Great Ideas in Physics Review

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Great Ideas in Physics ReviewA book like this is sort of a double-edged sword. Sure, when dealing with the lay person whose interest in physics (and the like) is sparked more by a temporal curiosity than by a need to know, 'popular' works like this tend to cover as much as necessary in as little space as possible, and in a way that translates easily for the non-specialist. As such, I applaud Dr. Lightman for not only attempting to educate the "simply curious" on very complicated areas of science but actually doing a noble job in the process.
Nevertheless, there are problems by which educators and science enthusiasts alike will simply cringe when reading (as Jesse Engelberg intimated). One example from among the questionable portions of the text will serve to prove this point. In the opening section concerning the Conservation of Energy, the author does a remarkable job in deriving many of the equations leading up to the first law of thermodynamics; however, he makes a much-too-often-committed mistake concerning molecular motion at absolute zero. From page 44 the text reads:
"Zero degrees Kelvin is called absolute zero. It is the coldest that any substance can be. From [Equation (I-14){provided on page 43}], we see that absolute zero means that =0, which can be achieved only if every single molecule in the substance is motionless (aside from ordered motions). If even a single molecule is moving, then will be larger than zero, and the substance will have a temperature higher than absolute zero."
Aside from the author's unexplored meaning of what an "ordered motion" is (perhaps this is the vibrational motion contended for in the following), anyone amply versed in Physical Chemistry and Thermodynamics is well aware that molecules are motionless at absolute zero only when referring to translational and rotational motion--not vibrational motion. Again, this is where a book like this would lose some of its luster by having to explain the difference to a general reader, but to say that molecules become motionless at absolute zero is utterly wrong and serves only to perpetuate misconceieved and erroneous notions of science among those reading such works for the first time. In fact, one of the fundamental tenets of quantum theory is this idea that all matter continues to execute vibrational motion, EVEN AT ABSOLUTE ZERO. It would be hard to believe that someone as educated as the author actually believes such a common, grievous error to be the case; hence, he should have qualified the statement a little more clearly by pointing out that translational and rotational motion are being referred to in the context (which of course would have demanded a longer and more arduous discussion on each type of motion) or he should have simply taken this portion out of the text.
As such, I am in agreement with the final comment made by Jesse Engelberg, namely: "buy this book if you are already conversant with the physics it discusses (thermodynamics, quantum mechanics, and relativity) and want to read about the history and philosophy of them." While I do not see the need to "only" buy the book if one is already well exposed to physics and has a desire to learn its history, I would warn new readers to pay more attention to the history and development of the ideas delineated in the work rather than some of the final equations (which do not always conform to scientific convention anyway) and quantitative data.
Very simply, get a feel for what is being said as a whole and seek the meat of the details elsewhere.Great Ideas in Physics Overview

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