Posted by Chad Orzel on December 22, 2009 “Hey, dude, whatcha doin’?”
“I’m making dinner.”
“Yeah? What are you guys having?”
“Well, since the book was published today, we’re having a couple of nice steaks to celebrate.”
“Just a couple?”
“Hmm? What do you mean?”
“Well, you might remember, I had something to do with the book…”
“It’d be hard to forget.”
“So, I should get steak, too. Right?”
“Why do you think your bowl is up on the counter?”
“Oooooh! I get steak! Steaksteaksteaksteaksteak!”
“Okay, I’m done. Can I have some more?”
Careful, Emmy might end up expecting steak every time you write a book.
When and if we do another talking-to-the-dog physics book, I’ll be happy to give her more steak…
That’s nicely seared steak, by the way!
Lucky Emmy!
And, although it’s a little late, congrats on book publication day! Very exciting!
And by the way, have you seen this?
That New Scientist review is awesome. Very cool. I hadn’t seen that before, but I’m glad I did. Thanks for the link.
Congratulations! I’m the designated Science Geek at our bookstore (one of the Big Bookchains Beginning with B) so I’m browsing the book on lunchbreaks until payday. It really reads nicely, and your co-author is a cutie! I just wish it had been published a couple weeks ago so I’d have more time to talk it up to customers before this holiday thing that’s coming up.
One thing I’m hoping for is to get an answer to what I’m afraid is one of the Top Ten Naive Questions on Quantum Stuff: How do you get wavelengths out of a particle? I mean, when you say that light waves have a frequency, that seems obvious, doesn’t it? But somehow, when you say that a photon has a frequency or a wavelength it just gives me brain-freeze and I fall over in a whimpery little heap. How does a particle wave, anyway? Sigh. This is why I never became a physicist.
You've read the blog, now try the books:
How to Teach Relativity to Your Dog is published by Basic Books. "“Unlike quantum physics, which remains bizarre even to experts, much of relativity makes sense. Thus, Einstein’s special relativity merely states that the laws of physics and the speed of light are identical for all observers in smooth motion. This sounds trivial but leads to weird if delightfully comprehensible phenomena, provided someone like Orzel delivers a clear explanation of why.” --Kirkus Reviews "Bravo to both man and dog." The New York Times.
How to Teach Physics to Your Dog is published by Scribner. "It's hard to imagine a better way for the mathematically and scientifically challenged, in particular, to grasp basic quantum physics." -- Booklist "Chad Orzel's How to Teach Physics to Your Dog is an absolutely delightful book on many axes: first, its subject matter, quantum physics, is arguably the most mind-bending scientific subject we have; second, the device of the book -- a quantum physicist, Orzel, explains quantum physics to Emmy, his cheeky German shepherd -- is a hoot, and has the singular advantage of making the mind-bending a little less traumatic when the going gets tough (quantum physics has a certain irreducible complexity that precludes an easy understanding of its implications); finally, third, it is extremely well-written, combining a scientist's rigor and accuracy with a natural raconteur's storytelling skill." -- BoingBoing
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