Discoveries that changed life

The book explains engagingly matters we take for granted in real life, writes Benita Sen.

FROM BUGS TO BLACK HOLES
Discoveries that changed the world
Shobhit Mahajan
Puffin
Pages: 150
Price: Rs 175
ISBN 0143335014
Paperback

HT Image

Did someone tell you, smallpox has been wiped off the face of this earth?

Do you grumble when the alarm goes off? The next time that happens, remind yourself how fortunate you are to have a smart alarm clock. The first alarm clock could only wake you up at 4!

Shobhit

Mahajan puts together some rather interesting issues. These are matters we take for granted in our everyday life. Whether it is looking at the watch to see how much longer that boring period threatens to drag, forgetting the true ‘gravity’ of a situation, or going for a swim and flipping onto your back to float, there’s a lot of physics that has been understood to explain that to you in a book.

The author teaches physics and astrophysics at Delhi university and so, the chapters don’t just leave you with a pile of facts. What’s truly interesting are the explanations that treats the young reader with due respect.

If that formidable resume makes you balk, rest your fears. The author has written regularly for young people, younger than the students he interacts with every day, and the style is comfortable. Mahajan certainly has an eye for details that are not strictly scientific or rather, could be considered under behavioural science. That makes the accounts so much more interesting! Scientists, long since dead, come alive through well-researched details that present them as REAL heroes, not just characters out of a – yawn! – text book. There are details that make you wonder, how did he know all this?

But where are the illustrations? That’s a sad miss for a good book.