Boojums All the Way through Communicating Science in a Prosaic Age [Hardcover]

Addressed to a general audience, these essays present the dilemma of communicating modern physics to physicists and nonphysicists by analyzing the substance and style of written scientific communication.Addressed to a general audience, these essays present the dilemma of communicating modern physics to physicists and nonphysicists by analyzing the substance and style of written scientific communication.Boojums All the Way Through is a collection of essays that presents the dilemma of communicating modern physics to both physicists and nonphysicists. Some addressed to a general audience, some to students and others to scientists, the essays all share a preoccupation with both the substance and the style of written scientific communication, and offer a unique view of everyday science or scientific practice with the intention of increased clarity for the reader. The author believes the tradition of bland and impersonal scientific writing over the past fifty years deprives scientists of powerful tools for enhancing their clarity and capacity to communicate complex ideas. A well recognized theoretical physicist and winner of the first Julius Edgar Lilienfeld prize of the American Physical Society, Mermin writes with wry humor and conveys complex ideas with startling simplicity.Preface; Part I. Reflections on the Pursuit of Physics: 1. E. pluribus boojum: the physicist as neologist; 2. Commencement address; 3. One of the great physicists ... and great characters; 4. My life with Landeau; 5. What's wrong with this lagrangean?; 6. What's wrong with this library?; 7. What's wrong with this prose?; 8. What's wrong with these equations?; 9. What's wrong with these prizes?; Part II. The Quantum Theory: 10. Quantum mysteries for anyone; 11. Can you help your team tonight by watching on TV?; 12. Spooky actions at a distance: mysteries of the quantum; 13. A bolt from the blue: The Eistein-Podolsky-Rosen paradox; 14. The philosophical writings of Neils Bohr; 15. The great quantum mlS5