New forum/subforum suggestion: science/popular science book reviews

[neutralino]

There are many science books out there, especially popular science books from which one may turn to in order to obtain a lay-persons working knowledge of certain scientific concepts. But, how does one pick a specific book without being disappointed, since most of the reivews that one will find on each book will be positive!

I suggest that we could have a subforum on this topic, in which perhaps one member could write a brief review on a popular science (or even an introductory science) book, and then other members who have read the book could add their comments in an attempt to assist people in choosing a book tailored to their own specific needs.

I invite anyone else's comments on this: whether they would find it useful, or would like to participate in this: perhaps we could discuss a book each month that is relevant to the monthly theme? Of course, I don't know if this has been tried before and deemed unsuccessful, so apologies if this is the case! I personally feel that an introductory knowledge of different areas of science is imperitive to anyone who is working to find a theory of everything, and this is one way in which people could choose a book with some prior knowledge to its relevance.

[neutralino]

Oh, and incase anyone is interested, I should add the main reason I thought about this. I was viewing the home page, and saw a link to Roger Penrose's most current book, Road to Reality, and I thought "I've heard about that book, but wonder whether it's any good." Thus, I thought this forum would be a good idea to answer questions like that!

Anyway, again, thoughts and comments are most welcome.

[Graybeard]

Good idea!

I find the 'God Particle' by Leon Lederman. 1993 still a great reference book. He doesn't seem to have any particular axe to grind ... and he tells it from the experimental point of view ... He thinks he is a comedian and he is a bit of a wanker! Despite the fact that he continually confuses the sex of God, overall I like the concepts and they are explained in an easy to understand sequence.

One of the best entertaining science 'stories' I have read comes from a 'A Treasury of Science' and the story I refer to is 'Turtle Eggs for Agazzi'.

It tells the story of a very humble lecturer's part in the completion of Agazzi's book and that everyone's input has an unforseen and intangible importance. Its probably long out of print now so it is probably safe to post it here without any copyright hassles.

Let me know if anyone is interested.

cool bananas ... greg

[neutralino]

I've not heard of either of those books but, yes, a review of those would be welcomed!

Perhaps we could have a couple of subforums; one for novels/popular books and one for introductory science books. I only mention this since I have just given a recommended books list in another thread on special relativity, so it might be nice if we could have a list with short reviews on these and other introductory science books.

Again, I welcome comments from others. Would you find such a forum useful? Would you be willing to participate?

[PoPpAScience]

Yes Graybeard, the 'God Particle' by Leon Lederman is a great book to read. I read it when it first came out, and it helped me, along with other books like it, to understand the difficult concepts of Particle science. I highly recommend this book, especially for those that are having a hard time with the wordings of more technical books on the subject.

[Graybeard]

I like it ..... I will post a review here and Neutralino you can cut and paste it where ever you wish to ....

But, I don't think I am the best to review the 'God Particle'. Allen perhaps you would like to review it ?? If not I will have a go.

I think the reviews are a great idea.

cool bananas ... greg

(am at work now so will try to do some reviews tonite)

[PoPpAScience]

I like it ..... I will post a review here and Neutralino you can cut and paste it where ever you wish to ....

But, I don't think I am the best to review the 'God Particle'. Allen perhaps you would like to review it ?? If not I will have a go.

I think the reviews are a great idea.

cool bananas ... greg

(am at work now so will try to do some reviews tonite)

I think you should review it Greg, it has been over a decade since I read it. I just remember how much I enjoyed it. It was very easy reading and made you want to read every single word. If I was going to advise a newbie on a book about particle physics, I would definitely suggest the "God Particle" as a good starting point.

I also think reviews are a good idea.

[neutralino]

I like it ..... I will post a review here and Neutralino you can cut and paste it where ever you wish to ....

But, I don't think I am the best to review the 'God Particle'. Allen perhaps you would like to review it ?? If not I will have a go.

I think the reviews are a great idea.

cool bananas ... greg

(am at work now so will try to do some reviews tonite)

I'm glad you like my idea! However, can I ask that you post somewhere in cosmology/physics (preferably make a new thread in general physics) so then I can move it around, since I can't move things from this forum, and don't want to make more work for Robert! We can then move the thread into the appropriate place if, and when, the idea gets ok'ed.

Thanks for your input!

[Robert]

This is a great idea and one I've tried in the past.

The following forums are on longer accessible via menu/links, but I've placed the links below so you can see what was tried in the past. I stopped them due to lack of interest, but I think members didn't really know they existed. We have more traffic now so they may do better next time. Anyway, it's on my rather large todo list to revive this or something similar.

Books For In-Depth Discussion - Discussion threads on books

Study Hall - The idea here was to sponsor a book every month that would be read and discussed as a group, similar to the monthly theme I've started.

Check these out and let me know what you think. I'll bring one or both of these features back if there's enough interest.

[austintorn@aol.com]

Often, a book can be boiled down to a few main points.

In 'The Trouble with Physics', by Lee Smolin, he notes that string theory is background-dependent; however, since the background evolves in time, such as gravity acting on itself, we really need a background-independent theory. M-"theory" wishes to be one such, but it doesn't exist even in name only, for the 'M' doesn't stand for anything yet and it isn't a theory!

String theory got any result it wanted by the choice of a background.

As for other parts of the book, he talks about Double Special Relativity, which I put in the eternally evolving universe thread.

The rest of the book was about how string theory wasted 30 years, although there were, as always, a few side benefits, like insights into math.