An Introduction to the Meaning and Structure of Physics is not nearly as big as Essential Sources in the Scientific Study of Consciousness but it more than makes up for it by including tons and tons of equations. Betty the Bureaucrat (who picked this book today) wanted me to make sure I pointed out that this book was published in 1968, and is probably hopelessly outdated. However, since it is an introduction, Captain ILL feels that it covers all the necessaries without getting bogged down by nonsense like baryon asymmetry or quantum chromodynamics. All the old favorites are here: Maxwell's equations, Feynman diagrams, and of course the Lorenz transformations. So check this one out if you care to learn about the universe or the things in it, or even if you just want to make yourself horribly confused. Oh, and thanks to the Cardboard Queen for holding the book for today's photo.
Monday, April 14, 2008
Interlibrary Loan of the day
An Introduction to the Meaning and Structure of Physics is not nearly as big as Essential Sources in the Scientific Study of Consciousness but it more than makes up for it by including tons and tons of equations. Betty the Bureaucrat (who picked this book today) wanted me to make sure I pointed out that this book was published in 1968, and is probably hopelessly outdated. However, since it is an introduction, Captain ILL feels that it covers all the necessaries without getting bogged down by nonsense like baryon asymmetry or quantum chromodynamics. All the old favorites are here: Maxwell's equations, Feynman diagrams, and of course the Lorenz transformations. So check this one out if you care to learn about the universe or the things in it, or even if you just want to make yourself horribly confused. Oh, and thanks to the Cardboard Queen for holding the book for today's photo.
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2 comments:
To start with, we're even. Now, until I read your post it never entered my mind that physics was something that could become 'outdated'. In a way, it's sort of scary...if we can't depend on physics being constant, what can we depend on? Having insider knowledge about the past of Captain ILL helps me to understand why the potential fluidity of physics doesn't alarm him. But what about the rest of us?
Yes, our understanding of the physical world does need updating from time to time. From that twit Aristotle who figured that big things fall faster than small things, to Newton who, despite being the smartest man who ever lived, failed to recognize that his "laws" of motion do not hold true in all frames of reference. But take heart, despite the non-universality of Newton's universal law of gravitation, you are in no danger of falling off the planet.
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