Have you ever dropped a slice of buttered bread? Tried to air dry clothes on a humid day? Pondered those glowing read heating coils while waiting for the toaster to finish up? Whoa! I have, too! As it turns out, these mundane examples showcase fundamental laws of physics that we humans have learned how to manipulate for our own purposes– for better or worse. Knowing that the Chandrasekhar Limit is 1.4 solar masses is great, but as the old schoolyard refrain goes, “When am I ever going to use this in the real world?”Ĭzerski tells us where and when we’ll use this in the real world by describing experiences everyone’s had. While this is amazing knowledge to be spreading around and is interesting by itself, it doesn’t always speak to our individual lives. While I have read several physics books by many of the currents stars of the field, they all speak to Big Ideas and Big Events like how the universe was formed or the deaths of giant stars millions of light years away. Have you ever wondered why popcorn pops– or on the flipside, why there are unpopped bits left at the bottom of the bag? Ever wondered how ducks deal with cold feet when they’re walking on ice? Do you know why the toast always falls buttered-side down when it gets knocked off the table?ĭo you want to know how and why these prosaic things relate to the movements of planets, how rockets escape Earth’s gravity, or climate change? If so, Helen Czerski’s book, Storm in a Teacup: The Physics of Everyday Life is the book for you. She provides answers to vexing questions: How do ducks keep their feet warm when walking on ice? Why does it take so long for ketchup to come out of a bottle? Why does milk, when added to tea, look like billowing storm clouds? In an engaging voice at once warm and witty, Czerski shares her stunning breadth of knowledge to lift the veil of familiarity from the ordinary. Czerski provides the tools to alter the way we see everything around us by linking ordinary objects and occurrences, like popcorn popping, coffee stains, and fridge magnets, to big ideas like climate change, the energy crisis, or innovative medical testing. Storm in a Teacup: The Physics of Everyday Lifeįrom Goodreads: Storm in a Teacup is Helen Czerski’s lively, entertaining, and richly informed introduction to the world of physics.
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