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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Rip off Marketing scam,
By
This review is from: The Matchbox That Ate a Forty-Ton Truck: What Everyday Things Tell Us about the Universe (Hardcover)
This is the same book as "We need to talk about kelvin". EXCACLY the same with a different title. Nowhere in the amazon description does it state this. This practice is becoming more and more common. This book is also just a slight re-hash of "quantum theory cannot hurt you". If you have this and "the magic furnace" you do not need any more of Chowns books as he seems to be milking the same cow. Shame really as he is easy to read and explains complex concepts really well. Pity he doesn't have the imagination to branch out and produce any new work. He also has the annoying habit of constantly referencing his own books at time it's like reading a Marcus Chown advert. Avoid at all costsRIP OFF
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
trickery?,
This review is from: The Matchbox That Ate a Forty-Ton Truck: What Everyday Things Tell Us about the Universe (Hardcover)
this book is identical to Marcus Chown's other book "We need to talk about Kelvin" which I already own.There was no mention of this when I bought it so i feel cheated and ripped off. thanks.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
3.0 out of 5 stars (5 customer reviews) 4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Phenomenal Look at Why Ordinary Things Are Truly Extraordinary,
By Paul Halpern "Physicist and Writer" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Matchbox That Ate a Forty-Ton Truck: What Everyday Things Tell Us about the Universe (Hardcover)
Marcus Chown has a marvellous gift for rendering cutting-edge science extremely accessible and entertaining. His latest work, "The Matchbox that Ate a Forty-Ton Truck," is a brilliant excursion through everyday life, showing what we might learn about the universe from things we see around us, including our own reflections in window glass, the variety of chemical elements, darkness at night and so forth. From simple phenomena, Chown transports readers on spectacular journeys through the realms of quantum physics, cosmology and other topics in modern science, explaining difficult concepts in a clear, methodical fashion. He weaves each tale with fascinating and humorous anecdotes about pivotal figures such as Fred Hoyle, Wolfgang Pauli and many other scientific luminaries, as well as literary references to Blake, Whitman, Poe and others. "Matchbox" will truly ignite your interest in science! Highly recommended!-Paul Halpern Author, Collider: The Search for the World's Smallest Particles 3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A good introduction to the science of physics and how it's done,
By Atheen M. Wilson "Atheen" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Matchbox That Ate a Forty-Ton Truck: What Everyday Things Tell Us about the Universe (Hardcover)
"The Matchbox that Ate a Forty-ton Truck," by Marcus Chown, partakes more heavily of simile than of prestidigitation, especially in Part One on atoms. The book is a charming view of what common observations of the world around us tells or implies about the realities of physics. However, as one might expect from a volume that purports to explain particle physics, solar physics and the Big Bang theory in 216 pages, a lot is left out of the story.I felt a little overwhelmed by the sheer number of descriptive illustrations in Part One. At times I was more caught up in the visualization of these than I was in discovering the underlying principle the author was discussing by their use. If nothing else, the experience made it much clearer to me why professional physicists prefer to think and communicate in formulae rather than in words; at some point in time word descriptions simply become too ponderous. The remaining two parts were very clever. Part Two presents the research on the creation of the elements, carrying the reader through the thinking process that ultimately brought understanding, not only of chemical origins, but of solar anatomy and physiology. Part Three discusses the development of the Big Bang theory and some of the issues that have arisen because of it--the need for a theory of quantum gravity being one of them. My favorite part of the entire book is the last chapter, "Earth's Full, Go Home." Here the author presents the range of speculation about intelligent life in the universe and why, putative UFOs aside, we have yet to have incontrovertible evidence of extraterrestrial life. Some of the more recent suggestions are quite interesting. I'm just not sure of how much they--or in fact of any of the earlier theories--are just reflections of where we are as a species ourselves. It's also amazing to me that we care; we do have tremendous issues on our own planet with which to deal, and the existence or nonexistence of aliens seems paltry by comparison. All in all, the book is a good introduction to how physics is done. The questions that every day phenomenon present to an inquiring mind and the ways that such minds approach their solution is clearly demonstrated by the book. The fact that science is a collaborative effort is revealed by the history of the research and the "tweaking" of various theories. It becomes evident through the narrative, too, that sometimes turning things upside down can produce sensational results. 1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
middling attempt,
By reader - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Matchbox That Ate a Forty-Ton Truck: What Everyday Things Tell Us about the Universe (Hardcover)
On the plus side, the author tries to raise the bara bit in bringing the reader closer to the front lines of physics research. However, parts show signs of haste and or lack of editing. In particular, chapter 10 on entropy is rather loosely written. Notice the sloppy connection between information and entropy as well as the outright howler in footnote #8 . A little assistance from a knowledgeable editor might have resulted in a much better effort. |
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