Book Review: 50 Physics Ideas You Really Need to Know by Joanne Baker

I'm out of practice on physics, to this was a really handy review, covering everything from Newtonian motion to relativity to quantum mechanics to cosmology and string theory.

Baker does a great job of explaining the history behind the theories and provides some fascinating anecdotes and facts about the scientists who developed these important ideas.

She also presents the material in a format that is understandable and digestible, with four pages given to each topic, and the ideas arranged in a naturally-flowing sequence.

I would have liked to see a little bit more of the mathematics covered, but I also realize that not everyone in the target audience for a book like this is going to have a lot of tolerance for pages of equations. Baker's "condensed idea" catchphrases that end the chapters are a bit hit-or-miss, and a few of the segments wander off the topic a bit.

But some of the topics are really well-presented. I may use Baker's description of photoelectric effect in my chemistry class next year. Her explanation is superior to either my textbook or any version that I've managed to come up with for my students. I also really enjoyed the chapter on Feynman diagrams, a topic that I really had no previous exposure to and which I came away feeling like I had a decent grasp and a curiosity to learn more. And she did a good job with some topics that I'm very comfortable with already such as the Ideal Gas Law.

This is worth reading if you're taking physics, teaching it, trying to refresh your knowledge of it, or if you missed out on it in high school or college and are curious as to what it's all about.