Status
Available
Call number
Publication
Cambridge University Press (1993), Paperback
Description
Since his first appearance over sixty years ago, Mr Tompkins has become known and loved by many thousands of readers as the bank clerk whose fantastic dreams and adventures lead him into a world inside the atom. George Gamow's classic provides a delightful explanation of the central concepts in modern physics, from atomic structure to relativity, and quantum theory to fusion and fission. Roger Penrose's foreword introduces Mr Tompkins to a new generation of readers and reviews his adventures in light of recent developments in physics.
User reviews
LibraryThing member P_S_Patrick
This is a very readable and amusing book on relativity, the universe, quantum theory, and atomic structure. It is based around the adventures of a character called Mr Tompkins, who is interested in learning more about physics. He attends lectures on physics, in which he often falls asleep, and then
This book is non-technical, and written for a general audience, and though there are a few equations, to completely understand them is not essential. The book does a good job of making difficult concepts easy to understand partly by scaling them up to every day life, and partly by involving the character in them (such as when he is changed into an electron). The illustrations are also good, and fit the light-hearted nature of the stories.
The separate parts that make up this book were originally published 50 to 60 years ago, so some of the things on elementary particles are a bit out of date, and a small amount of progress has been made in quantum physics, but the stuff on the universe and relativity still holds up well. There are other books that do just as good a job of explaining some of these concepts (A Brief History of Time, for example), but the way that Gamow writes is at times hilarious, and I think worth reading this for in itself.
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experiences the physical phenomena (such as space time dilation, quantum coherence, particle annihilation et cetera) on a scale that is directly observable, during dreams.This book is non-technical, and written for a general audience, and though there are a few equations, to completely understand them is not essential. The book does a good job of making difficult concepts easy to understand partly by scaling them up to every day life, and partly by involving the character in them (such as when he is changed into an electron). The illustrations are also good, and fit the light-hearted nature of the stories.
The separate parts that make up this book were originally published 50 to 60 years ago, so some of the things on elementary particles are a bit out of date, and a small amount of progress has been made in quantum physics, but the stuff on the universe and relativity still holds up well. There are other books that do just as good a job of explaining some of these concepts (A Brief History of Time, for example), but the way that Gamow writes is at times hilarious, and I think worth reading this for in itself.
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LibraryThing member HoraceSPatoot
I agree with rmckeown (if that's your real name). This book is outdated, and can't have been that good when new. This subject has been treated much more entertainingly and effectively by others, including Hawking. Einstein (who is popularly believed to have said everything quotable at one time or
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another)said, "Everything should be made as simple as possible, but no simpler." This book crosses that line. Show Less
LibraryThing member BobH1
Changing the conditions of the real world in order to demonstrate the effect of scientific principles has been a traditional tool since Flatland by Edwin Abbott Abbott. I have to disagree with the other reviewers and say that this book taught me to understand relativity, which only became less
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clear when reading Stephen Hawking. This is a book of its time in the same way as Flatland is a book of its time, the language and style of both have dated, but the underlying metaphors and explanations in both remain clear. Stephen, though undoubtedly clever, remains dense and unclear. Show Less
LibraryThing member jefware
Interesting. It's a bit dated but still highly relevant and entertaining.
Awards
Language
Original publication date
1965 (omnibus)
1940 (Mr. Tompkins in Wonderland)
1945 (Mr. Tompkins Explores the Atom)
Physical description
186 p.; 8.4 inches
ISBN
0521447712 / 9780521447713