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What Einstein Told His Barber: More Scientific Answers to Everyday Questions By Robert Wolke ( Dell )
Release Date: 2000-03-07
Average Customer Rating:
List Price: $13.95
Price: $11.16
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Product Description
What makes ice cubes cloudy? How do shark attacks make airplanes safer? Can a person traveling in a car at the speed of sound still hear the radio? Moreover, would they want to...?
Do you often find yourself pondering life's little conundrums? Have you ever wondered why the ocean is blue? Or why birds don't get electrocuted when perching on high-voltage power lines? Robert L. Wolke, professor emeritus of chemistry at the University of Pittsburgh and acclaimed author of What Einstein Didn't Know, understands the need to...well, understand. Now he provides more amusing explanations of such everyday phenomena as gravity (If you're in a falling elevator, will jumping at the last instant save your life?) and acoustics (Why does a whip make such a loud cracking noise?), along with amazing facts, belly-up-to-the-bar bets, and mind-blowing reality bites all with his trademark wit and wisdom.
If you shoot a bullet into the air, can it kill somebody when it comes down?
You can find out about all this and more in an astonishing compendium of the proverbial mind-boggling mysteries of the physical world we inhabit.
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 A Delightful Romp into explanations of "familiar unknowns." ( paulocal )
This tasty little compendium is more or less "tongue in cheek," since we know by visual inspection that Einstein could not have had a barber. Nevertheless this little book yields surprisingly useful bits of trivia that, at one time or another, we all have had to wonder about: such as why are the sky and the ocean blue? What holds an airplane up? etc.
Its main vehicle for yielding up so many secrets of everyday phenomena is of course digging more carefully and more deeply into "ordinary Newtonian physics," that is to say mostly by giving a clarifying layman's explanation of how Newton's three laws of motion actually work in the real world.
Once this strategy for explaining is revealed, the reader can then carry forth for the rest of the book on his own, rendering Mr. Wolke's little gem less suspenseful and not quite as much fun as others of this genre. For instance, Raymond Smullyan's "The Lady or the Tiger? withholds the suspense a bit longer by also including many puzzles and paradoxes of everyday phenomena.
Still for its informational value alone Wolke's book is worth three stars.
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 Very Accessible Guide for Science Beginners ( marinemustang )
I read this in about three sittings over a period of two days. I had heard for years what an interesting book this was, but just finally got around to checking it out. Honestly, I initially assumed that people gravitated to this book based on a catchy title. So I foolishly wrote it off to clever marketing; Boy am I glad that I came around and gave it a try. Wolke, who is a professor emeritus in chem, has an uncanny ability to mix humor and science and present a reader of any background an insightful and interesting look at the science behind everyday things.
One of the first entries explains why Americans drive on the right side of the road, something you never think about but becomes fascinated when it's explained. Numerous topics like this had me hooked early and I plowed through the book eagerly, laughing and oohing and ahing the whole way. I can now honestly say I know why the Earth doesn't spin us off as it rotates and why the bathroom floor feels colder than the carpet when they're both actually the same temperature.
It isn't really about Einstein, so the title is clever. The book is more along the lines of what scientists might talk about with their barber (or relative, banker, whomever) while trying to explain a complicated topic.
I would recommend this book to anyone with the slightest curiosity of their world. It is a fairly fast read and breaks down topics and individual questions. You could conceivably read it in any order or use it as a reference (it has an excellent index). There is also a glossary that explains complex terms (or "techspeak" as Wolke labels it) in basic language.
Don't make the same mistake I did and pass this one off as a gimmick, it's a great book and you will learn a great deal.
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 A pleasurable yet informative glimpse into the world of science ( xenocrates-x )
As would be expected from the title of the book, What Einstein Told His Barber will not saddle you with technical speak and complex analysis one might expect from Einstein himself. This book is clearly presented for the layman thus making the premises accessible to all.
The information is straightforward and depicted with a curious sense of wit making the book a very enjoyable read. The Q&A format easily permits one to peruse the book in any sequence affording one the freedom to focus only on particular areas of interest.
If you enjoy science and are seeking a better understanding of universal concepts and the principals behind them, this book is worthwhile and one I recommend.
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Anyone for knowledege?? ( the1biglar )
Full of trivia as well as little morsels of fact everyone wonders about. Completely worth the price!
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A great book to have on hand ( durbano5 )
I own several books in this series, and this one is my favorite. It's easy to read, interesting, and written so that you can put it down and come back anytime and not be "lost." It is mostly short explanations that take just a few minutes to read. A great gift for the curious types out there.
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