Understand any scientific theory using first principles
Popular science is a young subject. The first acknowledged popular science book, On the Connexion of the Physical Sciences by Mary Somerville, was published in 1834. That means that books on science, written for mass consumption, are even younger than the first science fiction books, the first being Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, published in 1818. (I can’t help but notice, in a field that is currently male dominated, that female hands penned both these firsts 200 years ago.)
These days you can take your pick of topics to read. Just taking a look at the bestsellers right now we have a book on Rationality from Steven Pinker, Helgoland on quantum mechanics from Carlo Rovelli, and The God Equation on string theory from Michio Kaku. These are all well-known scientists and popular authors with impeccable scientific credentials and long histories on the public stage.
Meanwhile, Neil deGrasse Tyson’s insanely popular little book, Astrophysics for People in a Hurry, sold over 1 million copies and spent over a year in the top five, despite being a collection of previously published essays, some dating back to the 1990s!
Big names. Big science.
In addition to that we have the regular stream of science news and features from a variety of authors, both well-known and less so, from the…
