asked Mr Tompkins in great surprise. "Well, I don't know exactly," said the brakeman, "but it is so. When I asked a University professor travelling in my train once, how it comes about, he started a very long and incomprehensible speech about it ...

Dr. Gamow has written a view of physics which does not teach basic facts exclusively or dwell completely on biographical data, but rather, Dr. Gamow does both, for each chapter presents one or two great physicts and then discusses the nature and content of their work.

Outstanding text by one of the 20th century's foremost physicists dramatically explains how the central laws of physical science evolved, from Pythagoras' discovery of frequency ratios in the 6th century BC to today's research on elementary particles. Includes fascinating biographical data about Galileo, Newton, Huygens, Einstein and others. 136 illustrations.