Physics for Entertainment
by admin on September 15, 2009
From Publishers Weekly
The impetus to republish this once-popular miscellany by an early–20th-century Russian scientist stems from the notoriety of reclusive Russian mathematician Grigori Perelman (no relation), who was awarded, and declined, the Fields Medal for proving the Poincaré conjecture. Grigori claimed he was inspired by Yakov’s book as a child, and certainly children often ask about things like whether an invisible man is able to see, or what you would experience if you fell all the way through the center of the earth. Each chapter is devoted to a scientific principle, such as mechanics, heat, and properties of liquids and gases. Perelman nods to science fiction writers from Cyrano de Bergerac to Mark Twain and H.G [Read More...]
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{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
This book was extremely popular in India during 1970 till 1990. MIR publishers distributed highly subsidized copies of many popoular science books in India. After fall of USSR the MIR publishers availability stopped completely. This was one of most bought popular science books among my generation. A very well written book on physics as it applies to most common observations and phenomenon. What is amazing is description of “what if” scenarios around physical events. Great to see this available in reprint.
Like some of the other reviewers, I too grew up reading Yakov Perelman’s excellent books supplied by Mir publishers in India. The book was sold for Rs. 2 in the early 80s (about $0.20 in those days - cheap even at that time). Besides Phsics for Entertainment, I read “Figures for fun” and “Algebra can be fun”. These are all excellent books to not only inform a person about physics and mathematics in an entertaining manner, but also sufficiently provocative to stimulate creative thinking.
One of the earlier reviewers states that volume 1 is not available in English. Fortunately, it is available at this link:
http://www.archive.org/details/physicsforentert035428mbp ;
Since the book was first published in 1913, I assume the copyright is long passed. The quality of the scanned copy is excellent, and it would wonderful if this book could be reprinted as well.
This delightful little book (final Russian edition, 1936) presents modern physics in a way that makes it accessible to adults and young people alike, especially because the author asks such whimsical questions as: “Can an invisible man see?” “Can Archimedes have moved the world?” “Who invented the word ‘Gas’?” “How much does Lightning cost?” Why is a rabbit cross-eyed?” and “Is boiling water always hot?” Yakov Perelman, a Russian scientist who perished in the disastrous 900 day Blockade of Leningrad by the Germans during World War II, wanted people to think in “‘physical categories’” and thus set up the book in chapters that reflect them. He however looks for examples of scientific phenomena in the world of fiction as well as of fact, particularly in works by Jules Verne, H. G. Wells, and even Mark Twain. His prose style appeals to both humanists and scientists. As an added bonus, its format (typesetting, etc) will give bibliophiles many hours of satisfying perusing.[ASIN:1401309216 Physics for Entertainment]