Secrets Of The Universe: Discovering The Universal Laws Of Science

Secrets of the Universe: Discovering the Universal Laws of Science

Examines the laws of physics that govern the universe, covering such topics as planetary motion, Newton's three laws of motion, gravity, the behavior of gases, and quantum mechanics. Includes experiments and activities.From School Library JournalGr 6 Up From Archimedes through Heisenberg, Fleisher introduces the contributions of some of the most important scientists toward our understanding of the world around us. He offers a liberal scattering of experiments and familiar phenomena that are often accompanied by useful but dull line drawings to illustrate the natural laws he presents. His presentation is largely non-mathematical, but unfortunately where he does write out equations, Fleisher often uses non-standard notation, which may needlessly confuse readers who are inspired to read other texts. Anyone who reads the book straight through is likely to be annoyed by the frequent references to the appendix on inverse square laws, and to wish the material had been included in the text. The Romance of Physics (Scribners, 1966; o.p.) by Keith Cordon Irwin omits experiments but gives far more biographical information. (How could Fleisher talk about Archimedes shouting ``Eureka!'' without mentioning the problem of nondestructively testing the content of an irregularly shaped crown?) However, in clear prose and workaday format, Fleisher builds a solid framework of basic principles, skipping many of the particulars and lacking the colorful shelf appeal found in a scattershot treatment like Physics (Watts, 1983) by Nigel Henbest and Heather Couper. Margaret Chatham, formerly at Smithtown Lib . , N.Y.Copyright 1987 Cahners Business Information, Inc.