Oct 05, 2001 04:15 PM
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This review is basically continuation of my first on 5 best books but since I found that wring two reviews on same topic is not possible, I am writing in different category, but as you will find both are related.
I have mentioned about the impossibility of the task to select 5 best books in my first review on the topic. In my first one I tried to give a selection of few books which have helped me to understand ourselves.
As a human being we have the faculty to wonder, this wonder coupled with the search of answer has yielded us the knowledge and because of the knowledge we have progressed. Since the beginning of civilization, man has tried to understand the mystery of universe and the matter around us. In the quest to know few most brilliant of us have spent their lives and we the laters are reaping the benefit. But have we understood everything, have we unfolded the mystery of universe? I tried to find answer to my queries in books and being a commoner in such ones which I can understand. I came across few, which have helped me a lot to understand at least something about the mystery of the universe.
The books about which I going to write is again few of the many excellent books on the subject and written in simple language (without alpha, beta, gamma the favorites of the Physicists).
Brighter Than A Thousand Suns by R Junk:- This is an excellent book written in most interesting way, the story is based on famous or rather infamous ‘Manhattan Project’ in which the atomic explosion device was designed. In the story line author has taken us through the Modern Physics in very lucid manner with lot of detailing, where ever required and the story moves almost like a thriller but ultimately it has achieved the goal. I highly recommend this book specifically to young ones to form a good idea on Modern Physics and its history.
The Dancing Wu Li Masters by Gary Zukav:- Undoubtedly a masterpiece to know about the mind expanding discoveries of advanced Physics specially for those who do not have scientific background. Zukav has written this book in beautiful clear language without mathematical equations and covered the exciting new theories that are beginning to embrace the ultimate nature of our universe. I have never come across such a simple but complete description of a complex theory like ‘Theory of Relativity’. I can finish with a comment on this book in Times ‘....Stripped of mathematics, Physics becomes pure enchantment’.
The First Three Minutes by Steven Weinberg:- I have come across very few books for sheer intellectual excitement. Weinberg is famous physicist and he was awarded Nobel Prize in 1979, but he dealt the complex subject of ‘ Formation of Universe’ in such a lucid manner and with clarity that for people with non physics background, it fairly easy to understand the synthesis between the physics of the elementary particles and the history of the early universe.
In this book Weinberg basically tried to analyze the big bang and what happened immediately after because of which the universe has achieved its present character.
A Brief History of Time by Stefen W Hawking:- S W Hawking is one of the most brilliant physicist of our time. He is also an example of the victory of mind over the body, he is suffering from rare Motor Neuron disease and because of Tracheotomy he has lost his voice but still with help of speech synthesizer and from his wheel chair he has given the modern physics tremendous insight.
This book is an excellent piece to have a feeling of the abstract conception of the fourth dimension which is one of the most difficult to understand but essential to understand the universe from big bang to black hole. This book requires certain amount of concentration and not very easy reading but still with certain devotion one can get immensely rich insight from this book.
Sophie,s World by Jostein Gaarder:- This is a book on history of philosophy written for the commoner. The main character of the book Sophie Amundsen one day finds two questions in her mail when she came home from school, the questions were ‘WHO ARE YOU?’ and ‘WHERE DOES THE WORLD COME FROM?’, these two questions were the starting of her journey to find out the truth through guidance from her unknown mailer.
This book take us through the history of philosophy from Socrates to Santre and beyond since the truth is far more complicated than we can imagine, this is a remarkable book and written in novel style hence very much enjoyable.
There are many great books on the area of understanding the matter and universe and in the area of synthesis between science and philosophy, I have touched only few.
If my review can be of some value to my fellow Mouthshutters I will be delighted.
Thank You
