Science and Inquiry discussion

For August 2016, we will be reading Seven Brief Lessons on Physics. Please use this thread to post questions, comments, and reviews, at any time.

Thoroughly enjoyed the book and it was easy to understand considering I'm not in any science field. Great choice!

This was a pretty short book being just over 70+ pages. It was a quick and very understandable read that gently touches the main topics of what makes the great theories wonderful, quantum physics, space, time, and wraps up taking a look at the human race. I was a little unsure because of its shortness but I'm glad I gave it a try. I am more accustomed to these kinds of books touching on these subjects having a bit more meat but this was surprisingly good and interesting. Apparently it was from a collection of short articles he wrote for newspaper. Enjoy.

I found the book too simple, but the chapters might have worked better in their original newspaper article format.

I thought the science was very simple but the language he used was beautiful. I really enjoyed reading this short book.

I enjoyed this but found myself wanting to know more with each chapter I read. Beautifully written, yes, but perhaps a little too superficial in its treatment of these weighty topics.

Very brief read as the name would suggest. Although the language was eloquent and beautifully written, I found myself lingering to certain phrases and words, longing for a more in-depth analysis. His words capture the mysterious allure of unknown variables in science, however, falls short of resolving my own curiosity in its brevity.

I commend the way he addresses the topics, as each chapter compels and inspires. While I enjoyed each minute reading this short book.

It was short & interesting, but frustrating, too. It's less than 2 hours when read by Rovelli who has too much of an accent to be a good narrator. I gave it a 3 star review here:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I found it uneven in tone. Sometimes he went into the history behind theories, other times he jumped into the theories themselves too quickly. This was highlighted for me in the theory on quanta. It's been too long since I had a physics class & I didn't recall the experiments which showed light was both a wave & a particle or much about Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle. Luckily I remembered they were so, but without really understanding those concepts, the chapter didn't make as much sense. I've also never really understood Bohr's point on Einstein's light box. I get lost there at the end.

I loved how he pointed out the Bohr-Einstein debate; how divisive it was, how they pushed each other into new avenues of thought, & yet how they still respected & liked each other. Rational argument. How refreshing today.

I also liked how he wrapped up about the unifying theories. We don't know it all, but when we do figure it out, there's a lot of hope for a huge leap forward as we had with Relativity.

I didn't care for his comparison to our species longevity to that of a turtle. I guess it's the Achilles' choice controversy, but I'm not as convinced on the outcome as he is. I guess I'm an optimist. I certainly hope we manage a diaspora before we use up this planet, anyway.

I have to share this: At the moment my 7th grade Science class is exploring the topic of forces, including a discussion of gravity. One of my students was excited to share the story of the twins who age at a slightly different rate due to living at different elevations. She said her mom was reading this book and had talked about this story with her. As a teacher, I want to thank all parents who have these types of discussions (whether the topic is science or any other topic) with their kids. Made my day!

Great parenting!