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Tales from the Annals of Physics
Penguin
December 2005
320 pages
ISBN: 0143036033
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Non-Fiction
Physics, once known as "natural philosophy," is the most basic science, explaining the world we live in, from the largest scale down to the very, very, very smallest, and our understanding of it has changed over many centuries. In Black Bodies and Quantum Cats, science writer Jennifer Ouellette traces key developments in the field, setting descriptions of the fundamentals of physics in their historical context as well as against a broad cultural backdrop. NewtonΓ―ΒΏΒ½s laws are illustrated via the film Addams Family Values, while Back to the Future demonstrates the finer points of special relativity. PoeΓ―ΒΏΒ½s "The Purloined Letter" serves to illuminate the mysterious nature of neutrinos, and Jeanette WintersonΓ―ΒΏΒ½s novel Gut Symmetries provides an elegant metaphorical framework for string theory. An enchanting and edifying read, Black Bodies and Quantum Cats shows that physics is not an arcane field of study but a profoundly human endeavorΓ―ΒΏΒ½and a fundamental part of our everyday world.
 Media BuzzWeekend Edition Sunday - April 2, 2006
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