Do Colors Exist?: And Other Profound Physics Questions - Softcover

Cottrell, Seth Stannard

Softcover

ISBN 10: 3319643606 ISBN 13: 9783319643601

Publisher: Birkhäuser, 2018

Synopsis

Why do polished stones look wet? How does the Twin Paradox work? What if Jupiter were a star? How can we be sure that pi never repeats? How does a quantum computer break encryption? Discover the answers to these, and other profound physics questions!

This fascinating book presents a collection of articles based on conversations and correspondences between the author and complete strangers about physics and math. The author, a researcher in mathematical physics, responds to dozens of questions posed by inquiring minds from all over the world, ranging from the everyday to the profound.

Rather than unnecessarily complex explanations mired in mysterious terminology and symbols, the reader is presented with the reasoning, experiments, and mathematics in a casual, conversational, and often comical style. Neither over-simplified nor over-technical, the lucid and entertaining writing will guide the reader from each innocent question to a better understanding of the weirdand beautiful universe around us.

Advance praise for Do Colors Exist?:

“Every high school science teacher should have a copy of this book. The individual articles offer enrichment to those students who wish to go beyond a typical ‘dry curriculum’. The articles are very fun. I probably laughed out loud every 2-3 minutes. This is not easy to do. In fact, my children are interested in the book because they heard me laughing so much.”

 – Ken Ono, Emory University

About this title

About the Author

Seth Cottrell is a mathematical physicist and the creator and co-editor of Ask a Mathematician / Ask a Physicist.

From the Back Cover

Why do polished stones look wet? How does the Twin Paradox work? Why are orbits ellipses? How can we be sure that pi never repeats? How does a quantum computer break encryption? Discover the answers to these, and other profound physics questions!

This fascinating book presents a collection of articles based on conversations and correspondences between the author and complete strangers about physics and math. The author, a researcher in mathematical physics, responds to dozens of questions posed by inquiring minds from all over the world, ranging from the everyday to the profound.

Rather than unnecessarily complex explanations mired in mysterious terminology and symbols, the reader is presented with the reasoning, experiments, and mathematics in a casual, conversational, and often comical style. Neither over-simplified nor over-technical, the lucid and entertaining writing will guide the reader from the each innocent question to a better understanding of the weird and beautiful universe around us.

Advance praise for Do Colors Exist?:

“Every high school science teacher should have a copy of this book. The individual articles offer enrichment to those students who wish to go beyond a typical ‘dry curriculum’. The articles are very fun. I probably laughed out loud every 2-3 minutes. This is not easy to do. In fact, my children are interested in the book because they heard me laughing so much.”

 – Ken Ono, Emory University

Edition details

• Publisher: Birkhäuser
• Publication date: 2018
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 3319643606
• ISBN 13: 9783319643601
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 291