One Two Three . . . Infinity: Facts and Speculations of Science
By George Gamow
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About this ebook
". . . full of intellectual treats and tricks, of whimsy and deep scientific philosophy. It is highbrow entertainment at its best, a teasing challenge to all who aspire to think about the universe." — New York Herald Tribune
One of the world's foremost nuclear physicists (celebrated for his theory of radioactive decay, among other accomplishments), George Gamow possessed the unique ability of making the world of science accessible to the general reader.
He brings that ability to bear in this delightful expedition through the problems, pleasures, and puzzles of modern science. Among the topics scrutinized with the author's celebrated good humor and pedagogical prowess are the macrocosm and the microcosm, theory of numbers, relativity of space and time, entropy, genes, atomic structure, nuclear fission, and the origin of the solar system.
In the pages of this book readers grapple with such crucial matters as whether it is possible to bend space, why a rocket shrinks, the "end of the world problem," excursions into the fourth dimension, and a host of other tantalizing topics for the scientifically curious. Brimming with amusing anecdotes and provocative problems, One Two Three . . . Infinity also includes over 120 delightful pen-and-ink illustrations by the author, adding another dimension of good-natured charm to these wide-ranging explorations.
Whatever your level of scientific expertise, chances are you'll derive a great deal of pleasure, stimulation, and information from this unusual and imaginative book. It belongs in the library of anyone curious about the wonders of the scientific universe. "In One Two Three . . . Infinity, as in his other books, George Gamow succeeds where others fail because of his remarkable ability to combine technical accuracy, choice of material, dignity of expression, and readability." — Saturday Review of Literature
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Reviews for One Two Three . . . Infinity
124 ratings8 reviews
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5An entertaining read, written at a very accessible level (and before it was decided that math had to be banished from pop sci books.). It is perhaps too basic, if you have any physics/math/astronomy education. Worth 4 stars.
However: this book is now 60-ish years out of date, and it shows. There are several incorrect 'facts' and several own questions now answered. Science! - Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Despite being over fifty years old, written in a pre double-helix, pre string-theory age, this book still manages to be both relevant and inspiring, as well as humourous and easy to digest. Gamow covers various interlinked scientific topics, working through the scales of magnitude: the microscopic, the visible, the cosmic, and the infinite. Also, despite presupposing no real scientific knowledge, it doesn't make the reader feel an idiot like some popular science does, and deals with some moderately advanced concepts.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Absolutely fantastic and mindbending. Gamow was a genious and excellent explainer.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Want to see how science has changed in the last 60 years? In the words of the author, this tome leaves "no subject untouched".
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I first read this book when I was a high school (or possibly junior high school) student. It was an important impetus for me at a formative stage in my life, and I give it credit as one of the books that led me to a career in science, which included a Ph.D. in physical chemistry and a professorship in a major university.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I first read this book in 1955 when I was a senior in highschool. Then it was stimulation but I was not able to comprehend much of it. At my latest reading, my understaning is better but some of it still elusive. Much is out dated but still a good scienc read.
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- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Opdelt i fire dele: "1. Leg med tal", "2. Rummet, tiden og Einstein", "3. Mikrokosmos", "4. Makrokosmos".I skarpt trav kommer denne bog virkelig langt omkring.Første del dækker tal: På side 16 møder vi Hilberts hotel, side 20 Cantor og diagonalargumentet, Fermat primtal, komplekse tal.Anden del dækker særheder ved det sædvanlige rum. Side 38 Euler karakteristik, topologisk genus, verdenslinien, hyperkube, lyshastighed, samtidighed, tvillingeparadoks, Fitz-Gerald forkortning, rummets krumning, solformørkelsesobservationer, ikke-euklidisk geometri.Tredje del kigger på atomer, molekyler og små ting. Røntgenkrystallografi, W. L. Bragg, Otto Stern, Rutherford, L. de Broglie og E. Schrödinger, nukleoner, radioaktivitet, cyklotroner, tågekammer, isotoper, reaktorer. Termisk bevægelse, Brownsk partikel, sandsynligheder, fødselsdagsproblemer, Buffon's formel, Lazzarini. Celler, kromosomer, gener.Fjerde del kigger på Jorden, astonomiske afstande, mælkevejen, Oort og mælkevejens rotation. Kepheider, Hubble, Maxwell, dannelse af planeter, Weizsäcker, B. Strømgren, Schwartzchild, omdannelse af stof i stjernerne, varmetransport, kulstof-kvælstof kerneproces i solen. Big bang? Big Crunch?Hurtig og stilsikker populærvidenskabelig bog, der ikke taler ned til læseren, men regner med at vedkommende er med på hvadsomhelst
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This delightful little book was first published in 1947. The author was a theoretical physicist and cosmologist with a penchant for comprehensible writing and idiosyncratic, but informative, illustration. I first read this book in high school, and it stimulated in me a life-long interest in science, particularly physics. The book begins with a description of counting and early attempts by philosophers to come to grips with really large numbers. It quickly gets into Kantor’s theory of levels of infinity, all explained in language easily understood by a reasonably bright high school student. He also discusses non-Euclidian geometry, Einstein’s theory of relativity, nuclear physics, the second law of thermodynamics, Lemaître’s Big Bang theory, genetics, and the life cycle of stars. What was interesting reading the book after a long hiatus was that there were only a few changes in our current understanding of these difficult subjects. For example, the largest operational telescope at the time of publication was Mount Palomar’s 200-inch scope, which was thought to be able to detect galaxies one billion light years away, but not much farther. By contrast, the space-based Hubble telescope has photographed galaxies almost 14 billion light years away. And in his discussion of escape velocity, he states:"We know that no existing rockets, not even the famous V2, have enough propulsive power to escape into the free space, that they are always stopped in their ascension by the forces of gravity and are pulled back to earth."We’ve come a long way baby. Nevertheless, I would say the book has aged quite gracefully, and it is still a lucid introduction to modern physics. (JAB)