New books & media

My Quantum ExperimentSection:ChooseTop of pageMy Quantum Experiment <<The Matter of Everything:...Are Electromagnetic Field...The Climate Book: The Fac...Ghost Particle: In Search...My Quantum Experiment, John Horgan, 2023. Self-published; freely available onlineMany of us had pandemic projects. Some got into baking sourdough; some started knitting. The science journalist John Horgan decided to learn quantum mechanics, and in My Quantum Experiment, he documents his quest to understand the famously strange theory. Despite making a name for himself as a prominent skeptic of so-called theories of everything, the iconoclastic Horgan had little formal training in any scientific field. He first began with self-study, using books like Leonard Susskind and Art Friedman’s Quantum Mechanics: The Theoretical Minimum (2014) as his guide, and eventually enrolled in an undergraduate course on the topic, where he found several helpful study buddies. But the book is more than just a quantum diary: Interspersed with reflections on the theory’s weirdness are Horgan’s trademark ruminations on politics, love, and the meaning of life. —rdThe Matter of Everything: How Curiosity, Physics and Improbable Experiments Changed the WorldSection:ChooseTop of pageMy Quantum ExperimentThe Matter of Everything:... <<Are Electromagnetic Field...The Climate Book: The Fac...Ghost Particle: In Search...The Matter of Everything: How Curiosity, Physics and Improbable Experiments Changed the World, Suzie Sheehy, Knopf, 2023, $30.00Computers, smartphones, TVs, MRI scanners, the Web—these are just a few of the technological achievements made possible by particle-physics research. In The Matter of Everything, the accelerator physicist Suzie Sheehy focuses on 12 of the most important physics experiments that have proven essential to our understanding of the world—from the detection of x rays in 1895 to the initial startup of the Large Hadron Collider in 2008. More than just a history of 20th-century physics, Sheehy’s book highlights the scientists involved and their extraordinary ingenuity and collaborations. —ccAre Electromagnetic Fields Making Me Ill? How Electricity and Magnetism Affect Our HealthSection:ChooseTop of pageMy Quantum ExperimentThe Matter of Everything:...Are Electromagnetic Field... <<The Climate Book: The Fac...Ghost Particle: In Search...Are Electromagnetic Fields Making Me Ill? How Electricity and Magnetism Affect Our Health, Bradley J. Roth, Springer, 2022, $29.99 (paper)Aimed at a popular audience, this book—as the title indicates—examines the ways in which such devices as MRI scanners, high-voltage power lines, airport security scanners, pacemakers, and 5G cell phones affect the human body. Bradley Roth, an expert in medical physics, also examines the mysterious Havana syndrome, which was first reported by staff at the US and Canadian embassies in Havana, Cuba. Symptoms include fatigue, dizziness, and ringing in the ears. Some experts argue that microwave weapons are the cause of the illness. Although Roth is skeptical of that claim, he convincingly argues that if such weapons do exist, they should be easily detectable. —rdThe Climate Book: The Facts and the SolutionsSection:ChooseTop of pageMy Quantum ExperimentThe Matter of Everything:...Are Electromagnetic Field...The Climate Book: The Fac... <<Ghost Particle: In Search...The Climate Book: The Facts and the Solutions, Greta Thunberg, ed., Penguin Press, 2023, $30.00An anthology of over 100 short essays on climate change and related issues, The Climate Book is the creation of the environmental advocate Greta Thunberg, who invited renowned scientists, science writers, and activists from around the world to share their expertise. Focusing on such topics as melting ice shelves, species extinctions, deforestation, and agricultural practices, the writers discuss the damage humans have done to the planet, what the repercussions are and continue to be for the climate, and what we can and should be doing about it. Graphs, charts, and photos illustrate the impactful text. —ccGhost Particle: In Search of the Elusive and Mysterious NeutrinoSection:ChooseTop of pageMy Quantum ExperimentThe Matter of Everything:...Are Electromagnetic Field...The Climate Book: The Fac...Ghost Particle: In Search... <<Ghost Particle: In Search of the Elusive and Mysterious Neutrino, Alan Chodos and James Riordon, MIT Press, 2023, $32.95Despite being the second most abundant particle after photons, neutrinos have nevertheless proved to be difficult to study because they rarely interact with matter. Yet because of that property, they may offer unique insights into how the universe evolved. In Ghost Particle, the physicist Alan Chodos and the science journalist James Riordon relate the fascinating history of neutrino research, which involves atomic bombs, the Cold War, and a retired gold mine. They explore neutrinos’ importance to understanding astrophysics and cosmology as well as the potential applications of neutrino physics, such as monitoring nuclear reactors, probing Earth’s geology, and even searching for alien life. —cc© 2023 American Institute of Physics.

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