E=mc2: The Great Ideas That Shaped Our World

by Paul Kriwaczek and Pete Moore

Book Overview

Here's a friendly, expert, and well-illustrated guide that will steer non-scientists through the modern maze of knowledge, from E=mc2 to extraterrestrial life, from radioactive elements to quantum... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1586636995
• ISBN13: 9781586636999
• Release Date: September 2002
• Publisher: Friedman/Fairfax Publishing
• Length: 192 Pages
• Weight: 1.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 7.1" x 10.4"
• Age Range: 8 to 12 years
• Grade Range: Grades 3 to 7

Customer Reviews

Quite a glossy and well formatted production

This is a wonderful book that documents the greatest scientific achievements of the world, from the ancients like Thales, to great modern thinkers like Einstein and John Nash. "E=mc2" is divided into 11 chapters that are categorised into subjects like; `the structure of nature', `the universe', `mathematics' and `the brain'. In each of these 11 categories are listed the main contributing scientists. Each scientist is given two pages with which is described what their contribution was, and a brief time-line about the scientist, including; birth date, graduation date and details, contribution date and death, amongst other notable dates. This is a very informative book that provides a great reference source for the student or lover of science. The book is set out in an attractive format and is very easy and enjoyable to read. It doesn't go into much depth with Moore only spending two pages per person, with one of the two pages taken up by a photo and a small introduction. Quite a glossy and aesthetically pleasing work in all. Five Stars

Great Biography Factoid Book

This book provides a short 1-3 page biography for each of the most influencial scientists/thinkers that have helped shape the world we live in today. I gave it only 4 stars because there are some grammatical errors throughout the text. These errors however, do not affect the content. Great book!

Not a Book About Einstein

REVIEW: This book is a good but brief (2 pages or less each) overview of about 75 individuals whose ideas have greatly influenced the world. It is targeted to a general audience and as it is fairly short its purpose is merely to introduce the individuals and their main influential ideas.The book focuses mainly on Western civilization and then primarily on scientific and technical achievements. All the familiar names are here: Plato, Einstein, Newton, Darwin, Marx and many others not so famous. The author can easily be criticized for leaving out many important ideas, especially social or non-technical innovations, but this could probably be said about anyone's top 75 list of great ideas. If you are looking for a relatively easy to read book that introduces some of the most important thinkers of the past 4000 years, this book will do. Just don't expect a comprehensive book or a thorough explanation of the ideas. It may also make a good, light reference book for your bookshelf.STRENGTHS: I especially liked the inclusion of a picture of each individual and some discussion of the person and not just their ideas. The book is easy to read and not too technical.WEAKNESSES: As one would expect of a book of such breadth, there is not much depth to each discussion. Additionally, while not really affecting content, I think the book could have been a little more "professionally done". I found too many errors missed by editing and I thought the title and book cover very misleading (only a small portion of the book relates to Einstein). I also noticed some style changes that may indicate different authorship for certain sections.

Great layman's book

This book briefly describes historical figures who "shaped" our world in terms of science. Two or three pages are alotted for each person briefly describing their lives and accomplishments. If you're looking for equations and proofs then this isn't the book for you; however, if you want a basic understanding of important people of science and their concepts than this may be what you're looking for.