书目

Entertaining Science Experiments with Everyday Objects

内容简介

ToMartinGardner,seeingisnotjustbelieving—itisunderstanding.ThisfundamentalrulehasmadehimoneofthemostsuccessfulteachersandpopularizersofscienceinAmerica.Withthesimpleinstructionsinthisbookandafewcommonlyavailablehouseholdobjects,youoryourchildcaneasilylearneventhemostdifficultscientificprinciplesbydirectlyexperiencinghowtheywork.
Gardnershowsyouhowtore-createclassicexperimentswitheasilyobtainableobjects.Usingjustaflashlight,apocketmirror,andabowlofwater,youcandemonstratethecolorcompositionofwhitelightjustasNewtondid300yearsago.Withcardboard,coloredpaper,andwaxpaperyoucanperform"Meyer'sexperiment"withcomplementarycolors.Youneedonlyaplayingcard,aspool,andathumbtacktodemonstrateBernoulli'sprincipleofaerodynamics.Asodabottlefilledwithwater,afewpapermatches,andatoyballoonelucidatePascal'slawgoverningpressureinliquids.Andtwodrinkingglasses,somematches,andapieceofwetblottingpaperre-createafamousexperiment,firstperformedin1650inMagdeburg,Germany,thatdramaticallyrevealstheforceofordinaryatmosphericpressure.
Inlanguagesimpleenoughtobeeasilyunderstoodbyan11-year-old,yettechnicallyaccurateandinformativeenoughtobenefitadults,andaidedbyAnthonyRavielli'sclearillustrations,Gardnerpresentsasplendidpracticalcourseinbasicscienceandmathematics.Whileyourchildperplexesanddelightshisorherfriendswithaseriesof100amusingtricksandexperiments,heorsheislearningtheprinciplesofastronomy,chemistry,physiology,psychology,generalmathematics,topology,probability,geometry,numbers,optics(light),gravity,staticelectricity,mechanics,airhydraulics,thermodynamics(heat),acoustics(sound),andinertia.Thisisaperfectrefreshercourseforadultsaswellasanidealintroductiontoscienceforyoungsters.
"Theexperiments…areallclearlyexplainedandunusuallywellillustrated."—Booklist.

作者简介

MartinGardner:ARemembranceTheworldwidemathematicalcommunitywassaddenedbythedeathofMartinGardneronMay22,2010.Martinwas95yearsoldwhenhedied,andhadwritten70or80booksduringhislonglifetimeasanauthor.Martin'sfirstDoverbookswerepublishedin1956and1957:Mathematics,MagicandMystery,oneofthefirstpopularbooksontheintellectualexcitementofmathematicstoreachawideaudience,andFadsandFallaciesintheNameofScience,certainlyoneofthefirstpopularbookstocastadevastatinglyskepticaleyeontheclaimsofpseudoscienceandthemanyguisesinwhichthemodernworldhasgivenrisetoit.BothofthesepioneeringbooksarestillinprintwithDovertodayalongwithmorethanadozenothertitlesofMartin'sbooks.TheyrunthegamutfromhiselementaryCodes,CiphersandSecretWriting,whichhasbeenenjoyedbygenerationsofyoungerreaderssincethe1980s,tothemoredemandingTheNewAmbidextrousUniverse:SymmetryandAsymmetryfromMirrorReflectionstoSuperstrings,whichDoverpublishedinitsfinalrevisedformin2005.TothoseofuswhohavebeenassociatedwithDoverforalongtime,however,Martinwasmorethananauthor,albeitaremarkablypopularandsuccessfulone.Asamemberofthesmallgroupoflong-timeadvisorsandconsultants,whichincludedNYU'sMorrisKlineinmathematics,Harvard'sI.BernardCoheninthehistoryofscience,andMIT'sJ.P.DenHartoginengineering,Martin'sadviceandeditorialsuggestionsintheformative1950shelpedtodefinetheDoverpublishingprogramandgiveitthepointofviewwhich—despitemanychanges,newdirections,andtheconsequencesofevolution—continuestobeoperativetoday.IntheAuthor'sOwnWords:
"Politicians,real-estateagents,used-carsalesmen,andadvertisingcopy-writersareexpectedtostretchfactsinself-servingdirections,butscientistswhofalsifytheirresultsareregardedbytheirpeersascommittinganinexcusablecrime.Yetthesadfactisthatthehistoryofscienceswarmswithcasesofoutrightfakeryandinstancesofscientistswhounconsciouslydistortedtheirworkbyseeingitthroughlensesofpassionatelyheldbeliefs.""Asurprisingproportionofmathematiciansareaccomplishedmusicians.Isitbecausemusicandmathematicssharepatternsthatarebeautiful?"—MartinGardnerMartinGardnerwasarenownedauthorwhopublishedover70booksonsubjectsfromscienceandmathtopoetryandreligion.Healsohadalifelongpassionformagictricksandpuzzles.WellknownforhismathematicalgamescolumninScientificAmericanandhis"TrickoftheMonth"inPhysicsTeachermagazine,Gardnerattractedaloyalfollowingwithhisintelligence,wit,andimagination.

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