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I think I need something a little less complex. Isaax Asimov is a science fiction writer, but he also writes non fiction, science books. I was a little disappointed with it. The subject I know is complex, but I could have used an easier explanation. He writes in a way that makes the average person understand what he is explaining. None the less, I found this book way over my head.
He will take a complex subject and put it into terms that everyone can understand. This is the most interesting book out there for learning about how atoms work. Issac Asimov is hands down the best non-fiction writer of all time.
Fascinating to say the least. I was not really interested in that much history and the discussion of the antiparticle. Overall Asimov did an excellent job explaining some pretty difficult concepts. My only problem was the amount of material covered in the book. However, I knew what I was getting into prior to buying the book. I most especially enjoyed the discussion of nuclear breakdown, ie, the conversion of one radioactive isotope into a completely different element. I never really understood the relationship between mass and energy and now I believe I do.
Nothing better to kick back with this book and sip coffee and put your feet up and enjoy. Of course this book is written in lay terminology. Nothing is the same. Wish Issac was still around. Aren't all Issac's books. Matter is marvelously discussed and taken down to the smallest particals.
Each short chapter is dedicated to a particle, ex. Each chapter also gives a little historical background of the search and discovery behind each particle and how it fits within the sub-atomic world. This book is an excellent summation of the progress made in discovering sub-atomic particles, It may not now be up to date (it was printed in 1991), but I would not forgo the learning within, or the Asimov method of presenting it. mesons, quarks, bosons. Nuclear physicists may have progressed far beyond this by now, but this is still a good book for piecing together the subatomic puzzle of particles. Isaac Asimov specialty was explaining difficult subjects to his readers. He did an admiral job keeping the subject matter interesting.
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