BOOK CLUB: For The Love Of Physics

August's book club recommendation is Walter Lewin's For The Love Of Physics. Walter Lewin is a man I had buckets of respect and admiration for the first time I ever saw his lectures online on MIT's (MA Institute of Technology) open courseware website. That was back when I was studying A levels and had just decided to read Physics at university. I was given his book for Christmas by my mum, and on reading it my respect for him could only grow.


In his book, he takes you on a journey through physics. He tells the story of how one man fell in love with it, encouraging you to do the same, be it for the first time, when your eyes are initially opened to the magic of science, or allowing you to fall all over again after the frustration of exams or endless failed experiments or thesis writing has turned you bitter. The journey he takes you on is also incredibly personal, detailing what it was like to grow up in the Netherlands during the Second World War, and what his life is like now.
           I would say with confidence that I don't think any lecturer or teacher has ever been more loved and appreciated by their students. And he has so many; he has affected the lives of not just those who have been in his classes in Cambridge, Massachusetts, but worldwide (including me, here in England!). This is with good reason. He is, simply the best. It is very easy to make new, ground-breaking science exciting to people, but to make the core, fundamental "boring background concepts" seem magical the way Walter Lewin does takes a real gift.
           You will be enthralled by all the little everyday things you previously took for granted. Lewin is an especial lover of rainbows and the wonders of light. I keep this book with me somewhere I can always see it, whether I'm at home or in my student house, and occasionally reread it, just to remind myself why I love what I'm doing, and what it really means to me.

I don't think I could ever urge you to read any book more

PS. Please post comments!