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A Random Walk in Science: An Anthology
A Random Walk in Science provides insight into the wit and intellect of the scientific mind through a blend of amusing and serious contributions written by and about scientists. The book records changing attitudes within science and mirrors the interactions of science with society. Some of the contributors include Lewis Carroll, Isaac Newton, Jonathan Swift, and James Clark Maxwell. This entertaining anthology covers Murphy's Law, the trial of Galileo, life on Earth, Gulliver's computer, and much more.
206 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1973
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
February 6, 2023
--- English translation below ---
ليس لدي الكثير من التعليقات على هذا الكتاب. كان لطيفًا، خفيفًا نوعًا ما. لا أتذكر إن كان يزعم أنه موجه للعامة ولكنه حتمًا ليس كذلك.
كانت هناك قصص سرِرتُ أنني عرفتها، نصوص طريفة، وأخرى ملهمة.. لكنني أعترف أن شيئًا من حس الفكاهة فيه قديم وصادر عن أشخاص كبار في العمر، نوعًا ما كانت النكات التي لن يضحك عليها أحد إلا مجاملة، أو قد يطلق أحدهم تعبيرات كاذبة عن الدهشة كردة فعل عليها.
أعترف كذلك أنني تخطيت بعض النصوص لأنها لم تجذب اهتمامي.
كان من المضحك كذلك، أن المحرر/الكتّاب لم يبدُ أنهم تذكروا أن عنوان الكتاب يدل على العلم وليس الفيزياء فقط إلا في موضعين أو ثلاثة
إليكم بعض العناوين التي أعجبتني:
On the nature of mathematical proof
What do physicists do?
A glossary for research reports
Yes, Virginia
-النكتة الصغيرة بعد "Yes, Virginia". كانت غير معنونة-
Life on earth (by a martian)
The high energy physics coloring book
Snakes and ladders
Do-it-yourself CERN courier writing kit
How to learn
The trial of Galileo -بالأخص آخر صفحة-
Sir Isaac Newton, a short time before his death
--- English translation ---
I don't have much to say about this book. It was nice, kind of light. I don't remember if it claimed that it was for the public, but it certainly isn't.
There were some stories I was glad to know of, funny passages, other inspiring.. But I confess that some of the humour was old and of old people (in age). It was kind of the humour no one would laugh at except out of courtesy. Or perhaps someone would let out a lying sound of surprise as a reaction for it.
I also confess that I skipped some passages because it did not catch my interest.
It was also funny that the editor/writers did not seem to remember that the book's title leads to science and not physics alone except in 2 or 3 soots.
Here are some titles I liked:
On the nature of mathematical proof
What do physicists do?
A glossary for research reports
Yes, Virginia
-The small joke after "Yes, Virginia". It was untitled-
Life on earth (by a martian)
The high energy physics coloring book
Snakes and ladders
Do-it-yourself CERN courier writing kit
How to learn
The trial of Galileo -especially the last page -
Sir Isaac Newton, a short time before his death
ليس لدي الكثير من التعليقات على هذا الكتاب. كان لطيفًا، خفيفًا نوعًا ما. لا أتذكر إن كان يزعم أنه موجه للعامة ولكنه حتمًا ليس كذلك.
كانت هناك قصص سرِرتُ أنني عرفتها، نصوص طريفة، وأخرى ملهمة.. لكنني أعترف أن شيئًا من حس الفكاهة فيه قديم وصادر عن أشخاص كبار في العمر، نوعًا ما كانت النكات التي لن يضحك عليها أحد إلا مجاملة، أو قد يطلق أحدهم تعبيرات كاذبة عن الدهشة كردة فعل عليها.
أعترف كذلك أنني تخطيت بعض النصوص لأنها لم تجذب اهتمامي.
كان من المضحك كذلك، أن المحرر/الكتّاب لم يبدُ أنهم تذكروا أن عنوان الكتاب يدل على العلم وليس الفيزياء فقط إلا في موضعين أو ثلاثة
إليكم بعض العناوين التي أعجبتني:
On the nature of mathematical proof
What do physicists do?
A glossary for research reports
Yes, Virginia
-النكتة الصغيرة بعد "Yes, Virginia". كانت غير معنونة-
Life on earth (by a martian)
The high energy physics coloring book
Snakes and ladders
Do-it-yourself CERN courier writing kit
How to learn
The trial of Galileo -بالأخص آخر صفحة-
Sir Isaac Newton, a short time before his death
--- English translation ---
I don't have much to say about this book. It was nice, kind of light. I don't remember if it claimed that it was for the public, but it certainly isn't.
There were some stories I was glad to know of, funny passages, other inspiring.. But I confess that some of the humour was old and of old people (in age). It was kind of the humour no one would laugh at except out of courtesy. Or perhaps someone would let out a lying sound of surprise as a reaction for it.
I also confess that I skipped some passages because it did not catch my interest.
It was also funny that the editor/writers did not seem to remember that the book's title leads to science and not physics alone except in 2 or 3 soots.
Here are some titles I liked:
On the nature of mathematical proof
What do physicists do?
A glossary for research reports
Yes, Virginia
-The small joke after "Yes, Virginia". It was untitled-
Life on earth (by a martian)
The high energy physics coloring book
Snakes and ladders
Do-it-yourself CERN courier writing kit
How to learn
The trial of Galileo -especially the last page -
Sir Isaac Newton, a short time before his death
June 27, 2019
An interesting and entertaining collection of short pieces of humor, history, and philosophy, all from the subculture of physicists. It touches on some related fields (math, chemistry), but other sciences are omitted. Many of the items require a basic understanding of physics or math to get the joke, and a very few require a bit more than basic understanding. Most of the pieces are less than two pages long, and there is virtually no connection from one to another; the book is ideal for random browsing. The range of material is impressive, including satire, puns, other short and long pieces of humor, anecdotes about scientists, and some serious philosophy and history. The book was published in 1973, and some of the items seem a little dated, but the items cover more than two centuries, and most of them are timeless.
May 17, 2023
I had previously read just a few pieces from this book and found them very enjoyable. I had thought the whole book, or at least most of it, was humorous, but when I read it I found a lot of it was just interesting stuff from the history of science. Moderately interesting, but not the kind of thing I'd normally pick up a book to read. And some pieces were beyond me because I'm not familiar enough with the science or math involved. Sometimes I couldn't even tell if something was humorous (tongue-in-cheek) or serious, since I didn't know if unfamiliar terms were real, or used as they should be, or not.
October 24, 2022
I was given this book in 1973 by my Godmother but never read it. I recently picked it off the shelf where it has been sleeping for almost 50 years and read it. I’m glad I did - it’s a lovely anthology of short texts of all kinds associated with science.
June 11, 2020
Spoiler alert: Science is awesome.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 19, 2011
It is random that is for sure. Since I was reading electronically I was able to choose the subjects that were interesting.
August 28, 2012
So good, and still very relevant pieces even though it was published in the 70's.
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