Five books on science/scientists!

Here are five books on science/scientists that I have enjoyed reading and which I highly recommend :

1) 'Disturbing the universe' by Freeman Dyson - Dyson is that rare find - A man blessed with intelligence and sensitivity in equal measure! I read this book a long time ago ( about 10 years ago when I was a 19 year old:-) , and about all I remember now is that I liked it very much ! I am trying to get hold of it ( I had earlier discovered it in a library) so that I reread it and write a more useful review !;-)


2) 'Genius - The life and Science of Richard Feynman' by James Gleick - In my opinion, among the greatest intellectual pursuits that mankind has undertaken, ranks the progress in Physics between 1900 and 1950. With folks like Feynman, Gamov, Fermi, Teller, Oppenheimer and Bethe  on the scene, physicists were treated like rock stars ! Gleick, with some amazing skill recreates those golden times, with his prime focus being arguably the best physicist of his generation, Richard Feynman. Feynman was once described by Dyson as 'Half buffoon , half genius', and by Wigner as 'He is a second Dirac, only this time human '. 

Feynman's own books 'Surely you're joking Mr Feynman' and its sequel - 'What do you care what other people think? have a quirky flavour, and it soon becomes obvious that Feynman had little respect for authority, and got away with a whole lot of things simply because he was so smart ! This book would rank among the top ten books I've read, for it recreates with great beauty, times that science will never again see after the dawn of computers. I sometimes feel computers(and the internet) have caused more harm than good, proving themselves to be efficient tools in creating zombies out of humans.


3) 'Feynman's Rainbow' by Leonard Mlodinow - As you might've guessed, I was a huge Feynman fan :-) (I now have a more measured opinion after getting to know of his activities outside of academics.)  Mlodinow, upon finishing a high-flying  Phd, joined Caltech to take up a cabin along side Feynman, and Murray Gell-Mann. Intimidated by their stature, and concerned about his own insecurities of turning out to be a one-trick-pony, he recounts the moments he shares with Feynman. He also describes the disdain with which Schwarz, and his string theory were treated in its nascent stage. Infact Schwarz was around solely because Gell Mann looked out for him. Schwartz later became very famous for his work, and observed dryly that the same jokes that were ignored in his early years elicited loud laughter once he became famous..

Mlodinow, interestingly went on to become a screen-writer for the television series "Star Trek - the next generation'!. This book, is in my opinion, a good read for anyone doing a phd, or in general, for anyone who doubts their abilities, or is wondering what next to do in life. While it may not give you the answers, it just might help you ask yourself the right questions.


4) 'Fermat's Last theorem' by Simon Singh - The story of Fermat's last theorem began innocuously enough with a letter Fermat wrote to his friend in 1637 where he only stated the theorem and added "I have found a truly wonderful proof but the margin is too small to contain it". Indeed the margin was too small to contain it, for the actual proof by Andrew Wiles runs to over 100 pages. Besides, it took mathematicians over 300 years before Wiles finally cracked the problem in 1995. This book traces the path various mathematicians undertook in their attempts to solve the problem, the most enigmatic/romantic among them being Galois, who tragically ended up losing his life in a pistol duel at the age of twenty.

Simon Singh keeps the math simple, and chooses to focus atleast as much on the historical bits, thus making this book accessible and interesting to readers of varying mathematical ability. Interestingly Wiles worked on the proof in secrecy for six years, and was distraught to find that the first version of his proof contained a flaw, but thanks to a flash of insight roughly a year later, he successfully furnished an alternate proof. I would highly recommend this book to everyone irrespective of their mathematical background, for it reads like a thriller, and is hard to put down once you get started. As an aside, I would also highly recommend "The code book" by the same author, which traces the history of cryptography.


5) 'How do you move Mount Fuji' by William Poundstone- This book doesn't really belong in this list, for its not really a science book. But I changed my mind the last moment and decided to include it anyway, for there is some fun in breaking rules:-)  This is a compilation of questions that folks who apply to Microsoft for employment have to contend with and answer, for them to nurture any hopes of bagging an offer. The focus really is on questions that need some degree of lateral thinking.

The title was perhaps inspired by the kind of questions Enrico Fermi was famous for asking his students, such as 'How many piano tuners would you guess are there in chicago?" or "If I were to drop a cannon ball over the Mariana's trench, how long would it take to hit the sea floor?". Infact these kind of questions that teach approximation and the importance of clearly identifying one's assumptions are now called "Fermi Problems". Again, the math is relatively simple yet interesting enough to engage the reader. There are other books that treat problem solving in a far more rigorous manner, but this would qualify as a nice gentle introduction.