One Two Three Infinity by George Gamow

Description

One of the world’s foremost nuclear physicists, 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 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 matter 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 .