Publishers seem to have hit on a winning formula for non-fiction books in recent years. Take a seemingly esoteric subject, mix in lots of history, add plenty of anecdotes, keep it short, and print the...
For as long as I can remember, the major research universities in the US have repeated the mantra that “good research makes good teaching”. When challenged about the need for investment in...
As a physicist, you have the advantage of a three-way choice when it comes to developing a career. You can become a scientist, opt for work that involves science outside the laboratory, or consider of...
Two of the outstanding challenges in physics identified in our millennium survey last month were the nature of “dark matter” and a proper understanding of nuclear structure. This month we ...
The difficulties faced by women in science come brilliantly to life in this hugely enjoyable book of cartoons by Jim Ottaviani. The strips include a fascinating account of Rosalind Franklin’s sc...
Physics World is not in the habit of reviewing books by non-physicists, but when the author was married to one of the most famous physicists of the 20th century, we can make an exception. In this book...
Charles Townes has written a biography – but it is not clear if it is his own or that of the laser. The laser is now such a feature of our everyday life that the remarkable story of its birth ne...
In mid-December 1900 Max Planck presented a series of papers to the Prussian Academy of Sciences in Berlin that were, eventually, to revolutionize not only physics as a discipline, but our entire conc...
A more detailed review by Phil Anderson of Princeton University, US is in the November issue of Physics World magazine. This delightfully written little book is full of typically Dysonian intellectual...
When the great and the good met at the World Conference on Science in Budapest in June, one question was on many people’s lips. How much has science changed since the previous World Conference h...