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Title: Powers of Ten by Philip Morrison, Phylis Morrison, Office of Charles & Ray Eames ISBN: 0-7167-6008-8 Publisher: W H Freeman & Co. Pub. Date: September, 1994 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $22.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.95 (19 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Another Scientific American Masterpiece
Comment: I purchased this book years ago when I began collecting the magnificent Scientific American Collection. It has since been published in paperback and I have heard there is a corresponding book that decreases by powers of ten. This is easily the most approachable of all the books in the series and I have used it with both my boys when they were younger.
Parenthetically, anything that would stimulate American interest in science - and stem the tide toward a universal scientific illiteracy - should be welcome. I have seen this powers of ten device several times but the one that stands out in my mind is the opening scene of CONTACT that was marred only by the pitiful displays of stupidity heard from the members of the audience. ("Is that Saturn?" "Yeah, it was once a star and that's how it got its rings." "That's what I thought.")
Back to the book, we start off matter of factly then proceed outward. The commentary is sparse because little is needed. In this case, the picture IS worth a thousand words - more if you get down to it. Get this now-affordable volume and give it to a youngster.
Rating: 4
Summary: Scale and exponential notation.
Comment: This book is an introductory peek at one of the most foundational mathematical tools needed for any consideration of cosmology, astronomy, and/or particle physics:
"At one end, far out where the galaxies appear like glowing froth in darkness, all our sciences become only one: cosmology. ... At the other end, for the very small we again have one science only: particle physics. There are even hints that the two ends inform each other." Evidence, perhaps, that television isn't all bad, the concept here was developed for a TV special program (quite a few years ago now), then plucked from video to print. It's a 'can't miss' premise but I find the writing to be slightly awkward and there may be too many illustrations. For a book that begs me to pick it up, it too easily invites me to put it down. Even so, it makes for a reasonably good overview of a universe more than 20 billion light years wide made out of stuff so small that we must describe it in negative powers of ten. The idea here is to illustrate the dramatic changes of scale involved in only a few powers of ten, and thus the "power" of powers of ten. The book's theme is itself quite modest, but for the reader unfamiliar with the concept of exponential notation, this small volume may be a startling revelation. To those familiar with the concept, the book may be a mere novelty, perhaps a "coffee table book."
Rating: 5
Summary: A picture is worth a 10³ words! Amazing!
Comment: I've seen this book for the first time in 1985, when I was kid. It is still my all-time favorite.
Although the book does have lots of textual info pages, the core of the book is a series of 42 full-page pictures which depict the an ordinary picnic photo in different scales.
Starting from an ordinary dude resting on the grass, each page turn shows the scene from 10 times farther away. First we see the park he is picnicing on, then the entire city, and before you know it we are in deep space racing towards the outskirts of the Universe.
On the other side of the journey, each page turn magnifies the last picture tenfold. First by viewing a close-up view of the picnicing guy's hand, you quickly find yourself probing deeper and deeper through the realms of biology and chemistry right into the core of a single atom.
The really cool thing about the whole deal, is that all the images are centered at the same object: a single atom on the picnicing dude's hand.
In short, the idea is absolutely brilliant. The images chosen for the presentation is not perfect, but they are still amazing. Of-course, the film is much more impressive then the book, but you can't take a film with you to a camping trip...
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Title:The Films of Charles & Ray Eames - The Powers of 10 (Vol. 1) ASIN: 6305943877 Publisher: Image Entertainment Pub. Date: 15 August, 2000 List Price(USD): $24.99 Comparison N/A, buy it from Amazon for $22.49 |
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Title: Powers of Ten: A Book About the Relative Size of Things in the Universe and the Effect of Adding Another Zero by Philip Morrison, Phylis Morrison ISBN: 0716714094 Publisher: W.H. Freeman & Company Pub. Date: October, 1984 List Price(USD): $32.95 |
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Title:EAMES - Volume 1: Powers of Ten ASIN: 6302179815 Publisher: Pyramid Home Video Pub. Date: 1978 List Price(USD): $39.95 Comparison N/A, buy it from Amazon for $39.95 |
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Title:Films of Charles & Ray Eames Vol. 2 ASIN: B00004W19E Publisher: Image Entertainment Pub. Date: 05 September, 2000 List Price(USD): $24.99 Comparison N/A, buy it from Amazon for $22.49 |
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Title: Flatland : A Romance of Many Dimensions by Edwin A. Abbott ISBN: 048627263X Publisher: Dover Pubns Pub. Date: 21 September, 1992 List Price(USD): $1.50 |
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