Synopses & Reviews
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Publishers Weekly best book of 1995!
Dr. Michael Guillen, known to millions as the science editor of ABC's Good Morning America, tells the fascinating stories behind five mathematical equations.
As a regular contributor to daytime's most popular morning news show and an instructor at Harvard University, Dr. Michael Guillen has earned the respect of millions as a clear and entertaining guide to the exhilarating world of science and mathematics.
Now Dr. Guillen unravels the equations that have led to the inventions and events that characterize the modern world, one of which -- Albert Einstein's famous energy equation, E=mc2 -- enabled the creation of the nuclear bomb. Also revealed are the mathematical foundations for the moon landing, airplane travel, the electric generator -- and even life itself.
Praised by Publishers Weekly as "a wholly accessible, beautifully written exploration of the potent mathematical imagination," and named a Best Nonfiction Book of 1995, the stories behind The Five Equations That Changed the World, as told by Dr. Guillen, are not only chronicles of science, but also gripping dramas of jealousy, fame, war, and discovery.
Synopsis
In
Five Equations That Changed the World, Dr. Michael Guillen, known to millions as the Science Editor on ABC-TV's
Good Morning America, tells the amazing stories of the people and discoveries that led to the five most powerful and important scientific achievements in human history. In doing so, Dr. Guillen reveals in simple, everyday language the secret world of mathematics.
It was through the brilliance of these five fascinating people: a sickly love-starved loner; an emotionally abused prodigy from a dysfunctional family; a religious, poverty-stricken illiterate; a soft-spoken widower living in perilous times; and a smart-alecky high-school dropout that we were able to harness the power of electricity, fly in airplanes, land astronauts on the moon, build a nuclear bomb, and understand the mortality of all life on Earth.
Synopsis
The science expert on Good Morning America offers an entertaining and informative survey of the five mathematical equations with the greatest impact on modern times. Reprint. PW.
About the Author
Dr. Michael Guillen is Instructor of Physics and Mathematics in the Core Curriculum Program at Harvard University.