Book Review: The Handy Physics Answer Book – Author Paul W. Zitzewitz

You don’t have to be a Physics major to appreciate a book like this. The book is called “The Handy Physics Answers Book“, published by Visible Ink and authored by Paul W. Zitzewitz. In the style of Visible ink’s other “Answers” books, “The Handy Physics Answers Book” provides an extremely easy-to-read “question to answer” format that any age could benefit from.

The book delves into “those” age old questions you might have been wondering about but were never quite clear. The book is not only educational, but it’s extremely informative laying down the basics of 100’s of common physics-related questions. For instance, an example might be…the difference between acceleration and momentum, or perhaps speed and velocity. How about some basic introductory paragraphs on who Einstein was and why he was so controversial? Do you really know what fission, atoms and an antimatter is and how they all relate?

Have you ever wondered who won the Nobel prizes and for what reasons? Several pages list every Nobel prize issued AND the noted accomplishments for the recipients fields. Maybe you just want to know the difference in physics occupations and types of physics? Maybe your interest is in gravity and how different objects can be affected based on their mass? “Laws of motion”, your position on Earth, or the acceleration principles of rockets…these are all potential tidbits of information many of us just never got around to learning and can now access with ease. Heck it’s just good nerdy fun!

If your like me, you probably just enjoy grabbing a few pieces of information to be used in causal conversations and the origins of what, why, and how. Did you know why one doesn’t hurt their backs when lying properly on a bed of nails? Did you know how Einstein’s Law of Relativity works and why it has been a mainstay for so long? Is it possible to be moving and standing still at the same time? What about the combination, how can one alter that? These are only a few of what is offered.

Hands down this is really a cool book that examines many preconceptions and facts that have existed in physics for years. New ideas and concepts are presented that have been introduced into the field recently. Each is a quick lesson that can be consumed very easily with the book’s smaller summary paragraphs. Best of all, it’s not specific to any one aspects as it covers radio waves, solar flares, motion, astronomy facts, temperatures, acoustics, camera, circuits…..oh man, it’s already exhausting even listing it all.

My immediate takeaway here is…..this book should be on every one’s shelf. It really is stuff you could benefit by knowing, if not “only” for curiosity sake. It’s well written and designed to easily find things. Best of all, you might be surprised at how little you know about alot. I love to just pulling this out in the interest of reading a few facts in my journey of self learning. Author Zitzewitz has compiled this book from his years of teaching and the smattering of common questions asked. I believe Physics students can also greatly benefit from the easy to find question and answer format layout. The dictionary provided is extensive while the breakaway inclusions are just plain fun to read.

“The Handy Physics Answer Book” covers a total of 374 pages in this 2nd edition release. Readers will be happy to know that the edition upgrade has taken into conservation any changes that may have occurred in the Physics field of learning. I for one, will cherish the abundance of info here for many years to come. At last! a few of the universe’s secrets shared for curiosity seekers.

Book Review: The Handy Physics Answer Book – Author Paul W. Zitzewitz