Posted by Chad Orzel on March 18, 2012 Captain’s Log, Stardate 031812
USS BabyPod
Lieutenant Commander The Pip reporting:
Hey, this space pod thing is pretty neat:
Wait, what? You mean I get to be in charge of this. All by myself?
That’s so awesome!!! Woo-hoo!
I can fly it however I want! Look, Ma, no hands!
Whee!!!! This is the most awesome thing ever!
Thanks, big sister Space Commander SteelyKid!
For the benefit of anybody who’s wondering about the difference between their ages, but isn’t obsessive enough to punch the timestamps into a date calculator, SteelyKid was about two weeks older than The Pip is now when we took the original Space Commander photos. Though I think she had been introduced to it a few days earlier, and he was in it for the first time today.
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
March 18, 2012
