Categorieson the Beauty of Physics: Essential Physics Concepts and Their Companions in Art & Literature

by John Morse, Emiliano Sefusatti, Hilary Thayer Hamann

Book Overview

Categories On the Beauty of Physics is a multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary educational book that uses art, and information from a variety of disciplines to facilitate the readers encounter with... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0974026638
• ISBN13: 9780974026633
• Release Date: January 2006
• Publisher: Vernacular Press
• Length: 280 Pages
• Weight: 1.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.3" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

The Beauty of Physics

"Categories on the Beauty of Physics" is a science book for the literary and art minded person. The book is an all around delight. The pages are heavy, glossy paper and all the original art and the reproductions are in full color. The book is composed of 39 "chapters." Each chapter is a term used in physics from acceleration to force to mass to work. The chapter begins with a passage from a book that illustrates the term under discussion. The passages come from science books and literature as well as philosophy and psychology. To give you an idea, Ben Franklin is used for electricity; "Don Quixote" for entropy; "Hamlet" for uncertainty. The passage is then followed by a dictionary definition of the term. Next is an original piece of collage art followed by a physicist's single page explanation of the concept, a list of related terms in the book, and the equation (if there is one). Next comes a section called "Think About It" that supplements the physicist's explanation and includes related themes. After this is "Read About It." This is my favorite section because it lists two or three books and sometimes films, that further illustrate the concept. All recommended materials were verified by the editors to be readily found in libraries and bookstores. To be sure, quite a number of science books are suggested, but none of them are textbooks or for a specialized audience. But not all of the books are science books. For example, in the chapter on energy, the books recommended are "Nuclear Madness: What You Can Do" by Helen Caldicott and "Physics for Poets" by Robert March. The "Read About It" section is followed by "Talk About It." Here can be found questions to ponder and discuss such as a few found in "Entropy" which ask "Is decay always undesirable? Can entropy be seen as the progression from whole to particulate? Are rare objects precious because they cannot be remade or regenerated?" Once your brain is whirling from the questions, there is a photo of a work of art that further illustrates the term. For instance, Mary Cassatt's "The Bath" is used for the "Orbit" chapter. The chapter concludes with a short "review" of the book from which the chapter's opening passage was taken. At the back of the book, the editors kindly provide a bibliography that includes all of these books as well as all of the books from the "Read About It" sections. And let me just say, my TBR list has several new additions. What I liked about this book is that it not only makes the concepts easy to understand, but it also provides a wider context for them. I've not come across any other book that can bring a concept like "particle" to life in science (atoms, electrons, dark matter), art ("A Sunday in La Grande Jatte" by Seurat) and literature ("Swann's Way" by Proust). It really shows the interconnections between art and science and just how much they depend upon each other. "Catergories on the Beauty of Physics" is definitely worth your time.

Important, Original, Accessible, Lovely Book

This marvelous book offers to the reader a seductive marriage of ideas, at once original and so "right" that suddenly it seems the only way to view art and science. As a science teacher I want all my colleagues and students to get to know Categories on the Beauty of Physics. Particularly impressive: once the artwork gets and holds the eye and the mind, then the science writing seems so accessible that the whole intellectual sensation is one of joyous comfort with the broad ideas and deep concepts of physics. Also important: the reader can put the book down often, or open it to any page, or read it for long periods at a time, and get the same rush of recognition of rightness. Additionally, John Morse's artwork is gorgeous in its own right and edifying to the concepts.

Perfect family gift!

After reading "Anthropology of an American Girl" I was eager to know where Hamman's next work would take her readers. "Categories on the Beauty of Physics" is a lucid and beautiful encycopedia that helps us make stronger connections between science and art. As it is appropriate for adults and older children, it would make a great family gift to be cherished as an heirloom.

Captivating!

I cannot fathom how the idea for such a book arises; I can only say that I am grateful. Each page gives insight to the keen and fine mind behind its creation. I was and am a fan of Hamann's previous works, and this latest addition has me anxious for the completion of her next project, whatever that may be.

Great beauty, and elegant, intelligent prose

We live in a world where the physics has become increasingly relevant to day to day living. The fast pace of change, the impact of technology (especially Nanotechnology), and the way we perceive ourselves and our place in the universe raises philosophical questions which impact on the way we live and the choices we make about our lives. Physics may be increasingly complex and mathematical at the advanced scientific level, but for the layman who looks up into the sky at night, or who is trying to make sense of life and death in the context of what we understand about molecular behaviour, it is all poetry, and sometimes very evocative/suggestive poetry. Programs like the Nova's version of Brian Greene's The Elegant Universe or books like Bill Bryson's A Short History of Nearly Everything have been phenomenally popular, bridging a gulf between innovative, original and thought provoking material aimed at an intelligent adult audience and taking the very complex material of physics/science and turning it into something that anyone can understand. Categories -- On the Beauty of Physics is in the same mould. This is physics in all its poetic glory, presented in true Renaissance style, in conjunction with great art, literature and in the context of daily life so that anyone can partake of the richness and vastness of the physical universe. It may be true that you can't judge a book by its cover, but Categories -- On the Beauty of Physics is so attractive that it could easily grace the living room coffee table. In addition to the rich understated turquoise cover and the homage to innovators in its turquoise and brown liner, the book features paper much thicker and satiny than usual, is handsewn, and has a sturdy rich feel that makes you want to handle it with reverence. But Categories -- On the Beauty of Physics is more than just a pretty book. There are thirty nine alphabetised chapters, each containing a single physics concept, with the concepts being chosen for their general applicability, interest, and global importance to the world of physics. This includes such things like "acceleration," "angular velocity," "antimatter," "chaos," "electricity," "entropy," "gravity, "motion," "space - time" and "wave" to name just a few. For each concept, there is a featured literary quote from a work which has some relationship to the term. Works chosen are varied in style, genre, era, and focus, but are always complex enough for the reader's perceptions to be challenged. The works tend towards the classic, with quotations ranging from nonfiction works like Marshall McLuhan's Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man to Cervantes Don Quixote. Even if you are, like me, familiar with many of the works cited, the context is such a new one that the work will seem new and provocative. Think, for example, of Thoreau's Walden in conjunction with "Heat," Proust's Swann's Way in conjunction with "Particle," or Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury in conjunction with "Field