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Re:In 1870, Lord Rayleigh used oil and water to calculate th... by augustusseizure on Monday September 23, 2024 @06:55PM (#41631454)
What’s the name of that textbook? It sounds really interesting.

Isaac Asimov wrote a couple books that follow the narrative of science from the beginnings up until the 80s or so, which I highly recommend. One is called Atom and is more focused on how we got to our “present” understanding of particles. There’s also one that takes a broader view, it’s something like History of Science (? not at my bookshelf right now).

There’s several books in this genre for math as well. IMO it’s a much better structure for pedagogy since we can piggy back the education on our natural wiring to care about narrative and mystery/puzzles.

Re:In 1870, Lord Rayleigh used oil and water to calculate th... by ghastmaster on Monday September 23, 2024 @09:43PM (#41632354)
You're referring to The History of Physics. An excellent read for a budding mind.

Asimov was incredibly talented.

Re:In 1870, Lord Rayleigh used oil and water to calculate th... by owyn on Monday September 23, 2024 @10:54PM (#41632703)
I was looking at my parent's bookshelf and saw a book on Shakespeare and I recognized the author's name: Asimov!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asimov's_Guide_to_Shakespeare

It's like 800 pages, I haven't read it but I think I'll keep that one. Seems like it might be hard to find another physical copy. He was definitely prolific on a number of topics.

Re:In 1870, Lord Rayleigh used oil and water to calculate th... by lIl-IIIl on Tuesday September 24, 2024 @03:37AM (#41634072)
Not surprising!

"Asimov was so prolific and diverse in his writing that his books span all major categories of the Dewey Decimal Classification except for category 100, philosophy and psychology" - from his Wikipedia page.

Re:In 1870, Lord Rayleigh used oil and water to calculate th... by dotancohen on Tuesday September 24, 2024 @08:26AM (#41635758)
He was also incredibly talented in phrasing ideas so that they stick in the reader's mind. I am right now sitting next to a dog Asimov named after him.
Re:In 1870, Lord Rayleigh used oil and water to calculate th... by hammock on Tuesday September 24, 2024 @09:34AM (#41636295)
Re:In 1870, Lord Rayleigh used oil and water to calculate th... by lIl-IIIl on Tuesday September 24, 2024 @03:38AM (#41634089)
His book "Understanding Physics" is amazing. Similar in spirit to Petzold's "Code" that is often praised on HN.
Re:In 1870, Lord Rayleigh used oil and water to calculate th... by albrewer on Tuesday September 24, 2024 @10:30AM (#41636839)
There's a youtube channel called "Kathy Loves Physics & History"[0] that goes over all these things in video form.

[0]: https://www.youtube.com/@Kathy_Loves_Physics

Re:In 1870, Lord Rayleigh used oil and water to calculate th... by bookofjoe on Tuesday September 24, 2024 @11:13AM (#41637403)
Also, George Gamow's work is exemplary in making complex ideas understandable.

See, for example:

>One, Two, Three... Infinity: Facts and Speculations of Science (1947)

https://www.amazon.com/One-Two-Three-Infinity-Speculations/d...

PDF: https://archive.org/details/OneTwoThreeInfinity_158

..........................

>Thirty Years that Shook Physics: The Story of Quantum Theory (1966)

https://www.amazon.com/Thirty-Years-that-Shook-Physics/dp/04...

PDF: https://archive.org/details/ThirtyYearsThatShookPhysics-TheB...