StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...
Free

Six Easy Pieces Critical Analysis - Research Paper Example

Cite this document
Summary
The paper "Six Easy Pieces Critical Analysis" focuses on the critical analysis of the book Six Easy Pieces, written by Richard P. Feynman, the great physicist who was born in 1918 and died in 1988. He has largely been referred to as the most creative scientist…
Download full paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER92.7% of users find it useful
Six Easy Pieces Critical Analysis
Read Text Preview

Extract of sample "Six Easy Pieces Critical Analysis"

Book Review: Six Easy Pieces Richard P. Feynman, the great physicist was born on 1918 and died on 1988. He has largely been referred to as the most creative scientist who spread the knowledge in the period following the Second World War. In his lifetime, Feynman made a wide array of achievements ranging from the creation of an atomic bomb in the days of the Second World War to his unmatched contributions in the exploration of quantum electrodynamics because of which, Feynman received the Nobel Prize in the year 1965. Feynman maintained a scintillating method of mentorship throughout his career which was the reason why he enjoyed the status of a legend equally among the professors and the students of Physics. Chapters of the book Six Easy Pieces are based on the lectures by Feynman delivered in the years 1961 and 1962 to the undergraduate students of Caltech. The series of lectures delivered at the California Institute of Technology in those years brought a complete revolution in the mentorship of the concepts of Physics all over the globe. With this book, students are able to get the same original flavor of the mid-20th century lectures in the 21st century. Feynman has named the book Six Easy Pieces so that it directly gives a hint for the six easiest chapters covering the work of the great late physicist. These chapters are specifically written to meet the needs of a non-scientist reader. The book Six Easy Pieces is meant for people that want to have basic knowledge of the laws of physics. Physics is one of the most important and yet, tiresome subjects for a lot of students. Students’ disinterest in physics can be attributed to the lack of authors’ ability to present the concepts in an enjoyable manner. This realization led Feynman to write a book that would be way off the way followed by the authors of conventional physics books. In this book, the author has explained the concepts of physics in six parts. Atoms in Motion, which is the first section of the book explains the basic atomic theory. In order to explain it, the author makes a pictorial presentation of the phenomenon that takes place when water comes to the boil, steam forms, and the hot particles escape the surface of water. In the concluding part of the first section, the author has talked about the known complexity of the organic matter’s molecules. Section that follows the Atoms in Motion section is titled Basic Physics. Physics has been interpreted as a game of chess in which the player happens to be God. According to the author, some of the rules of this game can be learnt by observing the game being played continuously even if we are not equipped with a preliminary understanding of the underlying concepts, rules and regulations of the game, though it is beyond the tendency of a human being to identify the reason behind a move that God makes. The author explains this matter by referring to the example of a bishop who always remains in the red square, but once, he is find in the white square thus making the audience wonder how that can be. In reality, the bishop in the red square was captured along with the queening of a pawn upon a white square that was later transformed into a bishop. This explains the behavior of physics in which, phenomena normally remain the same but whenever something happens out of the routine, it raises a curiosity among the scientists who tend to think if or not that was a queened pawn. In the same section, the author discusses the perceptions about physics and its laws in the time before the year 1920. The audience is introduced to the concepts of quantum physics, particles and nuclei. This is followed by a brief account of the chart formulated with the elementary particles which have been identified so far. The author has compiled the chart is the same manner as Mendeleyev had formulated the periodic table. The third section explores the relation of physics with other fields of science. An in-depth analysis of the matter suggests that physics is linked with almost all fields of science ranging from psychology to chemistry. Realization of the fact that physics is intrinsically related to almost all fields of science was both surprising and interesting for me. Conservation of energy has been introduced after the first three sections. In this section, the author has discussed law and the reason of its working. Again, this has been done with the help of a very fine and easily understandable example. The author refers to the example of a kid who has 28 building blocks which happen to be indestructible. This means that the kid needs to have those 28 building blocks with him all the time. If the kid is locked up in a room with the blocks throughout the day, the number of blocks will remain the same when the room is opened in the night. One night, when the room is opened, we find that one block is missing. We doubt that the kid must have thrown that piece of block out of the window, so we also lock the window. Then one day we find the kid locked up with 30 blocks. We tend to believe that the kid’s friend who had come the other day to see him must have left his two blocks in the kid’s room. So we take two blocks and give them to the friend. Then we find him with only 25 blocks one day, but we notice that the level of dirty water in the bathroom has risen. We immerse 28 blocks in the water and read the level and measure the drop in the level of water when 1 block is removed. The fundamental point that the author has tried to make with this example is the fact that energy may change forms but can never vanish. The total number would always be 28 provided that we are aware of the equations of the various forms of energy that add up to reveal the constant. The theory of gravitation has been discussed in the fifth section of the book. In this section, the author has first presented equation of the gravity force. This is followed by the discussion of Kepler’s laws. The author has tried to explain the orbit with the help of the example of a gun that shoots a bullet. The author discusses and also proves with suitable examples how the horizontal and vertical motions are entirely different in nature. In the concluding part of this section, the author has introduced Einstein’s theory of gravity and has made a brief discussion about the way light is bent upon its contact with big things in the universe like sun. Quantum behavior makes the last section of the book. This section is quite wild in nature. The way microscopic movements in objects take place has been explained in this section. Without an experience and interaction with things on a microscopic level, it becomes quite difficult to understand these movements. There is a lot of difference between the way things work in the macroscopic world and in the microscopic world. The author experiments with bullets and waves as well as with electrons in an attempt to show the behavior of microscopic particles. Finally, the relation of the principle of Heinsberg Uncertainty with the electron experiment is discussed. One of the primary elements according to which a book is evaluated for its inclusion in the curriculum is the suitability of presentation and its consistency with the taste of the audience that the curriculum is being designed for. The book is very suitable for inclusion into the curriculum of children studying science and particularly Physics in the high school because the concepts in the boom have been illustrated with the help of examples from everyday life. Children of high school find it easy to recount and recapitulate the concepts thus gained by remembering their relation with events of daily occurrence. Making use of his unmatched wit-making skills, Feynman has discussed the concepts in each of the six chapters without the use of any technical jargon or equations. No wonder, the clarity of expression Feynman maintained while discussing the complex theories of Physics and the unique examples from everyday life he came up with in the book is what makes this writer one of the most capable mentors in the whole world. I found this a really great book. The concepts of physics are generally difficult for the high school students to understand, but the magic Feynman has done in this book makes the concepts resemble sweets that the children can be fed and relished with. The best thing I like about this book is that it has made something as bland and boring as physics colorful and enjoyable. The reader feels like a doctor dissecting objects to see what is happening inside. Having read this book, a reader gains objective understanding of the basic concepts of physics and becomes curious to learn more about them…What more could an author want? References: Feynman, R. P. 1994. Six easy pieces. Reading, MA: Helix Books. Read More
Cite this document
  • APA
  • MLA
  • CHICAGO
(Book review ( six easy pieces) Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words, n.d.)
Book review ( six easy pieces) Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words. Retrieved from https://studentshare.org/physics/1756308-book-review-six-easy-pieces
(Book Review ( Six Easy Pieces) Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 Words)
Book Review ( Six Easy Pieces) Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 Words. https://studentshare.org/physics/1756308-book-review-six-easy-pieces.
“Book Review ( Six Easy Pieces) Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 Words”. https://studentshare.org/physics/1756308-book-review-six-easy-pieces.
  • Cited: 0 times

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF Six Easy Pieces Critical Analysis

Forensic Case Portfolio

The field of digital forensic analysis has various techniques that are critical in the identification, preservation, extraction, and documentation of digital evidence.... On 10 December 2012, our computer forensic department received a request for computer forensic analysis.... While computer forensic is of great value to investigators dealing with digital crime, such as seen in appendix A, there are many legal issues that are critical in any crime scene....
13 Pages (3250 words) Case Study

Farewell to Post-Colonialism: The Third Guangzhou Triennial

A great percentage of these analysts argue that Third Guangzhou Triennial is a representation of a period in history whereby an exploration of the critical visualization of Chinese citizens.... Wang and Peggy (2010) argue that The Third Guangzhou Triennial aims at exploring individuals' critical vision; a factor that cannot be indicated to be a denial of intellectual beliefs of the new world.... Guangzhou Triennial and Guangdong Museum of Art (2008) argue that Post-Colonialism may have contributed a great mile in uncovering concealed ideological agenda in the social order as well as stimulating new pieces of art....
12 Pages (3000 words) Essay

Radiographer Training in the Red Dot System

There are three quantifiable categories for this analysis: Sensitivity, which is the ability to spot traumatic abnormalities; Specificity, which is the ability to identify normal skeletal appearance; and Accuracy, which is the overall ability to provide the casualty officer with useful, precise information.... This discrepancy can perhaps be accounted for by noting that the earlier article, McConnell, is addressing the somewhat narrower parameter of a "short course of study" within the context of a needs-analysis survey (2000: 608) while Hargreaves, which relies on McConnell as a source in its works cited, undertakes the broader question of generally improving performance through training without the constraints of survey parameters or course length....
9 Pages (2250 words) Essay

Six Sigma Methodology

The human elements include the culture change, customer focus, belt system, and infrastructure while the process includes process management, statistical analysis of data, and measurement system analysis.... Consultants do not find it easy to make Six Sigma work through an organization.... The essay 'six Sigma Methodology' talks about the concept of six sigma, aimed at managing production, the basic principles of which are the desire to establish a stable and predictable flow of processes, in order to achieve continuous improvement in quality, it is necessary to involve organization personnel at all levels....
7 Pages (1750 words) Essay

The Geography Case Analysis

This essay is a critical analysis of the Half-overseas dealings speech, half comedy, and half-twisted guide by blending tour, psychology, and humor to explore not what happiness is, but where to find happiness among Swiss residents.... Most of his pieces always leave the reader with unexplained gestures as they marvel at the eloquence in the manner in which things are… His strength in writing lies at his ability to examine and study things from different points of angles making him a good critical thinker....
5 Pages (1250 words) Essay

Genetics and Society

These profiles are later used to solve crimes around the world (DNA analysis, 2003).... According to the Federal Bureau of Investigations, as of the year 2013, over two hundred thousand cases used DNA evidence to facilitate criminal investigations.... On the other hand, DNA evidence… as also been used to exonerate wrongly accused individuals, and several of them were in death row (Dnaforensics....
8 Pages (2000 words) Essay

Media Coverage of War

They have done a thorough research of War; as a consequence, the book has a robust analysis of the War and more excellent readers.... This paper ''Media Coverage of War'' tells about one of the books, where Merman gave comments against media and said media should not perceive Washington consent as an explanation for downplaying dangerous perspectives....
5 Pages (1250 words) Annotated Bibliography

Program Analysis of Petri Chess

The purpose of this paper "Program analysis of Petri Chess" is to analyze the chess program to estimate its size, look at the functionalities, its relevance to the society, the actors, and stakeholders involved and such knowledge would help developers get some insights.... ntroductionAn effort put towards analyzing Petri chess might seem absurd particularly to people who do not understand the importance of system analysis.... hellip; Chess is one of the most loved game and many people who play chess are believed to be very rational people because the efforts it takes to strategize and move pieces along the board is not accidental; but is a result of a well-thought procedure that requires strategy, building a hypothesis on the moves and doing the experiment with your built strategy....
16 Pages (4000 words) Coursework
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us