First You Build a Cloud: And Other Reflections on Physics as a Way of Life

Rating:
Summary: Outstanding Exposition of Modern Physics
Review: ...There is no way an author can convey the enthusiasm of science to people with no scientific background whatsoever... However, for the average (and above) person interested in how science informs everyday life, this is one of the best books to own. It is particularly effective if you have a college background in the physical sciences or math. Below I review some of the stronger, as well as a few weaker, points of the book.

First, K.C. Cole effectively conveys the spirit of science in a nonmathematical (i.e. more visual and instinctive) way. It is a shame that almost all physics books are written so informally that the reader has to labor hard to enjoy the process (as well as results) of physics. Miss Cole, on the other hand, brings home in plain language the beauty of science. She is not afraid to use everyday examples to make physics tangeable to the average person.

For example, she uses the analogy of the gears in a car (reverse, first, second... fifth) to explain that quantum mechanics is not that foreign afterall. I think her very human approach to science is desirable and effective. When people see how science affects every aspect of their daily lives, they WILL care about it. The ancient Greek philosopher Socrates started out as a natural scientist, but eventually became a philosopher because he saw that the nature of the human life matters as much as physical science. And (at leat two and a half millenia ago) it was not clear that science could lead to ethics. The scientists that Cole has chosen to convey the language of science to the general public (the Ancient Greeks, the Oppenheimer brothers, her "friend the physicist" Weisskopf, Feynman, Einstein, Gould, Sir James Jeans, and others) were multifaceted personalities who cared deeply about conveying science to the average person, as well as the way in which science affects human lives.

Compared to heavyweight physicists such as Brian Greene or Michio Kaku, K.C. Cole is even more passionate about the role of science, yet does not avoid using rigorous science when appropriate. The book (rightly so) focuses mostly on modern physics. Quantum physics is covered in detail spread out in several chapters. This is useful because there is no other branch of physics that leads more naturally to philosophy.

While this is not a "how things work" book, it uses selective examples to point out how much more we now know than our predecessors. She points out that quantum physics actually explains the stability and composition of the world, or ts "grainness" (i.e. classical physics allows for an infinite number of atomic configurations -- elements -- but life can only propagate if there is a limited set of elements which can be reused). And the sections that deal with light ... are especially lucid, relevant, and engaging.

Now, some of the weaker points in the book include minor errors in scientific reasoning... (However, in) spite of these minor defects, the book has the three important Es: it is enlightening, entertaining, engaiging. The book is definitely worth reading or recommending to scientifically bent people. K.C. Cole conveys the universal portrait of the scientist who deeply cares not only about his/her research but also about making it available for intellectual enjoyment to the masses...

Rating:
Summary: The ideas of modern physics made delectable
Review: Cole has taken great pains in shaping a book that informs and delights in the tradition of Guy Murchie, whose eminently readable Music of the Spheres certainly served as an inspiration. In effect (since this is a complete reworking of her 1984 book, Sympathetic Vibrations) Cole wrote this book twice, the second time with the benefit of fifteen years of experience under her belt. It's clear that she wanted to accomplish two things: one, provide access to the ideas of physics to a wide readership; and two, convey the enthusiasm and awesome delight for physics found in the work of the greats like Newton, Einstein, Gamow, Bohr, Feynman and the Oppenheimer brothers.

She succeeds. This is science writing for a popular audience at its finest. As such it is a perfect gift especially for a young person interested in science, or for anyone who would like to know more about the way physicists view our world. It is a work of love filled with luscious quotes from the great scientists and others who have shaped our modern view of the universe. In a sense it is a celebration of the scientific view of life.

I have read Cole's The Universe and the Teacup: The Mathematics of Truth and Beauty (1998) which enjoyed a well-deserved popular success, but I can tell you, this is an even better book. There is a sincerity and depth of earnestness here that delights. Cole's warm and human style brings the world of modern physics to life.

Rating:
Summary: Very well written examination of fundamental physics.
Review: I've read a lot of science books over the years. Rarely have I found one as elegant and lucid as this. Most of the concepts in the book were not new to me (Relativity, Quantum Mechanics), but they were presented in fresh, engaging ways that caused me to stretch my thinking. I should think most lay people will find this a comfortable, fun examination of concepts that are often (usually?) difficult. I also recently read Brian Greene's The Elegant Universe, which covers a lot of the same ground. Green's book is thorough and stimulating, but Cole's book is by far better written: clear, entertaining, thought-provoking, even moving and "spiritual." I enjoyed it immensely.

Rating:
Summary: Philosophy of Science
Review: K.C. Cole in her profession as a journalist has set herself to write science for the general public. With an animated and direct prose, use of analogies, and extensively quoting from a wide array of distinguished scientists, Cole brings physics into everyday life. This a book that my seem superficial to the eyes of readers who are seeking in-depth scientific data, formulas and theories, and they might be right in thinking so. For Cole the idea that science is inseparable from philosophy is a theme that pervades her book. Her purpose therefore, is to share and explain the most basic concepts of modern physics with those who are still having trouble in grasping the concepts of gravity, elementary particles, matter, space, time, quantum mechanics, and bring forth how present day physics stands with respect to elementary philosophical issues.

Consequently, we are faced with the fact that relativity and quantum theory have completely changed the way we think about everything from time and space to energy and matter. Very little in science is actually wrong and nothing in science is ever completely right. Scientific truths are better regarded as relationships holding in some limited domain. Things must be learned only to be unlearned again, or more likely, to be corrected. The philosophical perspective shows that there are many windows to reality and human science no longer experiences the world through our rather "narrow" senses. Present day physics forces us (whether we like it or not) to accept complementarity: because one view is right, the opposite view isn't necessarily wrong! The very reality of the order in random events has totally altered the meaning of our notion of causes. We are left with the further and perhaps more fundamental paradox that chance follows laws!

When science looks into the future the vision is of how much needs to be further learned and explored in an open realm where dogmas have no place. This is what makes this unpretentious science book worth reading.

Rating:
Summary: physics for a democratic society
Review: K.C. Cole's book is not for people who already know, or think they know, everything about physics. It's for people who like to marvel at the wonders of the natural world but find them all too often obscured by the jargon and equations of professional scientists. There is none of that here. The author stands firm for accessibility, and her presentation is lucid and clear. She brings readers the substance of physical science without the pedantry that weighs down many other such expositions. In short, it's an excellent guide to a wide range of fundamental concepts in physics, exploiting every opportunity to show how they illuminate everyday life.

Rating:
Summary: On Cloud 9!
Review: The most poetic, clearest, tour of modern physics I've ever read. Cole covers everything from the use of metaphor in science to quantum mechanics and general relativity in a way that makes you just want more, more, more.

Rating:
Summary: HORRIBLE
Review: This book tries to explain the wonders of modern physics, from relativity to quarks, for average readers interested in science. Cole has a very lively writing style for a science writer, yet somehow the physics in this book never really came alive or intrigued me, as it has in other science writing.