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Title: The Nature of Science : An A-Z Guide to the Laws and Principles Governing Our Universe by James Trefil ISBN: 0-618-31938-7 Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Co Pub. Date: 14 April, 2003 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $35.00

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Average Customer Rating: 3.75 (4 reviews)

Rating: 5
Summary: Comprehensive, eloquent and well structured
Comment: What a fascinating book! I was looking for a book that contains all the laws of science, and i found this. It's very thorough, with many entries and good overviews. It's a wonderful reference book, to look up new entries, and to understand these brilliant ideas more thoroughly. The first chapter is a superb introduction to the general history of science, and the author's insight into the need to write this book.
If you're looking for a great History of Science, from the perspective of the results of the men, and a great understanding of the way scientists understand the world today, this is the right book.

Rating: 5
Summary: Excellent survey of science laws, theories, and ideas
Comment: I typically dismiss survey books as being too superficial but I ended up buying this one. While Trefil's book does not cover anything in great depth he does cover a very wide range of interesting topics (in alphabetical order). For example, he offers a concise 2-page description of Exponential Growth, complete with a few simple equations, graphs, and some nice examples from biology. A few pages later he gives an accessible description of Godel's Incompleteness Theorem. The book's topics include everything from physics' Standard Model, to Molecular Clocks, to Le Chatelier's Principle, to Predator-Prey Relationships, and he doesn't omit more mainstream topics like DNA, Relativity, Quantum Mechanics, Newton's Laws, or the Periodic Table.

I am reasonably well read in science but I found lots of topics I knew little or nothing about. The author kept coverage of each topic short enough (1-3 pages) that I was willing to jump in and read about topics I would typically neglect. And the author didn't dumb down any of the coverage so I was able to walk away from each topic with new and useful information.

I am having a blast going through these topics, and I would strongly recommend this book to any science buff who wants to quickly broaden their knowledge of science.

Rating: 4
Summary: A Flawed Tour De Force
Comment: The Nature Of Science is an attempt by James Trefil to put together essays on all the important laws of nature. The essays I've read to date are well-written, accurate, and on point. And as with any work of this magnitude, mistakes were made and left unedited. The mistakes range from minor typos to a few major mistakes [the chart of leptons on page 372 lists the 3 types of neutrinos as having POSITIVE charges]. The Nature Of Science is a case of excellent intent, but less than perfect execution. My hope is that the publisher is serious about this book becoming the indispensable reference that it could be and quickly edits the problems out of future printings. I wanted to give this book a 5 and out of frustration was leaning towards a 3, so I split the difference and gave it 4-stars.

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