How to Dunk a Doughnut : The Science of Everyday Life - Softcover

Len Fisher

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0753817055 ISBN 13: 9780753817056

Publisher: Phoenix Paperbacks, 2003

Synopsis

Science is all around us. In this brilliant, entertaining book, Len Fisher provides scientific answers to familiar questions such as how to boil the perfect egg, how to catch a ball, the physics of sex, and why some vegetables absorb more gravy than others...In doing so, he reveals the world of the scientist - how they think, what they do, and how they go about doing it - proving that even the most commonplace activities can be used as a key to understanding the laws of nature and that experimental science can be fun!

About this title

About the Author

Born in 1942, Len Fisher received a PhD from the University of New South Wales. He has written around eighty scientific papers and book chapters on surface science, food science, chemical engineering, scientific instrumentation and the applications of physics to biology. He is currently honorary research fellow at the University of Bristol.

From Publishers Weekly

Science is a way of life more than a set of answers, according to Fisher, an English physical chemist and Ig Nobel Prize winner. In his delightful book, he uses " `the science of the familiar' as a key to open a door to science, to show what it feels like to be a scientist, and to view from an insider's perspective what scientists do, why they do it, and how they go about it." Each of his nine chapters focuses on relatively mundane affairs-the best way to dunk a doughnut, how to catch a fly ball, how simple tools function, how to throw a boomerang, how an egg and a sperm manage to unite to form a new life-and each poses scientific questions about the underlying premises and principles involved. Real scientific lessons are embedded in each chapter (Fisher nicely explains the three laws of thermodynamics, for example, as well as the difference between heat and temperature), and the thoroughly engaging anecdotes serve to bring the process of science and the people who conduct scientific investigations to life. He successfully shows how science influences all aspects of our lives and how the "consequences of any particular scientific discovery are often not obvious, even to the discoverer." This view is increasingly important as politicians regularly favor applied research over the pure research so essential for meaningful progress. Fisher's humor and readability could go a long way toward making his perspective acceptable to a wide public. 70 illus., and charts. Scientific American Book Club alternate selection.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Phoenix Paperbacks
• Publication date: 2003
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0753817055
• ISBN 13: 9780753817056
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 240