Bookshelf (The Particle Garden, An Introduction to Cosmology and A Scientific Biography)

The Particle Garden, by Gordon Kane: Addison Wesley, ISBN 0-201-40780-9: 'Our universe as understood by particle physicists' is the subsidiary title of Gordon Kane's attractive new book. In setting out to present a balanced picture of particle physics, Professor Kane has written the sort of book which could easily motivate a young student to turn to particle physics research. (The author relates how he was turned on by reading a book about Einstein.) In explaining particle physics wisdom, especially instructive is the distinction drawn in the book between 'Descriptive Understanding', 'Input and Mechanism Understanding' and 'Why Understanding'. The analogy uses a vidéocassette recorder (VCR): Descriptive Understanding corresponds to being able to work and handle a VCR which did not come with the appropriate documentation; Input and Mechanism Understanding means the ability to fix the VCR unaided if it goes wrong; and Why Understanding confers the ability to invent a VCR and make one. The book also rues the unfortunate disappearance of the US Superconducting Supercollider megaproject.; An Introduction to Cosmology, by Jeremy Bernstein: Prentice Hall, ISBN 0-13-110504-3: Professor Bernstein is a successful physicist and science writer, and 'An Introduction to Cosmology' benefits from both these skills. It is both a textbook and a good read. The author explains that the book arose from a course he gave at the Stevens Institute of Cosmology. Teaching this course was one of the most pleasant tasks I have had as a professor,' he admits in the introduction. It shows. The physics arguments are well constructed, and the book is packed with anecdotes. The introduction is especially good, and a more general overview in Part 1, although very qualitative, introduces many very useful numerical ideas which help place terrestrial physics in a more humble context