Instability Rules: The Ten Most Amazing Ideas of Modern Science

I have never had much hope of enjoying a read about quantum mechanics, Einstein's relativity theory or an explanation of the Planck instant, but I was in for a very pleasant surprise. Charles Flowers has accomplished just that with Instability Rules.He has cut through the mind-numbing aspects of these subjects in a way that is not typical of a science book, using prose that is personal and accessible and a very clever sense of humor. This book is beautifully written, wonderfully entertaining, and, along the way, manages to explain the almost inconceivable with elegant simplicity. An excellent read!

No one since Isidore of Seville has tried to summarize all the scientific knowledge of his epoch as valiantly as Charles Flowers. The most fun is to be had from watching him try, especially if you've previously read much longer and denser books on one or all of the ten topics Flowers has chosen to elucidate. Instability rules is a bargain, both in money and in precious reading time; ten tomes in one. The writing is graceful, precise, witty, and merciful to the non-scientist. Particularly for the reader who hasn't kept up his/her humanistic education in the sciences, Instabilty Rules will provide a comprehensible introduction to ten of the most profound ideas of the past century.

The Big Ideas in science are always the most fun for the layman to think about, and this book gives us overviews of 10 of those ideas -- from the Big Bang to the human genome -- in 10 engaging essays. The material has been covered before, but what sets the book apart is Flowers is a writer first, a science writer second. The writing is a pleasure to read -- warm, lucid, enthusiastic ... interesting while not talking down to the reader. The only criticism is the photos, which are uninteresting head shots of scientists. There are certainly many more interesting visuals the publisher could have selected to illustrate Flowers's fascinating essays.