Synopses & Reviews
"An absolute delight. Belongs on the bedside bookshelf of every science enthusiast and should also be a treat for any reader curious about the universe." --
San Jose Mercury-News (A Best Book of the Year)
Join bestselling author K.C. Cole on the trip of a lifetime, as she invites you to understand the nature of nature, the universals in the universe, the messy playfulness of great science. In witty and fresh short takes, she explores some of the world's most intriguing scientific subjects-from particle physics to cosmology to mathematics and astronomy-and introduces a few of science's great minds. With her inimitable style and flair, K.C. Cole brings science to the reader's doorstep, revealing the universe to be elegant, intriguing, and, above all, relevant to our everyday lives.
"With every short, sharp piece in this book, K.C. Cole slips a thin wire into your head through which a charge of high-voltage pleasure surges. . . . If you're off in search of wonder, K.C. Cole gives you a map you can keep in the glove box." -Alan Alda, host of Scientific American Frontiers
An award-winning writer for the Los Angeles Times and the New Yorker, K.C. Cole is the recipient of the American Institute of Physics Award for Best Science Writer. She lives in Santa Monica, California.
Review
"An absolute delight. Belongs on the bedside bookshelf of every science enthusiast."<br> San Jose Mercury News
Review
PRAISE FOR MIND OVER MATTER
“An absolute delight . . . Belongs on the bedside bookshelf of every
science enthusiast and should also be a treat for any reader curious
about the universe.”—SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS
“Ruminations on every scientific subject under the sun, and plenty
beyond it . . . In pithy, three-page bursts, [Cole] tackles particle
physics, geometry,Alfred Nobel, and about a thousand other topics, all
with graceful, accessible prose.”—THE BOSTON GLOBE
Synopsis
The universe comes down to earth in K. C. Cole's Mind Over Matter, a fresh and witty exploration of physics, cosmology, mathematics, astronomy, and more. Like no other science writer, Cole demystifies scientific concepts and humanizes the people who study them. Beginning with a discussion of how "the mind creates reality as well as muddles it," she then peeks into the stories behind science's great minds and into their playful side, and concludes by illuminating the relationship between science and society. Cole's remarkable work brings science to the reader's doorstep, revealing the universe to be elegant, intriguing, and relevant to politics, art, and every dimension of human life.
About the Author
A popular science columnist for the Los Angeles Times and teacher at UCLA, K.C. Cole is a recipient of the 1995 American Institute of Physics Award for Best Science Writing. She is also the author of the internationally bestselling The Universe and the Teacup, First You Build a Cloud, and The Hole in the Universe. Cole lives in Santa Monica, California.
Table of Contents
Contents
introduction and acknowledgments
Part i: the i of the beholder
The Emperor and Enron 3
Normalization 6
Blindsighted 9
Uncertainty 12
Murmurs 15
Eclipse 18
Humility 21
Inside Out 24
Weird Science 27
Love and Bosons 30
Seeing 34
Moving Mountains 37
Uncommon Sense 41
Seeing Stars 44
Calibration 47
Word Problems 50
Naming Names 53
Context 56
Purpose 59
Soul Food 62
Lies 66
Part ii: stuff
Surprises 71
Roots 74
Stuff 77
Surfaces 80
Wind 83
Clouds 86
Patterns 89
Recycling 92
Simplicity 96
Complexity 100
Dazzle 103
Energy 106
The Real World 109
Magnetism 112
Sand Castles 116
Resistance 119
Happenstance 122
Ghosts 125
Symmetry 128
Imperfection 132
Numbers 135
Symbols 138
Geometry 141
Coincidence 145
Change 148
Constants 151
Holes 154
Time 157
Part iii: doing it
Play 163
Failure 166
Answers 169
Questions 172
Nuisance Value 175
Boundaries 178
Toy Models 181
Mind and Matter 184
Pomp and Circumstance 189
Happy Birthday, Walter 192
An Outrageous Legacy 195
Beethoven and Quantum Mechanics 198
Alan and Lucretius 201
The Sun Painter 204
Invention and Discovery 208
Red 211
Objectivity 214
Wherever You Go, There You Are 220
Metaphor 223
Literal Truth 227
Far-Out 230
Connected 233
Dubious Discoveries 236
Déjà Vu 239
Credit 242
Claims 245
Fail Safe 248
Part iv: "political" science
The Physics of Peace 253
Default Lines 257
(In)security 260
Feedback 263
Neutrality 266
Dreamers 269
Natural Law 273
Popular Science 276
The Science of Art 279
Small Potatos (sic) 282
The Geometry of Fairness 285
Faster 288
Unnatural 291
Apocalypse Soon 294
Transparency 297
Oops 300
index 303