Wednesday, June 4, 2008

George Johnson's "The Ten Most Beautiful Experiments"


I did not find this book as compelling as I had hoped. He met expectations in terms of arcane details and interesting facts. But I didn't find the stories compelling and I didn't get a feel that the book as a whole satisfied. These are just ten snapshots done with interesting details, but I didn't come away feeling I had learned any great insight into physics, these scientists, or any larger picture. It was entertaining but not enough to recommend it. I've enjoyed other books by George Johnson, so I was disappointed with this one. Maybe I'm just getting crotchety as I get older. Maybe I know "too much" for these tales to be riveting. Maybe I just plain expected too much. I don't know. I would recommend it as a read for somebody who is between high school science and college. But if you've had university level science classes, this book is too much cute historical detail and not enough meat-and-potatoes science.

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