What Einstein Told His Barber: More Scientific Answers to Everyday Questions

by Robert L. Wolke

Book Overview

What makes ice cubes cloudy? How do shark attacks make airplanes safer? Can a person traveling in a car at the speed of sound still hear the radio? Moreover, would they want to...' Do you often find yourself pondering life's little conundrums? Have you ever wondered why the ocean is blue? Or why birds don't get electrocuted when perching on high-voltage power lines? Robert L. Wolke, professor emeritus of chemistry at the University of Pittsburgh and...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0440508797
• ISBN13: 9780440508793
• Release Date: March 2000
• Publisher: Bantam Dell
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 0.84 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.0" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

What Einstein Told His Barber

Brilliant read, The author has the ability to make complex themes very understandable to the layman.

Easy to Understand Science Books

As the title saids, this book is about answering real life conundrums. There is a lot of "what if" questions that are readily answer. A reader with some background in high school or college physics will enjoy this book. As a student getting a science PhD, I find this book very entertaining to read. It answers questions in understandable English. Certain things I think can be explained a little better, like why the atmosphere is thinner at higher altitude. Or the difference between static friction and rolling friction. But these are just nicky-picky little things. Overall, this book is a joy to read. If you are curious about how things in life work or scenarios that you take for granted(like why birds don't get electrocuted standing on wires), you should pick up this book. You'll undoubtebly learn a lot.

Excellent entertaining education

The book is an easy reading if you have a little flair for natural sciences. Well chosen topics and arrangements. The humor is sometimes entertaining, sometimes odd. The "bar bet" category is redundant (imagine yourself offering a bar bet that it is not cold in outer space - what do you talk about in the pub???). Altogether better than many other competitors (like the series on "imponderables"), because it is a little more advanced, a little more serious, and a little more space devoting to each topic (typically a few pages a topic) .

Hugely entertaining

Robert Wolke has come up with a hugely entertaining book in What Einstein Told His Barber. Now, obviously, there's no shortage of "science oddity" books ... which set out to explain the basics of science by taking a lighthearted approach and using the everyday questions we all have (Why is the sky blue? How cold is it in space?) to demonstrate the basics of everything from biology to physics. What sets Wolke's book aside is partially his tone. He approaches the subject with a perfect blend of fact and fancy, filled with funny asides and even a few practical applications for what he's teaching (ranging from "try this at home" experiments to scientific bar bets you can use to win free beers). He's at his best when he's approaching questions that seem blindingly simple (What would the temperature be if it were twice as hot in the room? How much more UV light does an SPF 30 sunscreen block than an SPF 15?) and then explaining why the simple answer just isn't true. Without ever really descending into hand-waving, he explains a wide variety of phenomena in a really enjoyable way. Even though a lot of the questions are ones I knew the answers to (why does a whip crack? If you jump in a falling elevator just before it hits the ground, will you survive?) they were still entertaining and educational. Wolke manages to dig up intriguing little anecdotes and bits of information that I've never encountered in other, similar books. Wolke is a professor emeritus of chemistry, and I suppose all those years of teaching first-year chemistry courses are what give him such an accessible style. And refreshingly, Wolke isn't afraid to say when he doesn't know an answer ... like the never-ending debate over why your shower curtain is pulled in when you turn on the water. But What Einstein Told his Barber isn't without its flaws. While Wolke gently mocks Americans for refusing to accept the metric system, he (accidentally, I have to assume) goes on to make a stupid mistake while converting the speed of light from imperial to metric. The speed of light, of course, is 300 000 km per second, not 3 million -- which is the sort of error that just shouldn't be allowed to get past the proof-reading stage. Still, even after having my blue pencil sharpened by that little gaffe, I have to say I couldn't catch him out on anything else. He also includes the simplest (and easiest) way to convert Celsius to Fahrenheit I've ever seen in print (and I'm not just saying that because it's the way I always do it). This is a book that should appeal to general fans of science writing, as well as inquisitive kids. They'll have a host of questions (many of which they'd probably never considered before) answered, and learn in a way that's really fun and engaging. And so will the rest of us. --Discovery Canada, "Science Today"

Be the New Wiz Kid on the Block!

I'll bet nobody ever fell asleep in Professor Wolke's chemistry class! With his informal, humorous and chatty style, he truly makes science not only fun but also genuinely easy to understand for even the most scientifically challenged of us. His new book covers the whole universe--literally! Professor Wolke takes you on a vicarious trip to the bottom of our oceans, to the depths of outer space and to many familiar and unfamiliar places in between. On the way you will be amazed (the frigid tile floor and the cozy mat in your bathroom are the same temperature!), entertained (Why are oceans salty?), and educated (it is NOT more humid in the summer time because warm air holds more moisture). And just because this is a fun, "bedside" book, do not for an instant assume that it is somehow not serious or useful because it is both! Here you will learn some very practical applications of science. For example, how to convert Celsius to Fahrenheit, and vice versa, without complicated formulas; how to eliminate wrinkles from your clothing; how to instantly defog your car's windshield and rear window! This is a book that you will be unable to put down (don't worry--it's not a long read), but one that you won't have to since you'll carry around its unforgettable lessons forever!