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The Physics of Everyday Things: The Extraordinary Science Behind an Ordinary Day

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Publisher ‏ : ‎ Crown; Reprint edition (May 15, 2018)


Language ‏ : ‎ English


Paperback ‏ : ‎ 256 pages


ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0770437753


ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 56


Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 6.4 ounces


Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.1 x 0.6 x 8 inches


Best Sellers Rank: #66,654 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #8 in Applied Physics #18 in Physics of Electricity #37 in Relativity Physics (Books)


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#18 in Physics of Electricity:


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Top Amazon Reviews

    • Laypersons Will Struggle
The Physics of Everyday Things: The Extraordinary Science Behind an Ordinary Day by James Kakalios “The Physics of Everyday Things” is an average book that describes the science behind an ordinary day. Physics professor and bestselling author James Kakalios engages the curiosity of the reader by describing the physics behind our modern daily conveniences. This curious 225-page book includes the following seven chapters: 1. You Begin Your Day, 2. You Drive into the City, 3. You Go to the Doctor, 4. You Go to the Airport, 5. You Take a Flight, 6. You Give a Business Presentation, and 7. You Go to a Hotel. Positives: 1. A well-written book. 2. An excellent topic, explaining the physics behind an ordinary day. 3. Great idea of describing the science of modern everyday conveniences. 4. Describes key concepts of physics. “Moving electric charges, as in a current, generate a magnetic field (this is known as Ampere’s law); the faster they move, the larger the magnetic field.” 5. Applies the science behind everyday conveniences. “A toaster employs the first law of thermodynamics, which states that for any closed system, the total amount of work and heat must remain unchanged.” 6. Makes good use of quotes by scientists to help explain concepts. “To paraphrase theoretical physicist John Archibald Wheeler, in general relativity, matter tells space how to bend, and space tells matter how to move.” 7. Elevators explained. “An elevator is essentially a pulley, with a cable that loops over a cylindrical drum. One end of the cable is affixed to the elevator car and the other to a counterweight. The size of the counterweight is chosen to reflect the weight of the car with its average occupancy, typically 40 percent of the maximum capacity of the car. By making the counterweight as close as possible to the weight of the car, we minimize the energy needed to raise or lower the elevator car.” 8. The basis of ultrasound imaging. “The fact that the speed of sound varies with the density of the medium is the basis of ultrasound imaging.” 9. Explains how information is stored on your credit card. “Information about your charge account is stored on your credit card in different forms: the account number itself is printed on the front of the card; there is a quarter-inch-wide magnetic stripe running along the length of the card; and, in some versions, a memory chip is embedded within the card. Each storage mechanism uses different physical principles.” 10. The science of flying. “The energy to rotate the propeller comes from the combustion of fossil fuel, essentially the same physics that leads to rotational kinetic energy in a car. Greater speeds, necessary for larger lifting forces, are achieved using a jet engine.” 11. The science behind everyday office equipment. “Converting documents into a series of voltages, and these voltages back into a printed copy, is why a single device can function as a scanner, a fax machine, a printer, and a copier: it’s all the same physics!” 12. Radiation explained. “Any energy emission—whether of sound, electromagnetic waves, or high-speed subatomic particles (electrons, protons, neutrons, or combinations thereof) ejected from a nucleus—is termed “radiation” by physicists.” 13. Debunks myths. “The damage done to the cells by the ionizing radiation does not result in new, unstable radioactive nuclei, and thus irradiated food is not itself radioactive. This confusion between “radioactive” and “irradiated” is unfortunate, with the very terms so emotionally charged that many will avoid any process that involves nuclear decay, even at the cost of preventable sickness and death.” 14. Explains why we don’t have flying cars. “As just mentioned, it takes a considerable amount of energy to keep a car levitated in the air, and the vehicle needs to carry the source of this energy with it.” 15. Notes included. Negatives: 1. Falls short of the goal of effectively explaining physics to the layperson. 2. Rudimentary stick illustrations. 3. Reader must understand the key recurring concept of changing electric currents create changing magnetic fields. Otherwise, you will fail to follow a lot of what the author is trying to convey. 4. At times, a dry tedious read. 5. No formal bibliography. In summary, the execution of a great idea falls quite short. Clever idea to use everyday life to illustrate physics but I feel that laypersons will struggle with this book. The illustrations left a lot to be desired as well. There are much better books available for the public. On the other hand, if you have a basic understanding and curiosity for physics this book will meet your satisfaction. Average to good depending on your perspective. Further recommendations: “For the Love of Physics” by Walter Lewin, “The Trouble With Physics” by Lee Smolin, “Seven Brief Lessons on Physics” by Carlo Rovelli, “Faraday, Maxwell, and the Electromagnetic Field: How Two Men Revolutionized Physics” by Nancy Forbes and Basil Mahon, “The Man Who Changed Everything: The Life of James Clerk Maxwell” by Basil Mahon, “The Electric Life of Michael Faraday” by Alan Hirshfeld, and “Tesla” by W. Bernard Carlson. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on August 23, 2019 by Book Shark
    • Worthless
This book is not meant for the everyday person, regardless of what it says. I have an above average reading ability and this book was way beyond that. It was frustrating because I read and reread segments of text and still couldn’t understand the point they were trying to get across. So, just so much wasted money. Good luck if you decide to give it a try. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on September 2, 2018 by S. Dudley
    • A great introduction to the applications of physics you notice in all walks of life
A very nice presentation that does an excellent job of emphasizing the meaningful applications of physics in everyday life. So if you were asking ``What can the Higgs particle do for me?'' this book will not answer that question, but it will show you the role of physics in things, such as cars, toasters etc..., the importance of which can hardly be denied. It will show you how toasting a bagel involves a large number of various physical disciplines (thermodynamics, quantum mechanics and electrodynamics, to name the most important). Of course, you may not need to read everything in sequence, but you will get a good general impression of to what extent physics is involved in everyday life, whether it is the several machines one uses, or simple facts which one knows by experience, but the cause of which may remain obscure (why, for example, does blowing on your coffee cool it down? what happens when the traffic grinds to a halt? The book gives interesting explanations to such doubts). Over all, a very nice book. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on August 31, 2017 by Francois Leyvraz
    • Enlightening look at technology
This book gives a good basic outline of the physics involved in many of the technologies we use. A nice example is the explanation of how the GPS works, how your device is actually communicating with several satellites, and how Einstein's Theories of Special Relativity and General Relativity have to be taken into account by these devices. Also interesting were the explanations of X-ray scanners and magnetic resonance imaging. Of course I must admit that I am one of the science-trained readers alluded to in the footnote on page 82, so I could add that while the nuclear spins themselves undergo quantum jumps, the bulk expectation values do precess about the magnetic fields as described classically. I am looking forward to explanations of how computer and smartphone displays work and how they can have such impressive resolution...I haven't finished the book. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on August 18, 2019 by Henry C. Brenner
    • Too simplistic
Hard to tell what audience this is for. The simplistic explanations are often misleading. The writing style made reading painful as it was not fun or exciting, but quite dry. That juxtaposed with the simplistic explanations brought this to an early end. There was not enough detail to keep me interested, and the style too dry to keep me amused. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on June 18, 2019 by Ian Wells
    • Good quick overview of how physics applies to your life!
I read the negative reviews for this book and that is when I knew it would be a fun read. There aren't many pictures, but the author does a good job explaining capacitors, circuits and semiconductors and will come back to remind the audience about how these are used in a similar manner by different devices. It is fairly straightforward and does take a little work for people with a science background, but all in all a good read. Also loved the analogy and explanation for electrons in an auditorium and how they fill space, move, emit light and create current. Highly recommend! ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on December 2, 2019 by Bama Fan
    • Five Stars
It was a gift and enjoyed very much by the recipient.
Reviewed in the United States on July 7, 2018 by Joan Sasser
    • Most of the explanations are presented by text only, without charts that would have made them much easier to understand.
The book explains how various machines, mainly in the field of electronics, work. Unlike other books in this category this book concentrates on explanting the chemistry and physics underlying the operation of these machines. Unfortunately, most of the explanations are presented by text only, without charts that would have made them much easier to understand. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on July 10, 2017 by A M

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