Mystery unravels physics behind nature’s magic

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For the Love of Physics

From the End of the Rainbow to the Edge of Time — A Journey Through the Wonders of Physics

By Walter Lewin and Warren Goldstein

The Free Press, 320 pages, $30

IT is always enlightening to encounter Walter Lewin, the celebrated Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor, a pioneer of modern teaching and a renowned X-ray astrophysicist.

At last, the millions of people who watch him every year on the Internet can enjoy him in print in this blend of autobiography and physics lecture.

It is also a fascinating kind of mystery novel, which slowly unravels physical principles behind seemingly magical displays of nature.

As in his lectures, Lewin entertains and inspires. His definition of the purpose of the book perfectly matches his approach to teaching:

“The intention of the book,” he writes, “is to help open your eyes to see remarkable ways in which physics illuminates the workings of our world and its astonishing elegance and beauty.”

As passionate about modern art as he is about physics, Lewin finds similarity between the two fields: pioneering science and art, he writes, are both new ways of seeing the world.

His love of teaching and art came from his parents, teachers and art collectors. He briefly takes us back in time to his childhood during the Second World War in occupied Holland, but quickly turns to what had helped him cope with reality, the magical, often hidden from our eyes, beauty of our universe.

As an experimental physicist, Lewin teaches about nature by opening all our senses. He is excited to take us rainbow hunting or swinging on a pendulum suspended from his classroom ceiling.

He asks us to pay attention to details where true beauty is often hidden. Lewin gives away the trick of how he finds a rainbow near a water fountain on a sunny day, and never misses a chance to look for one himself, at a certain angle between the water-drops and the sun.

He often points out fountain rainbows to fellow pedestrians. Not worried that they might find him weird, he says, “As far as I am concerned, why should I be the only one to enjoy such hidden wonders?”

Lewin’s journey through physics concepts in print is only a small element of a large tool box of resources for studying and teaching physics offered by this book.

Each concept is illustrated with a thorough description of a demonstration, and followed by a link to either his online lecture or another interesting online resource.

Together with his co-author, historian and essayist Warren Goldstein, Lewin puts every concept in historical perspective and discusses its importance for the new way of seeing the world. Disguised as a witty, entertaining, popular science book, it is a very interesting version of a textbook on physical concepts as well as a history of science.

Intertwining stories from his family life and research, Lewin sheds light on a complex life of a pioneer scientist during an era of major discoveries in the field. Lewin’s field of discovery was cosmic X-ray sources. He contributed significantly to findings of neutron stars and black holes orbited by other stars (e.g. binary systems). On the other side, his family life was in crisis.

Lewin is inspiring. He rekindles one’s child-like urge to discover and understand the world around us. However, he does not underestimate his audience. He uses layman’s language and starts with everyday experiences and then drives the reader fast along a steep learning curve.

As Lewin points out, instead of what you cover, “what counts is what you uncover,” and those are numerous open questions for future discoveries.

He leaves the reader with a feeling that if you are motivated and interested enough, anyone could do it.

Vesna Milosevic-Zdjelar teaches physics at the University of Winnipeg.