here are predictably technical, which is forgivable. After all, mathematicians and scientists don't bring home the bacon based on their abilities to be enthralling writers. But if you can get through those drier parts - and perhaps leaf through one or two as you silently mutter something like "good God almighty I feel stupid" - this can yield some real gems. Richard Feynmans essays, for example, were predictably wonderful. The stories which were told every once in a while were really refreshing, and I felt that the mathematics section was really wonderful, especially for the average undergrad student like myself. I wasn't a huge fan of the poetry or philosophy sections, but Im glad he threw those in there nonetheless.

Again, I must reiterate that this can get super dry, especially if you don't have much of a previous education in science. It is not easy reading at all. If this is your first science book, I'd reccomend making sure you enjoy something like Hawking's A Brief History of Time first before diving into this.

Fascinating articles, truly a pleasure to read.

World Treasury of Physics, Astronomy, and Mathematics, Timothy Ferris, Ed., 1991, 859pp., ISBN 0316071366, Dewey 500.2, Library-of-Congress QC71.W67

Ninety-seven articles by the likes of Richard P. Feynman (1918-1988), Isaac Asimov, John Archibald Wheeler, many others.

Many of these articles recount the period when the scientists were still puzzling out a possible explanation of the thing they are observing.

So, such articles give a feel for what science actually is--trying to figure out how to explain something that doesn't fit the current idea of how the world is.

Some of the articles make clear that this window of questioning can be very small. From "well, how about this as a possible explanation," to, "could be . . . ," to "/I/ can't think of any other explanation either--you /must/ be right," and a new orthodox dogma is born. This process can be very quick.

Far the best writers in the set are Richard P. Feynman and Isaac Asimov. They are the ones who understand so thoroughly and communicate so clearly that they can tell you what's really going on without either glossing it over or burying it in incomprehensible jargon.

Niels Bohr's 1958 essay on Causality and Complementarity in quantum mechanics should've dispelled the confusion being spouted currently by people who should know better. "All information concerning atomic objects is derived from permanent marks--such as a spot on a photographic plate, caused by the impact of an electron. . . . The description of atomic phenomena has a perfectly objective character; no reference is made to any individual observer." (p. 803) "While, within the scope of classical physics, the interaction between object and apparatus can be neglected or, if necessary, compensated for, in quantum physics this interaction forms an inseparable part of the phenomenon. . . . The fact that repetition of the same experiment in general yields different recordings pertaining to the object, implies that an account of experience in this field must be expressed in statistical laws. (p. 804) "In the treatment of atomic problems, calculations are carried out with the help of the Schrödinger state function, from which the statistical laws governing observations obtainable under specified conditions can be deduced. It must be recognized, however, that we are here dealing with a purely symbolic procedure, the unambiguous physical interpretation of which requires a reference to a complete experimental arrangement. Disregard of this point has sometimes led to confusion, and in particular the use of phrases like 'disturbance of phenomena by observation' or 'creation of physical attributes of objects by measurements' is hardly compatible with common language and practical definition." (pp. 805-806)

Excerpts from
The Feynman Lectures on Physics
The Character of Physical Law, R. P. Feynman
Adding a Dimension, Isaac Asimov
Atomic Physics and Human Knowledge, Niels Bohr

The book answers questions such as
https://www.goodreads.com/trivia/work...

https://www.goodreads.com/trivia/auth...

I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/14361943

This book delivers a nice collection of short works by some of the most eminent physicists, astronomers and mathematicians of recent times.

Some essays (particularly in the astronomy/cosmology part) are necessarily a bit dated (given that the book was published in the early 90's, even before the so-called "dark energy" was "discovered") but even in this area there are brilliant, short articles written by Hawking, Sagan, and Penrose.

In the area of mathematics, there are beautiful essays by Alfred Adler (about the nature of mathematics), Mandelbrot (about fractals) and James Gleick (about Chaos Theory).
There is also a very interesting section dealing with philosophy of mathematics, where the reader can find articles of historical importance written by Wigner (about the "unreasonable effectiveness of mathematics in natural sciences") and J.D.Barrow ("what is mathematics?)".
There is an article discussing the life a very enigmatic mathematician, who represents the raw power of mathematical genius in its purest, intuitive manifestation: Ramanujan (whose raw talent has been ranked with that of giants such as Gauss and Euler).

There are also absolutely brilliant essays in the area of philosophy of science by some of the foremost representatives in this fascinating subject matter: Thomas Kuhn and Karl Popper.

After that, worth mentioning is a completely fascinating and memorable article by Heisenberg, recounting one of his many discussions with 2 other intellectual giants like him (Wolfgang Pauli and Niels Bohr).
And finally, a really interesting article by Einstein about the relationship between science and religion.

In summary, this is a popular science book (so there is no much of actual detailed scientific content - and there are a few articles that are dated or of no much interest, and there is virtually no maths), but I must say that, overall, this book was a very enjoyable read for me - and I found some of the essays really interesting, a few of them even memorable.

I once joked that if I could marry a book, this would be the one I married. It surveys a wide area, but in such a way that is deeply detailed but never overwhelming, and you can practically pick up any point in the book, dive right in, and enjoy.

KR - Read all the essays which were accessible and interesting to me (a person with little STEM expertise). It was a great pleasure to tour through fields unknown.

Einstein is a very good writer!

I still do not understand atomic particles.

i borrowed this from my physics teacher after i had told her that i plan on majoring in physics and having a carreer in space sciences

The World Treasury of Physics, Astronomy, and Mathematics
Timothy Ferris

Timothy Ferris edits quite the technical novel for describing a variety of topics in science and mathematics in The World Treasury of Physics, Astronomy, and Mathematics. Through his well researched novel, Ferris provides a wealth of detailed (and necessarily so, as many of the topics could be considered quite difficult to grasp) description on the history of many scientific breakthroughs and discoveries.

Ferris explores concepts from Einstein’s special relativity (most notably his equation for mass-energy equivalence, the widely known and referenced E=mc^2) and law of gravitation to feats of scientific thought (including a chapter on the implications of Schrodinger’s Cat on the study of quantum mechanics) to introductions to black holes and astrophysics.

Personally, I found Ferris’ novel to be very interesting. As one who has always been interested in STEM classes in school, especially mathematics, I found basically the novel to be very engaging. It may not quite be a “page turner;” however, its common asides from the depths of science are a refreshing addition to the novel. I have more recently declared my interest in pursuing mathematics in college; although, I may now have to consider astrophysics and astronomy as another field in which I may be interested.

I especially appreciated Ferris’ twelve page bibliography, as well as various primary sources intertwined in his own commentary throughout his writings.

Disclaimer: some major scientific discoveries have been made since the publication of this novel (e.g., dark energy), but The World Treasury is certainly still a valuable read nonetheless.


-- Submitted to Goodreads in partial fulfillment of the final assignment for AP English Language and Composition.

An enjoyable educational read.

the "holy book" of the third millennium, the trailer of the grandest narrative known to humanity so far