George Gamow (1904–1968)

This delightful little book was first published in 1947. The author was a theoretical physicist and cosmologist with a penchant for comprehensible writing and idiosyncratic, but informative, illustration. I first read this book in high school, and it stimulated in me a life-long interest in science, particularly physics.

The book begins with a description of counting and early attempts by philosophers to come to grips with really large numbers. It quickly gets into Kantor’s theory of show more levels of infinity, all explained in language easily understood by a reasonably bright high school student. He also discusses non-Euclidian geometry, Einstein’s theory of relativity, nuclear physics, the second law of thermodynamics, Lemaître’s Big Bang theory, genetics, and the life cycle of stars.

What was interesting reading the book after a long hiatus was that there were only a few changes in our current understanding of these difficult subjects. For example, the largest operational telescope at the time of publication was Mount Palomar’s 200-inch scope, which was thought to be able to detect galaxies one billion light years away, but not much farther. By contrast, the space-based Hubble telescope has photographed galaxies almost 14 billion light years away. And in his discussion of escape velocity, he states:

"We know that no existing rockets, not even the famous V2, have enough propulsive power to escape into the free space, that they are always stopped in their ascension by the forces of gravity and are pulled back to earth."

We’ve come a long way baby. Nevertheless, I would say the book has aged quite gracefully, and it is still a lucid introduction to modern physics.

(JAB) show less

George Gamow (during his "three decade vacation" in the USA) wrote a number of articles and books featuring Mr. Tompkins, a bank clerk with an especially easily influenced dream-life. The dreams have a funny way of becoming stories and adventures that explain features of fundamental physics and cosmology (as of the 1960s). Many of the illustrations are also by Gamow. A foreword to this edition by Roger Penrose indicates where theory has moved on since Gamow's time and the few, slight show more inaccuracies in the description of Relativity.

Mr. Tompkins' adventures are charming - delightful, in fact, though they show signs of the time/culture they were written in. The appearances by Father Paulini (Pauli) and Maxwell's Demon (dressed as a Butler but never without his tennis-racquet) are particular fun for me. No-one would consider writing a popular science book via this approach these days and so this will remain a unique classic of the genre. Strongly recommended to everyone just for the fun of it. You might learn something along the way but nevermind if you don't - just wait for the bit where Tompkins turns into an electron! show less

An entertaining read, written at a very accessible level (and before it was decided that math had to be banished from pop sci books.). It is perhaps too basic, if you have any physics/math/astronomy education. Worth 4 stars.

However: this book is now 60-ish years out of date, and it shows. There are several incorrect 'facts' and several own questions now answered. Science!

I am now over eighty years of age, an emeritus Professor of Physical Chemistry. I read this book over seventy years ago, and remember it clearly to this day. While it was hardly a "how-to" book, it inspired me toward a life of science. I was fortunate enough to meet Gamov in the late 1960's, when he gave a seminar at University of California-Irvine and I tried to express my appreciation for his work in the popularization of science and his influence on me. His hand-drawn illustrations are as show more witty as the text. show less