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ISBN-10: 0-452-26834-6
ISBN-13: 9780452268340
Publisher: Plume
Country:
Year: August 1, 1992
Size: 14.73 x 22.35 x 2.03cm
Number of pages: 336
Weight: 295gr
Binding: Paperback
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Isaac Asimov, D. F. Bach (illustrator)
2008
Library Binding
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The legendary Isaac Asimov starts what is perhaps the finest of all his books with a simple query: How finely can a piece of matter be divided? But like many simple questions, this one leads readers on a far-flung quest for a final answer, a search that encompasses such fascinating phenomena as light and electricity and their components--strange but real bits of matter that challenge our assumptions about the very nature of time and space. 40 illustrations.
reviews
Of course this book is written in lay terminology. Aren't all Issac's books? Matter is marvelously discussed and taken down to the smallest particals. Nothing better to kick back with this book and sip coffee and put your feet up and enjoy. Wish Issac was still around. Nothing is the same.
Isaac Asimov's Atom is an interesting premise for a book … the evolution of the smallest aspect of an element which is the basic aspect of life and existance. Asimov intends to take the reader across centuries explaining simply, interestingly, and concisely how this fascinating little thing came to be as it is and why it is so important.
However, Asimov explains the atom neither simply, interestingly, nor concisly. Let me rephrase … Asimov's writing style is extremely dry in this book. It is understandable to a certain extent … the book is divided into 51 small sections of between 3 to 7 pages each. If a reader attempts to read over more than one or two of these sections at a time, it becomes nausiating. Explainations of experiments are extremely difficult to understand, and the book drags and lacks any interest whatsoever in many parts.
Redeemed by interesting tidbits, it is easy to understand how a science buff can enjoy this and understand it, but to the average reader, the prose is uncommonly dull and loquacious. The diverse gallimaufry of scientists govered begin to combine in the mind, and it is difficult to remember who did what.
As the book stretches onward passed the three-hundered page mark, the reader is constantly questioning »Why do I care? I have learned what the atom is today, and how it came about originally. Why on earth to I need to know all the errors in between?«
In conclusion, Asimov's Atom: Journey Across the Subatomic Cosmos may be perfectly suited to the literature taste buds of a science afficianado, but nobody who takes no particular interest in the subject should be forced to read such a dry and useless account. Asimov has talent, which he beautifully and powerfully demonstrates in certain parts of Atom and in almost every single other work he has written, but here his talents need to be reserved for the most scientific amongst us. It is unfortunate that so many Chemistry teachers require this book as reading for their class. This difficult narrative will only succeed in fogging the perception even more.
Overall Asimov did an excellent job explaining some pretty difficult concepts. 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. Fascinating to say the least. My only problem was the amount of material covered in the book. I was not really interested in that much history and the discussion of the antiparticle. However, I knew what I was getting into prior to buying the book.
This is an excellent book for students of almost all ages (14 up). I was 14 when I read it, with no education in atoms, and I understood it perfectly. Asimov writes in a way that is extremely provocative and very informative. I highly recommed this book.
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. Isaac Asimov specialty was explaining difficult subjects to his readers. He did an admiral job keeping the subject matter interesting. Each short chapter is dedicated to a particle, ex. mesons, quarks, bosons. 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. 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.
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