The Physics of Everyday Things

Title: The Physics of Everyday Things – The Extraordinary Science behind an Ordinary Day

Author: James Kakalios

Publisher: Crown New York, 2017 (First)

ISBN: 9780770437732

Pages: 245

Mankind extricated itself from the clutches of superstition and false beliefs over the ages, but has fallen slaves to technology. Our day – and night too – is made all the more easier and productive by numerous devices, some of whom are quite conspicuous like an air conditioner while others toil in the background like a pacemaker, yet are always there serving us. Over the years, our dependence on technology has become all the more indissoluble. In that sense, we have become slaves to our machines whose service has become essential to us. The Spielberg movie ‘Jurassic Park’ demonstrates man’s vulnerability to hazards in the absence of technology even for a short while (I am sure that there are more recent films exhibiting this theme, but my familiarity with movies in general is woefully inadequate!). A group of visitors ride through a park that houses dinosaurs recreated from ancient fossils and held under a tight leash by clever technical devices. The computerized security system of the park is taken down by a blackguard employee and the human masters suddenly find themselves at the mercy of the beasts that were safely behind cages till a few moments before. There are scenes in the movie in which the very life of people in the park is reliant on the proper functioning of machines and instruments. In the quarter century or so elapsed between the movie and the present day, we have become much more dependent on science and technology. This book is an attempt to explain the fundamental science that lies at the heart of everyday gadgets that we often take for granted. Narrating the life of a fictitious person from awaking in the morning to falling asleep at night, the author presents a lot of useful ideas and information to the readers. James Kakalios is the Taylor Distinguished Professor in the School of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Minnesota and the author of the much popular book, ‘The Physics of Superheroes’. He is a condensed matter experimentalist whose research concerns semiconductor materials and fluctuation phenomena in neurological systems.

The greatest boon of technology is that it allows its fruits to be enjoyed by users who don’t have any notion at all about how it works. The only constraint it imposes on consumers is to know how to make it work. Technology is only the application of science, but shields the users from its intricacies. So, you can enjoy the benefits of electricity without learning how electromagnetic effect works, or subject to an MRI scan without the least idea of the innards of nuclear structures and phenomena. This hands-free approach is followed in the narration in which the protagonist goes on performing the tasks in his routine daily life and the author stops to take note of the device and explain the principles of its working in a simple way. In the end, readers get acquainted with the science behind alarm clocks, toasters, automobile engines, X-ray and other medical equipments, flying machines, phones, display technologies and a whole host of similar instruments.

Many of the appliances being used and explained are still only a dream for the inhabitants of third-world countries. Electric toothbrushes, EZ-pass systems and proximity cards are still many years ahead, but this restriction is not imposed by the underlying technology and solely limited by the amount of dispensable income in one’s pocket. Kakalios has tried his best to give an easy-to-read narrative, but there are quite a few places at which the lay reader would find the going tough. The book is written for an American audience, which explains the profusion of the ‘Fahrenheit’ temperature scale. It assumes a high school-level familiarity with basics of science including an understanding of the atomic structure.

As can be expected, almost all of the devices and phenomena detailed in the book relates to electricity and electronics. All inventions in twentieth century physics fall under these heads, but computer is however, not included. It is curious to note that MRI scanner manufacturers purposefully omit the term ‘nuclear’ as part of marketing strategy because the public is overly concerned and troubled with things that has anything to do with ‘nuclear’. Kakalios also makes it a point to explain the principles of radiation and that all kinds of radiation are not harmful.

The book is highly recommended.

Rating: 4 Star