Mr Tompkins in Paperback (Canto Classics)

I was moved to get this book upon being reminded of how delightful I found Gamow's Mr. Tompkins stories back when I was a teen-ager in the Miocene. They introduced me relatively painlessly to a bunch of difficult concepts in the physical sciences and to some mathematical ways of looking at the world.Despite the elegiac introduction by Roger Penrose, I found the book much less charming and engaging now at 76 than I did then at 16. Sixty years can do that! The stories now seemed quaint and dated--not so much their scientific content as their social mise-en-scene. Tompkins seems a bore; I couldn't help but wonder what Maud saw in him. And her scientific naivete, despite being the daughter of a professor of physics and thus presumably exposed to his work throughout her childhood, seems inexplicable, even if of a piece with her addiction to fashion magazines. (But then, Tompkins reads "Esquire." But I did too, in the days when it regularly published new work by important writers.)The high point of the book for me was when the beetle-browed Edward Teller (whom Gamow calls "Tallerkin"--why? Was he afraid of libel? But the identity of the subject is certain) absent-mindedly begins to deliver a speech in Hungarian to an American audience. The content of the speech is totally in character for Teller: it's about how important he is.

It was an amazing book and still is. But it didn’t give me the same sensation as I read it some years ago. You can find the same topics online nowadays with much better illustration and visual presentation. And the quality of the printing and the paper is just so so.

This breaks down complex physics concepts to a conceptual level so that most people can understand it. Great for getting a conceptual overview. It introduces a wide variety of subjects in a fun and informative way. It is a good starting point which would allow people to then go deeper with more advanced texts. I read it in college while taking quantum mechanics and it was wonderful. I teach students now, and suggest it to all my undergraduate students who are starting out. It really makes relativity understandable and would be great for introductory class like Physics 2.

George Gamow, an absolute physics legend of the mid-twentieth century, has a classic here with Mr. Tompkins in Paperback. The book covers many of the things that you'd like to know about physics and the physical world (but may have been afraid to ask); and covers them through the prose of the affable Mr. Tompkins. Mr. Tompkins keeps the book moving from topic to topic as he gets his education in physics, and all the while the reader finds him- or herself (of course) getting the same education. In this way, Mr. Tompkins is a narrative device to make learning physics non-threatening. A must read for those interested in learning about physics, those who know physics (as Gamow is a famous personality in the history of physics), and those who just want a good read.

The book arrived in a timely manner and was a great read! It gives the reader a since of being in the quantum world of atoms, and introduces some of the most important figures in modern physics through Mr. Tompkins dreams as he sleeps through the professors lectures. Then the actual lecture that he missed is covered in the proceeding chapter. This is the most unique book that I have read in a very long time.

Mr Tompkins in PaperbackA very advisable book. Written with great ingenious by one great physicist. It explains in a very simple way some of the ideas behind the modern physics following the life of one character (Mr Tompkins) that is involved with other characters representing some physicists that made the foundation of the modern physics, for example Pauli with some other name disguised as a minister of the electrons. Pleasant book.

I am a retired college professor and nuclear physicist. When I was in junior high school, I read the original Mr. Thompkins series by George Gamow, who was one of the leading nuclear physicists of the mid-20th century. This was one of the influences that steered me into physics as a career. I am pleased that these books have been reprinted, and I recommend this book to anyone interested in physics, even though it is over sixty years old.

I know very little about physics but this book really opened my eyes. A friend recommended it to me and I have no regrets about buying it. It helps explain things in very human terms that are easy to understand, and helps you to see how truly amazing our universe is.

I was hoping for an accessible introduction to some concepts in relativity / quantum physics and this was recommended because of its "story telling" method.To be honest I don't think it's very good. First, the story telling actually gets in the way of illustrating the physics, it would be much easier if he used the examples (the train, the cyclist etc) without trying to wrap it all in a story about Mr Tompkins and his journeys.Second I don't think it does a very good job of expressing the concepts in a way the scientifically minded lay person can grasp and then manipulate - ie. not just getting it in that example, but being able to start to think about how that applies outside of the examples. And he does fall back on equations at various points which are poorly introduced for the non-mathematical reader.I'm only about a third the way through but I think there are better books out there. Check out Relativity Visualised by Epstein for instance.

Please note that this review is for the product itself, not the content.Received this book, and another suffering exactly the same problem (another academic book). Low quality print, not from the publisher. Please look at the photos above before buying a copy of this book, as what you will receive is not what has been advertised, rather a copy printed by Amazon. It includes the original imprint page, so not at all legal, but small publishers can't fight a company like this in court over something like that. Not worth the money you'll pay, unless you're happy to see publishers go out of business.

Very well done and intriguing, this classic book (from some 60 years ago) really helps understand some very interesting things in physics. A must for anyone with curiosity in physics.

Nice book, good package

excellent