Evolution of Physics

As the authors state, ".. thought and ideas, not formulas, are the beginning of every physical theory". True to this statement, this book focuses on thoughts and ideas and does not use any formulas at all. This makes it good as an adjunct for standard texts, which contain the formulas, but not as a substitute for such books. This book is divided into four sections: the rise of the mechanical view, the decline of the mechanical view, field and relativity, and quanta. It is thus about how the mechanical view of Newton evolved into the modern view of physics (relativity theory and quantum mechanics).

I would like to focus on how this book might be perceived for three different classes of readers.
(1) For those who have never taken a physics course (or did and tried to forget the experience as soon as possible) -- The lack of any mathematics may be comforting to this class of reader, but it will nonetheless not be an easy read for them. The basic concepts, such as inertia, may be difficult to grasp for those with no previous physics background, but the author's do a good job of describing things. (A task made more difficult without recourse to the shorthand of mathematics.) I would, however, recommend this book only to those who are motivated to go well beyond their comfort zone. However, if they focus on the concepts that are being described and are patient in following the lines of reasoning, they should be richly rewarded.
(2) For those who have taken physics courses, but do not have advanced degrees in physics -- I put myself in this group and I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I liked this book because it focuses on the why (the basic underlying theories of physics), rather than on the how (problem solving). In doing so, it provided a much better understanding of what is behind the equations than I found in physics texts. I got a very clear picture of the deficiencies of Newtonian mechanics and Maxwell's equations, and how this led to relativity theory. I found this very illuminating as it more clearly showed me Einstein's thought process. If found this even clearer than that presented in Einstein's book on relativity (prepared for a general readership). Of all the groups of readers, I think that people in this group will get the most from this book.
(3) For those with advanced degrees in physics - People in this group may have already been exposed to the concepts described here, but this book will still be very helpful in that it shows clearly Einstein's logic in developing relativity theory and the quantum theory of light. Much of this may be old hat to this group, but the book will still be of interest from a historical perspective.
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