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lakmus's review
4.0
a) I think I now get why fractals have fractional dimensions, although I_don't_like_it.
b) Hyperspheres and Dante, man. See, I wasn't that far off the mark when I was reading Inferno under the desk in physics class. It was /relevant/, Miss.
c) The guy does an excellent job of outlining the evolution of those weird 'the universe is donut-shaped' ideas from very simple things (like how we figured out Earth wasn't flat), and connects the dots, coherently. Well, I guess it's excellent, I have no clue as to whether this is the best way to tell this story, but it makes sense and I can follow it. Plus a good sprinkling of anecdotes about the mentioned mathematicians/physicists. Plus useful diagrams in the right places.
Short and sweet.
b) Hyperspheres and Dante, man. See, I wasn't that far off the mark when I was reading Inferno under the desk in physics class. It was /relevant/, Miss.
c) The guy does an excellent job of outlining the evolution of those weird 'the universe is donut-shaped' ideas from very simple things (like how we figured out Earth wasn't flat), and connects the dots, coherently. Well, I guess it's excellent, I have no clue as to whether this is the best way to tell this story, but it makes sense and I can follow it. Plus a good sprinkling of anecdotes about the mentioned mathematicians/physicists. Plus useful diagrams in the right places.
Short and sweet.
mangieto's review
5.0
It was love at first sight when it catches my eye on the shelves of the library, now I just wished the book was mine to keep gazing it every day, and to quote it or something to my fellow scientist in training.
So, I found it fun and accurate, even tho it doesn't get deep into the matter. And for that reason I think it is a proper read for every person interested in how the science has evolved through time, specially because there's little knowledge about a bunch of people whom changed our lives from their desks, to say something. In my case, I just love physics so much and reading someone who seems to enjoy it as much as I do was amazing.
So, I found it fun and accurate, even tho it doesn't get deep into the matter. And for that reason I think it is a proper read for every person interested in how the science has evolved through time, specially because there's little knowledge about a bunch of people whom changed our lives from their desks, to say something. In my case, I just love physics so much and reading someone who seems to enjoy it as much as I do was amazing.
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