Physics for Entertainment – Yakov Perelman

Bit of an offputting title, I know.. but honestly, an awesome book. It’s exactly what it says on the tin, a book full of physics theory and little experiments you can recreate – originally written as a kids book in (memory failing me..) about 1930-something, but since then its been translated into a billion languages and just keeps selling. The guys writing style is really easy to get into (even the english translation from the original Russian), and for a traditionally dry subject, he keeps it interesting. Some cool concepts that you can see what commercial applications became of them since it was written..

Apparently he did a 2nd volume, and a whole bunch of other “**** for entertainment” books, but unfortunately he was cut short by the Battle of Leningrad.. Bummer.

I got it in a deal on Amazon along with “The Visual Display of Quantative Information”, also dry.. but useful for me.

Both will get you a few odd looks on the train tho..