Category Archives: Book Reviews

The Little Book of String Theory

Posted on February 21, 2010 by woit

Back from New Orleans, and there are now three books I’ve read recently that I’ll try and write reviews of. The first is The Little Book of String Theory, by Princeton’s Steve Gubser. The author has a web-site for the … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Reviews | 7 Comments

Two Books by Bloggers

Posted on January 3, 2010 by woit

The holidays are coming to an end, so expect a return soon to the usual somewhat irregular posting frequency. Over the past week or two, one thing that I did was get a chance to read new books by two … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Reviews, Multiverse Mania | 34 Comments

A Brilliant Darkness

Posted on November 14, 2009 by woit

Joao Magueijo has a new book out about Ettore Majorana, entitled A Brilliant Darkness. It’s a lot of fun to read, and could be described as an example of Gonzo history of science. While it contains a lot of factual … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Reviews | 11 Comments

Perfect Rigor

Posted on October 30, 2009 by woit

I just finished reading author Masha Gessen’s new book about Grigori Perelman, Perfect Rigor: A Genius and the Mathematical Breakthrough of the Century. It’s a short but very well done account of the life of Grigori Perelman, how he came … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Reviews | 28 Comments

Mathematicians: An Outer View of the Inner World

Posted on September 7, 2009 by woit

A friend recently loaned me a wonderful book, the recently published Mathematicians: An Outer View of the Inner World, which consists mainly of photographs of mathematicians by Mariana Cook, paired with a page of comments from the mathematician being photographed. … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Reviews | 10 Comments

The Strangest Man

Posted on April 29, 2009 by woit

When I was in Edinburgh I picked up a copy of Graham Farmelo’s new biography of Dirac. It’s entitled The Strangest Man: The Hidden Life of Paul Dirac, Quantum Genius, and is not yet available in the US. I read … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Reviews | 27 Comments

First Principles

Posted on April 10, 2009 by woit

I learned recently from Sabine Hossenfelder’s blog that there’s a new book out by Howard Burton, entitled First Principles: The Crazy Business of Doing Serious Science (she has some comments on the book here). It’s a fascinating and entertaining book. … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Reviews | 15 Comments

Dis-moi qui tu aimes (je te dirai qui tu hais)

Posted on January 2, 2009 by woit

A colleague has very helpfully provided me with a copy of the murder mystery set at the IHES that I wrote about recently here, and I’ve just finished reading it. Since I’m not much of an afficionado of this genre … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Reviews | 7 Comments

The Map of My Life

Posted on November 22, 2008 by woit

Springer has just published an autobiography of Goro Shimura, entitled The Map of My Life. Shimura’s specialty is the arithmetic theory of modular forms, and he’s responsible for a crucial construction generalizing the modular curve, now known as a “Shimura … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Reviews | 25 Comments

The Complete Idiot’s Guide to String Theory

Posted on November 17, 2008 by woit

I recently acquired a copy of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to String Theory, by Scientific American’s George Musser, which has been out for a few months now. It’s a popular-level treatment of modern physics, string theory and quantum gravity, much … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Reviews, This Week's Hype | 19 Comments